Can I format and reinstall my mac?

C

CanSwede

Registered
Hey everyone,

So I'm not really well versed in what macs can and cant really do. I have had my macbook pro for about a year and a half, but Im your average user. I check my email, download torrents, watch movies and play video games. As of late my mac book has been getting a bit slower. I get the pinwheel often when i use the internet and really performance just seems to be down a bit. I figure its because I've been installing and putting stuff on here and there and everywhere. My computer is also used by a few other people so who knows whats on it these days. I figured now on summer break Id like to give it a good clean out. When I had a pc i would just format and reinstall. Can I or should I do this with my Mac? and if so how? Also yeah admittedly theres been some porn surfing lolz. I don't know if maybe theres some spy ware or stuff as well. Anyways any help and advice would be super appreciated!!!

Thanks!
 
If you have the disks that came with your system originally, you can do all that. If you don't have them, you'll have to buy a commercial version.

Once you have an installation disk, boot from it - hold down C while restarting. The installation process will begin. After the first screen, where you choose a language, go to the item at the top of the screen and select Utilities / Disk Utility. From there you can mangle your hard drive any way you like.

When it's done, quit out of Disk Utility and resume installation.
 
(Sorry Whitehill, I loaded the thread earlier and didn't see your post until I submitted mine.)

If you want to format and reinstall, simply insert the first of the two DVDs that came with your Mac and hold down the "c" key while starting the computer until the Apple appears on screen.

As soon as you see a menubar (you have to at least select the language and continue), you'll get access to the Disk Utility in the Utilities menu. From there, you can erase your harddrive and quit Disk Utility after it's done.

Then simply continue with the installation of the OS. This will reset it to the factory state. (The second disk will install iLife etc. after the first disk's job is done.)
 
What I understand from your query is " You are frustrated with your SLOW MAC"

Re-installation would definitely clean all the spyware (if any) on your machine but you will also lose your important applications.

I would suggest you to go for some Mac Speed Up tool like Stellar Speed Up Mac , Mackeeper or any other tool.

These applications will remove useless applications, duplicate files , Cache files, unused language files, Binary files and other temporary files.

These are safe and secure programs to Speed Up Your Mac.
 
ronaldross said:
... Mackeeper or any other tool.

...
Click to expand...
Mackeeper is a scam. There are some simple and free things that you can do to ensure that a Mac is performing its best. Tops on the list is keep 10% of its hard drive capacity available as free space. One may also run File System Check (fsck -fy) from the command line in Single User Mode.
 
I would suggest you to go for some Mac Speed Up tool like Stellar Speed Up Mac , Mackeeper or any other tool.
Click to expand...

I would absolutely NEVER recommend using any kind of tool that purports to "speed up," "clean up," or "optimize" your Mac. Like MisterMe said, one of those aforementioned products is an out-and-out scam, and the rest are questionable... at BEST.

The most well-performing systems I manage are those that have absolutely no "helper" software loaded on them (antivirus, "optimization" programs, cache cleaning programs, "speedup" programs, etc.) and let the operating system take care of everything, as it is designed to.

In my experience, those programs are like the "magical, magnetic" fuel saving devices sold a decade ago that clamp on to your fuel lines and supposedly "align" the molecules in your fuel line for better fuel economy: it ain't gonna hurt your car, but if you think it's helping in any way, you're insane.
 
I like fresh installs but that's probably a holdover from my windows days. Just back everything up on an external drive and start over. You can then do all your software updates and reload your documents and anything else you might need. It'll be good as new. Good luck, Dave.
 
MisterMe said:
Tops on the list is keep 10% of its hard drive capacity available as free space. One may also run
Click to expand...


I accept this point of MisterMe. This is what the cleanup tools are used for. If you already have a large capacity hard drive then no need to worry for free space.

If in spite of having free space on your hard, drive your Mac is running slow then check for some spy-ware etc.
 
ronaldross said:
I accept this point of MisterMe. This is what the cleanup tools are used for. If you already have a large capacity hard drive then no need to worry for free space.

If in spite of having free space on your hard, drive your Mac is running slow then check for some spy-ware etc.
Click to expand...
This wrong on so many levels. Cleanup tools serve no useful purpose in maintaining your free HDD/SSD capacity. The most likely source of capacity consumption are media files--particularly video files--and disc image files such as ISOs. Does anyone really need software to tell them that their collection of Dirty Debutante DVD and Avatar Blu-ray RIPs take a lot of space? If you use your computer for running productivity applications and you are low on capacity, then you need a new HDD/SSD. Cleanup software won't help you there.

Spyware? Really? Do you know what spyware is or what it does? If it were taking screen captures of your Mac in TIFF format and then emailing them one-by-one to individual members of the Russian Mafia, then it might have a noticeable impact on your performance. Otherwise, have you ever heard of a Mac spyware title that has any performance impact at all? Better yet, have you ever heard of a Mac spyware title? If so, then name it.
 
Yes, you are right the media files are major agents to kill free spaces on hard drive.

But, when you have short of space and can't go for a new hard drive then Mac cleanup tools are good options to create necessary free space.
 
ronaldross said:
But, when you have short of space and can't go for a new hard drive then Mac cleanup tools are good options to create necessary free space.
Click to expand...

No, they're not. Show me one valid report from someone that has had a nearly-full hard drive that has used a "Mac cleanup" program and had their disk space magically return. Nobody on this forum has ever reported success with those types of programs, nor have I seen a single, believable report from anyone on the entire internet that claims success with these types of programs.

All "Mac cleanup" programs are crap-ware (which is even worse than spyware), worthless, and a waste of money. They're complete voodoo -- they don't do a single, useful thing.
 
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