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MLO

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 31, 2007
63
0
Does anyone do any maintenance on their Macs? If so , what kind?

Does anyone run any anti virus software?

Thanks
 
If you only do one thing in terms of maintenance on your Mac, repair permissions. This is done by using the Disk Utility application in the Utilities folder. Select your hard drive and click on repair permissions. I repair permissions probably once every few months, or after installing/upgrading certain software.

Don't need AV unless you care about potentially infecting Windows people.

Mac OS X automatically runs maintenance scripts to keep itself in tip top shape. :p

An application called OnyX is the best tool to use if you are a maintenance freak. Just make sure what you're doing before you use it, but like I said OS X takes pretty good care of itself.
 
Does anyone do any maintenance on their Macs? If so , what kind?

Does anyone run any anti virus software?

Thanks

The only maintenance that I try doing is after I delete some software that I don't. Even after using programs like AppDelete you can usually find files left over in /User/username/Library/Application Support or /Library/Application Support.

Generally I go through both Library folders and see if I can find anything related to the software that I deleted. Parallels has stuff everywhere, that was the most recent one I delete.

Some people also you tell you to clear out the log files which can help with disk space if you are in a crunch. That would be /Library/Logs and /Users/username/Library/Logs.

However you really need to be careful when you mess around with the Library folders, you can easily screwup your Mac OS if you are not careful.

-iGrant
 
Another thing that's important to do, not on a periodic basis necessarily like on Windows, but if you suspect a problem caused by file system damage, is to verify the disk with Disk Utility. If it finds problems it can fix, you'll need to boot from the Mac OS X install disc, or another bootable drive, to fix the disk. If it finds problems it cannot fix, you'll get an error such as "The underlying task reported failure on exit". In this case, a different program is needed.

I hope you don't ever have to deal with this. I have.
 
Another thing that's important to do, not on a periodic basis necessarily like on Windows, but if you suspect a problem caused by file system damage, is to verify the disk with Disk Utility. If it finds problems it can fix, you'll need to boot from the Mac OS X install disc, or another bootable drive, to fix the disk. If it finds problems it cannot fix, you'll get an error such as "The underlying task reported failure on exit". In this case, a different program is needed.

I hope you don't ever have to deal with this. I have.

HAHAHAH speaking of that, the other "maintenance" that I do is BACKUP. Backup Backup Backup everything onto DVDs. I don't care who makes the hard drive anything can fail. Also its generally a good idea to make multiple backups of the same thing.

-iGrant
 
Since 10.5, I've hardly run any kind of maintenance at all. With Tim Machine, I don't even worry about losing anything anymore either. I needed an older revision application and TM just brings it right back when I need it.

I do have SMARTR reporter running to monitor the drive. I suggest getting that. Maybe repair permissions once every few months. If you let your Mac run all day and night once in awhile its built in maintenance scripts will clean up your logs and such.

Other than that, the OS is pretty good on its own.
 
Since 10.5, I've hardly run any kind of maintenance at all. With Tim Machine, I don't even worry about losing anything anymore either. . .

Other than that, the OS is pretty good on its own.

Poor Tiny Tim, making him do all the backs for you :D.

-iGrant
 
Cocktail or Onyx does pretty much everything for you, including permissions repair. I have enjoyed using them throughout the years of OS X. DiskWarrior is usually for emergency repairs, but it doesn't hurt to have it and run it occasionally; but is ultimately for people who don't have backups or don't enjoy reinstalling a fresh OS as much as I do when something goes wrong.
 
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