Good Mac Maintenance

[Peyton]

Hey I'm relatively new to mac, about 2 years, I have a 12 inch powerbook
1ghz, works great with 10.3.9.... I know. But I keep hearing people tell me to do things to permissions and I don't know what they are.

I update the system as often as it tells me to (I don't install everything) I was just wondering what to do for maintenance other than permissions...whatever that is. Sorry to sound so ignorant, I do a lot of techie/geeky stuff for work but its all windows. I'm crazy about apple and want to learn everything

THANKS!

 

[~Shard~]

The search function and the MacRumors Guides are your friends. 🙂

 

[mad jew]

You can repair permissions after software installs if you like but it's not essential. Sometimes it fixes small idiosyncrasies in the system or selected apps.

Otherwise, just make sure you calibrate you battery every now and then by flattening it until it sleeps and then charging it completely back up. Do this once a month or so. 🙂

Oh, and you can run maintenance scripts if you're feeling bored. 😎

 

[~Shard~]

Oh, and as for repairing permissions themselves, yes, it's a good idea to do, especially before and after updates. Just run Disk Utility from Applications>Utilities. Run "Repair Permissions" on your hard drive, don't worry about "Verify Permissions".

 

[EricNau]

This might help you.

 

[Peyton]

thanks so much... now what do permissions do?

 

[~Shard~]

thanks so much... now what do permissions do?

If you don't know what permissions are, well, don't worry about it - just know that it's a "UNIX thing", and leave it at that... 😉

 

[EricNau]

I'm not really sure this guide will help, but it might.

Here are some other articles;
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rc/help/faq/permissions.html
http://www.perlfect.com/articles/chmod.shtml
http://www.gideonsoftworks.com/macosxprivileges.html

but as ~Shard~ said, you don't really need to worry about it, just repair 'em and don't think twice about it. (or if you are like me, your curiosity takes over and you want to know anyway)

 

[Peyton]

thanks shard and eric!

 

[~Shard~]

thanks shard and eric!

No worries, that's what we're here for! Any other questions, feel free to ask.... 🙂

 

[quigleybc]

OnYx

May I suggest getting the fantastic free app called "Onyx"

google search it, and get it. It is a one stop shop for Mac Maintenance. You can run all you maitenance scripts, repair permissions, "optimize" whatever that does...and much more.

It's free. I would get it if I were you.

 

[mad jew]

Onyx warning: it's a powerful app and so be careful with it. I've seen quite a few disasters occur as people "experiment" with Onyx. If you're not quite sure what a function does, it's probably best to not try it.

FWIW, I don't use Onyx.