rebuilding the desktop

[dawnb]

My iMac with OS X is really sluggish. I have tried to rebuild the desktop by holding down the option and apple key while restarting the computer. This has always worked until now. I do not get the message "To rebuild the desktop." Any other suggestions?

Thank you. dawn

[Mikuro]

Rebuilding the desktop only applies to Mac OS 9 and earlier. In OS X it's not done (although if you use Classic, you can still rebuild the Classic desktop, but naturally that does not affect OS X in general).

There is no real equivalent in OS X, but if you're looking for some optimization routines, try running OnyX or Maintenance.

[Natobasso]

There is no real equivalent in OS X, but if you're looking for some optimization routines, try running OnyX or Maintenance.

Ahem, have you forgotten about repairing permissions? This is OS X's answer to repairing the desktop: Apps/utilities/diskutility/repair permissions

OnyX is a great program and you should probably download it, but disk utility is already on your system and is great for 90% of your computer errors you're going to face with normal computer use. Run it once a month or so. Keep your hard drive clean as possible for best performance.

[dawnb]

Thank you for your help. I'll check out these programs.

Also, where is disk utility located?

[dawnb]

Originally Posted by Mikuro

Rebuilding the desktop only applies to Mac OS 9 and earlier. In OS X it's not done (although if you use Classic, you can still rebuild the Classic desktop, but naturally that does not affect OS X in general).

There is no real equivalent in OS X, but if you're looking for some optimization routines, try running OnyX or Maintenance.

Thank you for your suggsetions. I'll look into these programs. Are they free downloads?

[Natobasso]

Applications/utilities/diskutility/repair permissions

And those apps (OnyX and Maintenance) should be free downloads.

[Mikuro]

Originally Posted by Natobasso

Ahem, have you forgotten about repairing permissions? This is OS X's answer to repairing the desktop: Apps/utilities/diskutility/repair permissions

True, true. 'Repair permissions' has replaced 'rebuild the desktop' as the standard first thing to do when problems arise.

Another important thing for performance is the cron (daily/weekly/monthly) scripts. Normally the system runs those automatically, but under some circumstances it might not. Those apps I mentioned are good to have around because they let you run the cron scripts manually (among other things). And yes, they're free.

[dawnb]

Originally Posted by Natobasso

Applications/utilities/diskutility/repair permissions

And those apps (OnyX and Maintenance) should be free downloads.

Thanks again. I tried the Disk Utilities first and it seemed to do the trick. I then downloaded OnyX and Maintenance, but it looks like I have a lesser version of Tiger than is required to run this.