hard disc maintenance

[nippynorman]

Quite new to macs - can't really fathom how they work but certainly does the jobs that I need better than my old pc but......

I have noticed that my G4 800mz 512mb iMac is starting to slow down a bit after 6 months of use. I haven't defragmented the drive or flushed any caches or cleaned up the registry

Is there something like this I am supposed to do? I've downloaded and deleted loads of stuff but I still have 60Gb of space on the drive free.

What maintenance should I be doing?


regards

Nippynorman

[nixgeek]

Just so you know, Mac OS X is a Unix OS which means there is no registry (thank God). All the configs are saved as files in ~/Library/Preferences for your own settings, /Library/Preferences for global settings, or in another location specified in the README file for any application if not in any of the aforementioned locations.

Also, Unix operating systems tend to defragment their hard drives when they need to automatically. You don't have to tell it to defrag.

What you might want to do it boot from the install discs and have it repair the HD by calling Disk Utility from the menu. You can also do what's called a repair on permissions when booted into your Mac OS X system that's already installed. Just head to Applications-->Utilities and launch the installed Disk Utility app and run the permissions repair.

There's also a third party app called OnyX that is very recommended for disk maintenance like cleaning out old files and whatnot. Just be sure to download the version that is appropriate for your version of OS X.

[jonsou]

MacJanitor is a neat little program you can use. It's a excellent freeware program for people like me since I don't leave my computer on 24/7. I set up my iCal to notify me during hours I know I will be on my computer and it takes a minute or so for the program to run its tasks. Repairing your Disk Permissions with Disk Utility once a week or so is also a good idea. This is generally all you really need to do to keep your Mac in good working order.

If you are concerned about defragging your HD yourself, you can get iDefrag for your computer. iDefrag is a Mac defragment utility that has received lots of praise. I haven't personally used it so I don't know much about it.

Other programs like Tech Tool Pro and DiskWarrior are more robust disk utility programs and cost quite a bit more money. They are good for situations where you need to diagnose, repair/recover your HD, and optimize it.

Like nixgeek has stated, make sure you can run all of these programs before downloading/purchasing and using. For the most part though, you will be fine doing what nixgeek has pointed out in his post.

[nippynorman]

Thank you both for your rapid responses

I'll give your suggestions a go - maybe I'll get rid of my remaining pc's in the light of your comments!

regards

Norman

[Mobius Rex]

For routine maintenance, I like Macaroni http://atomicbird.com
It works automatically. You just set it and forget it. It's worked perfectly for me since I installed it about a year ago, never missing a beat.
Disk Warrior and TechTool Pro are "must haves" as far as I'm concerned; they're both invaluable tools to have at one's disposal. They are a bit pricey but are money well spent.
TechTool Pro has a defrag function included.

[SatCure]

Just for the record, my son (who is a relative Mac newbie) asked me to check his iBook recently because it had "slowed right down". He was right and the reason was immediately obvious (to me).

He had recently downloaded Microsoft Messenger and was running it from its "virtual disc" on the desktop instead of dragging a copy to the Applications folder and trashing the disc image.

I've seen lots of people make this mistake so I feel it's worth mentioning before people get into unnecessary defrags and "repairs".

I've never defragged my G4s. I leave them on for a week at a time, rebooting each weekend just to clear any "memory hogs". I "repair permissions" before and after installing anything. I do nothing else. They still run as fast as they did two years ago.

[nixgeek]

That's a good thing to mention especially for recent switchers to the Mac. Sometimes they don't realize that they have to copy the application from the mounted disk image over to the Applications folder and leave it running from the disk image which tends to cause problems with the app and sometimes the system. Always remember that for the most part, Mac app installations are as simple as dragging the application icon into Applications. The same goes for uninstalls....just drag the app to the Trash and empty it. Sure, you could go the extra mile and delete any preference files in ~/Library/Preferences (which holds the user preference for the app) or even in /Library/Preferences (which holds the app's global preferences).

While there are some apps that do come with installers, they aren't as common (especially since it's not the "Macintosh" way of doing things).