Why am I cleaning out the proxies so much now?

[a-m-k]

There are too many unknowns on your system to do any more troubleshooting.

What do you mean, and what suggestions can you make that I could look into?

I still don’t understand why you’re running a potentially ‘unstable’ beta version of the operating system, instead of a ‘stable’ release version.

I'm just trying to learn the new OS before the actual release, and wouldn't my MBP be just as bad anyway?

 

[Arctic Moose]

I'm just trying to learn the new OS before the actual release, and wouldn't my MBP be just as bad anyway?

There are practically no new features, only bug fixes, unless you are running betas of a new version of the OS from WWDC to September/October. There’s nothing new to learn, unless you’re a developer wondering if the next point release will break your app.

My recommendation:

1. Make a full backup of your drive (you can make a bootable copy on an external disk with SuperDuper!)
2. Put all (and only) your active documents you need in iCloud Drive
3. Format your drive
4. Install the latest STABLE release of Mojave from scratch
5. Install only the apps you need, preferably from the App Store
6. Do not install any apps that claim to clean, optimize or repair your Mac
7. Don’t copy anything back from your backup unless absolutely necessary

 

[a-m-k]

I think my external hard drive died, so until I figure out what happened or get a new one, what can I use?

 

[Clix Pix]

I hope you have a current backup of your system! This sounds like the time to make a decision either to buy a new MBA or have someone replace your spinner drive HD with a speedy SSD which will give your system a new lease on life. Given the age of your machine now, though, if finances aren't too much of an issue, I'd go for a new computer.

 

[Arctic Moose]

I think my external hard drive died, so until I figure out what happened or get a new one, what can I use?

I guess it would depend on how paranoid you are about not having a complete bootable backup of your current disk. If most of your data is cloud-based (like e-mail, messaging, photos, notes and calendars) perhaps just copying that which is not to iCloud would be sufficient.

(I have always had at least one bootable backup of my current system and one of the previous one for the last 25 years, I don’t think I’ve ever retrieved a single file from any of them.)

If you are reasonably paranoid a new external USB disk may be a low price (~$50) to pay for peace of mind.

 

[Clix Pix]

Oh, I just realized that I misread the earlier post and thought it was the internal drive that had gone blooey. Oops, my bad!! If the external drive is making a funny clicking noise, it's a goner. If it is unmounting itself in the midst of your working on something, it's also probably a goner. OK, yes the simple and quickest solution is to buy a new external drive, which these days is not that expensive and provides you peace of mind. They come either in USB HDD or USB SSD and if not already formatted for the Mac can easily be reformatted. Do a backup of your system and you'll be good to go again. You can buy external drives at places like Best Buy, Target, Staples, the Apple Store, and Microcenter (if you have a Microcenter in your area). I always have multiple backups so that in case one external drive fails on me I still have another one safely saving the data, too.

 

[Arctic Moose]

Oh, I just realized that I misread the earlier post and thought it was the internal drive that had gone blooey.

Replacing it with an SSD is still good advice though, even if the stock HD is working as intended.

(In fact, just stick the old HD in an external case and that’s the old system backup taken care of.)

 

[Clix Pix]

Over the past three years or so I have been gradually replacing my older external HDDs with Samsung's wonderful external SSDs; I started out with the T1, then the T3 when those became available and now am primarily using the T5, and they are all superior to any external HDD because of their smaller size and much faster speed. I like the T5 especially because it comes with two cables: a USB-C to USB-A [USB-3] and also a USB-C to USB-C. Makes it very easy for me to swap files and folders between my current 2018 MBP, which is USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 and my older 2015 MBP, which still uses USB-A [USB-3]. A quick swap of cables and I'm set to go! It has definitely made for a smoother, easier transition from the machine with the now-"legacy" USB 3 ports to the newer machine with the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports. Thankfully, prices are continuing to come down on the external SSDs, which makes them all the more affordable.