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Never customizing my mac again.

ECUpirate44

ECUpirate44

macrumors 603
Original poster
Mar 22, 2010
5,750
8
NC
Okay so heres my story. For about 5 months I was using candybar to customize my dock, all of my application icons and all of my folders. Recently I noticed that my battery life was getting really bad. (3 hrs on a 2010 mbp running only safari no flash) so I decided to do a fresh install of Snow Leopard. Upon finishing the reinstall I noticed that my batter lasted about 6 hours so that ruled out any hardware failure. I tried reinstalling candybar and adding a few of my icons and as soon as I activated it, my battery went down the drain again. I don't know what it is, but it sure is annoying. Anyone else notice this?

Geektool also causes constant Kernal Panics on my mac. I have never been able to figure out why. I also noticed that when I use geektool it drains the battery quicker.
 
I've seen dozens of threads in this forum posted by users who customized their Dock, icons, Menu Bar, etc., only to have serious problems as a result. Changing a few icons is one thing, but I prefer to limit any serious customizing in favor of a reliable Mac that runs well. YMMV.
 
Yeah I think I realized that. It looked awesome, but it's just not worth it.
 
You know now that you mention it I have noticed my Mac not being as snappy anymore, but how is there harm in changing a Safari icon or something? Makes no sense to me, but I really love how it looks, the different sized dock icons were weird, now nice iOS looking ones look so sleek, I can't go back!
 
A Macbook Pro said:
You know now that you mention it I have noticed my Mac not being as snappy anymore, but how is there harm in changing a Safari icon or something? Makes no sense to me, but I really love how it looks, the different sized dock icons were weird, now nice iOS looking ones look so sleek, I can't go back!
Click to expand...
Changing a few icons isn't really a problem. It's more complex customization that I avoid, like changing the Dock or Menu Bar via CandyBar or similar apps. I tend to customize based on need, rather than a preoccupation with appearance.
 
Well now thinking about it a little i'm thinking about going back to candybar and customizing everything again. Idk, I just think it looks so much better with a custom dock and icons. It wasn't causing any performance problems, it just had some effect on the battery life.

If I had an imac, i wouldn't think twice about using it.
 
It's just the programs

It's just the programs you are using. This means that they are doing something else with your computer to make the battery drain so quick... So I would choose an alternative.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ECUpirate44 said:
lol. Thanks for that GGJstudios. I'm now using Dock Library to change my dock. Debating wether or not to give candy bar a second chance.
Click to expand...
Before you do, you might consider using MRoogle to look through threads mentioning CandyBar and see what problems users have had with it. It might give you a better perspective and help you make a more well-informed decision.

Oh, and before you bring it up, this should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

:D
 
GGJstudios said:
Before you do, you might consider using MRoogle to look through threads mentioning CandyBar and see what problems users have had with it. It might give you a better perspective and help you make a more well-informed decision.

Oh, and before you bring it up, this should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

:D
Click to expand...

lol gotta love that guide! :D

Quick question for you GGJstudios. I just did a fresh install. Should I wipe my external drive as well?
 
ECUpirate44 said:
lol gotta love that guide! :D

Quick question for you GGJstudios. I just did a fresh install. Should I wipe my external drive as well?
Click to expand...
Are you using the external only as a backup of your internal? Are you having any problems related to the external?
 
GGJstudios said:
Are you using the external only as a backup of your internal? Are you having any problems related to the external?
Click to expand...

Yes, my external is only backing up my internal via Time machine. I'm not having any problems with it, I just didn't know if I should keep the old backups pre fresh install.
 
ECUpirate44 said:
Yes, my external is only backing up my internal via Time machine. I'm not having any problems with it, I just didn't know if I should keep the old backups pre fresh install.
Click to expand...
One important question is, do those existing backups contain files you might need in the future, that are no longer on your Mac? If so, I'd be careful about deleting them. If not, you should be fine in starting over.
 
GGJstudios said:
One important question is, do those existing backups contain files you might need in the future, that are no longer on your Mac? If so, I'd be careful about deleting them. If not, you should be fine in starting over.
Click to expand...

I dont think so. I transfered my apps through migration assistant and then did everything else piece by piece. I've tested everything and it all seems to be running well. One thing I have noticed is I dont know any of my passwords or login's lol. I just had chrome save all of the info for me for years.:eek:
 
I just think you have OCD with battery life and found a reason to blame it on candybar aka customizing the system.

I love customizing and i been doing it since 2 years. It has no effect on battery life whatsoever.

Just get over your OCD and you'll be fine.
 
ECUpirate44 said:
One thing I have noticed is I dont know any of my passwords or login's lol. I just had chrome save all of the info for me for years.:eek:
Click to expand...
One thing I do is to save all my passwords in a secure note in Keychain. It also appears on my CCC backup of my hard drive. It's another level of backup, so I don't forget passwords. Another tip is to create a methodology for creating passwords, such as using a standard string, combined with a unique string for each site. Something along the lines of:

3cUp1rAt3+MRf (for MR forums)
3cUp1rAt3+Fbk (for Facebook)

Of course, you can modify this to your liking, but that's a general idea. I wouldn't use your MR member name as the standard string. Instead, I'd choose a unique word or phrase that is meaningful only to you (no names of relatives, hometowns, birthdays, etc.) That way, you'll easily be able to remember complex passwords.
 
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