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digitalove

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 12, 2012
197
1
Are you using software like CCleaner?

Personally I don't use that kind of software. I just clean manually the cache.
I sometimes and delete all the history and all the data. I always update everything. Also sometimes I repair permissions.

What are you tips to keep your OS X fast?
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,083
5,431
ny somewhere
i run onyx regularly. not going to argue about whether it's actually necessary or not :rolleyes: , but have used it for years...and will continue to do so. (at the very least, it makes ME feel good). :D
 

digitalove

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 12, 2012
197
1
i run onyx regularly. not going to argue about whether it's actually necessary or not :rolleyes: , but have used it for years...and will continue to do so. (at the very least, it makes ME feel good). :D

I got ya. Haha I'm asking this because I miss that feel when you finish your scan. Maybe it's just psychological but still.. I just got a new MacBook and without using any software to clean cache or so I feel weird :D
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,083
5,431
ny somewhere
I got ya. Haha I'm asking this because I miss that feel when you finish your scan. Maybe it's just psychological but still.. I just got a new MacBook and without using any software to clean cache or so I feel weird :D

exactly (altho, honestly, i use onyx for a few tweaks as well).:cool:
 

bobr1952

macrumors 68020
Jan 21, 2008
2,040
39
Melbourne, FL
I got ya. Haha I'm asking this because I miss that feel when you finish your scan. Maybe it's just psychological but still.. I just got a new MacBook and without using any software to clean cache or so I feel weird :D

When I first got my Macbook Pro, I did run Onyx pretty regularly and I do know what you mean about the psychological high where your (relatively) small SSD recovers all that space from deleted cache. But I kind of gave up on doing that and just let it run now. Performance wise, doesn't really seem to make any difference--but Onyx doesn't do any harm so nothing wrong with running it if you get the urge. :)
 

smithrh

macrumors 68030
Feb 28, 2009
2,722
1,730
Caches are there for a reason, folks.

To answer the OP's question - nothing. I've been a unix sysadmin and written documents/best practices, but there's nothing to see here besides using Time Machine to back up your files.
 

NoBoMac

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 1, 2014
5,770
4,358
As a few others have said: nothing. Pretty much.

Apple's "periodic" scripts have a bevy of actions that get run daily/weekly/monthly. I've added a couple of my own scripts (disk repair permissions, clean out crash reporter info over a week old, some additional logs).

At least once a month, I boot into recovery mode and do a verify and repair of the SSD. Checks sanity of things and gets a manual TRIM to kick off.
 

Abba1

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2014
117
0
I got ya. Haha I'm asking this because I miss that feel when you finish your scan. Maybe it's just psychological but still.. I just got a new MacBook and without using any software to clean cache or so I feel weird :D

Why don't you try Intego's "Washing Machine"? It does clean.
 

simonsi

Contributor
Jan 3, 2014
4,851
735
Auckland
I just clean manually the cache.
I sometimes and delete all the history and all the data. I always update everything. Also sometimes I repair permissions.

Sounds like you have an urge to tinker, have no real idea what to do, why or when, and have been lucky so far you haven't caused harm.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but without a better idea of what you are doing or why you shouldn't be messing with system files, even if (mostly) you are just deleting cache files so that <cough> the system has to then recreate them...
 

Traverse

macrumors 604
Mar 11, 2013
7,688
4,400
Here
Apps like CCLeaner are okay, but I've largely let OS X handle it's own maintenance. I have never experienced a slowdown due to time with OS X.

The only maintenance you may need to do is outlined here. When you delete a program it often leaves behind useless files. I like to clear those as well.

----------

Caches are there for a reason, folks.
.

Syou are just deleting cache files so that <cough> the system has to then recreate them...

Exactly. Unless you're stuck on one of those 64GB old MBA's, I don't know why people mind system caches.
 

Abba1

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2014
117
0
Sounds like you have an urge to tinker, have no real idea what to do, why or when, and have been lucky so far you haven't caused harm.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but without a better idea of what you are doing or why you shouldn't be messing with system files, even if (mostly) you are just deleting cache files so that <cough> the system has to then recreate them...

What is being described is not tinkering, it is good housekeeping. The Status Quo is often not the best choice. Getting rid of cookies is often useful provided you are careful and selective. Getting rid of history is also beneficial. And, what's wrong with having Mac recreate cache files since so often those very files had been the cause of problems. I like keeping things neat, clean, and trim.

----------

Are you using software like CCleaner?

Personally I don't use that kind of software. I just clean manually the cache.
I sometimes and delete all the history and all the data. I always update everything. Also sometimes I repair permissions.

What are you tips to keep your OS X fast?

There is a very good series of reasonably priced books for beginners and even those that are not beginners. The books in the series are named Take Control, and there are different books for different Mac related matters. A good start would be Take Control of Maintaining Mac and also Take Control of Troubleshooting Mac. When the Missing Manual for Yosemite comes out, it would be worth looking at. However, it is a bit more expensive than the Take Control series. And, then, you might want to look at OS X Support Essentials when it comes out for Yosemite. However, the Support Essentials is for people with a lot of experience on Mac OS, and it is usually quite expensive.
 
Last edited:

vanc

macrumors 6502
Nov 21, 2007
475
146
Have my 2012 first gen rMBP for two years. Still running Mavericks. Never used any cleaning software.
 

simonsi

Contributor
Jan 3, 2014
4,851
735
Auckland
What is being described is not tinkering, it is good housekeeping. The Status Quo is often not the best choice. Getting rid of cookies is often useful provided you are careful and selective. Getting rid of history is also beneficial. And, what's wrong with having Mac recreate cache files since so often those very files had been the cause of problems.

Its well understood by IT professionals that change is the enemy of stability, so world-wide practice is that status quo is good. The poster I quoted didn't quote any good reason for those tasks, or the timing of them so unless you have inside knowledge you can't really claim that there was beneficial context, that is just hopeful supposition on your part.

Deleting history? Well only if you don't need it again.

Deleting problem cache? When did he say that those cache files had caused problems? Of course troubleshoot problems but randomly deleting cache files? No, that makes no sense and will eventually do more harm than good.
 

Abba1

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2014
117
0
Its well understood by IT professionals that change is the enemy of stability, so world-wide practice is that status quo is good. The poster I quoted didn't quote any good reason for those tasks, or the timing of them so unless you have inside knowledge you can't really claim that there was beneficial context, that is just hopeful supposition on your part.

Deleting history? Well only if you don't need it again.

Deleting problem cache? When did he say that those cache files had caused problems? Of course troubleshoot problems but randomly deleting cache files? No, that makes no sense and will eventually do more harm than good.

Of course "change is the enemy of stability", but some change is beneficial and some is even necessary. (Of course, every now and then we humans mess up and delete something important! Always distressing but it happens!) Deleting caches should be done carefully, but sometimes they do become corrupted and cause problems. As for deleting history, I generally like to do so on a fairly regular basis. And, I like the fact that Yosemite has different temporal options for doing so. But, that does not mean that someone should do so as soon as he or she has been to a site. If someone feel's that necessity, s(he) should use Private Browsing. As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing, be you an IT person or just a Mac user, is knowledge. And, that comes with study, experimentation, and even real mess ups!
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
I've never used anything however I notice I have 75 gb of "other" on my hard drive. Seems a bit excessive for normal caches IMO.
 

gmanist1000

macrumors 68030
Sep 22, 2009
2,832
824
Are you using software like CCleaner?

Personally I don't use that kind of software. I just clean manually the cache.
I sometimes and delete all the history and all the data. I always update everything. Also sometimes I repair permissions.

What are you tips to keep your OS X fast?

I restart when things slow down. Fixes 99% of my issues.
 

mtasquared

macrumors regular
May 3, 2012
199
39
As was said, OSX will run scripts periodically to maintain itself. I just learned about a program called Yasu that will let you run those scripts on demand, and a number of other cleaning functions. :apple:
 

EdDuPlessis

macrumors 6502
Nov 23, 2014
339
8
Are you using software like CCleaner?

Personally I don't use that kind of software. I just clean manually the cache.
I sometimes and delete all the history and all the data. I always update everything. Also sometimes I repair permissions.

What are you tips to keep your OS X fast?

Same, everything manual. Always been mad about it cause I used to use Windows and it made me obsessive about keeping it in order.
 
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