maintenance for a Mac ??

J

Justadude

Registered
Hello all
Well needless to say I'm a newbie with a Mac, I have had a Dell for a couple of years and that was the first computer this ole'dude has ever had, Well now I have a Mac and I love this thing, but I have not a clue as to how to take care of it...
So what I'm looking for and have done some searching, just not much luck, is what type of preventive maintenance should I do on my Mac ?
thanks for any and all advise you may have to offer
 
For viruses, you only need to use some common sense and be aware of a few potential problems.

First of all, be careful what email attachments and web downloads you open; just because a file looks like a JPEG doesn't mean it is. It could be a malicious application. This applies to all systems, whether they run Windows, Mac OS X, or anything else.

Secondly, disable Safari's "Open 'safe' files after downloading" option. I think the fact that they put "safe" in quotes speaks volumes. :p This feature has been exploited several times in the past, and it seems likely that it will be exploited again. Mail has a similar feature, and it should be disabled as well. (Or you could just use a different web browser and email client. There are plenty out there.)

Finally, run Software Update now and then and download security patches as they become available.


You also don't need to worry much about performance. Unlike Windows, Mac OS X doesn't deteriotate over time. You don't need to worry about disk fragmentation (at least most people don't; there are exceptions), and you'll never need to reinstall OS X just to get it running fast again.

You DO, however, need to be aware of how much free disk space you have on your startup volume. NEVER let it fill up completely. I like to keep at least 4GB free at all times. Most people say to keep at least 10% of your disk free. How much you need depends on what you do.


Aside from that, there's not a whole lot to know. Some people like to run maintenence utilities like Onyx now and then, but it's not super-important.
 
thanks for the link g/re/p , looks likes something really worth checking into...
Mikuro
"For viruses, you only need to use some common sense and be aware of a few potential problems."
I thought as fare as viruses go, Mac has a very small issue or worry ?
as for my browser I use Opera not safari, have used Opera now for a few years and just love it ...
As for my email well Cox is my server along with Thunderbird
as for my disc space, well I keep it rather clean really and dont use much space..
I will however check out the Onyx link you sent and give that some thought...
I must say being an old Windows user, from what I can tell at this point, Mac OS X is indeed above and beyond Windows, just seems rather odd to not have those worries of Windows OS......lol
Thanks again for the replies as I learn my way....
Dude
 
while it's true that the mac currently has no virus's, and there is no cause for alarm in the near future, it's only bad practice to blindly ignore all threats becuase "mac's don't have virus's". stay mildly vigilant, and titter at the odd disasterous windows virus, but be aware.

i don't often shut down this mac, but when i do, i try and run fsck.

fsck is basically a thorough disk clean up on the main start up volume that only takes about 30 seconds.

right after the startup chime, hold down apple+s until you see the horrible looking code, not dissimilar looking to dos. when it finishes loading, type

fsck -fy

['f', 's', 'c', 'k', 'space', 'dash', 'f', 'y']

and hit enter. it checks the start up volume. if it says it fixed errors, run it again and again until it says "the startup volume appears to be ok"

restart.
 
'You also don't need to worry much about performance. Unlike Windows, Mac OS X doesn't deteriotate over time.' - is inaccurate. There may be instances where large size, or many in quantity, 'swapfile's and / or '.log' files can lead to performance degradation.

Apple has adapted a 'cache' system, whereas the '~/Library/Caches/' and '/Library/Caches/' folder contain folders of varying cache files or sub-folders of cache files. Some application's 'Preferences' allow user control over such; others do not. Most, if not all, of the Mac maintenance utilities perform 'cache' cleaning operation(s).

Sidenote:
'Safari' itself is known to slow down over time, whereas it is simple to just quit and then re-launch (execute, open) the application.

There are a variety of 'maintenance' [(1) and (2)] utiities (freeware, shareware, commercial) that Mac'ers have previously shared their experiences with.

'AppleJack' will perform the 'fsck' function, mentioned by Lt Major Burns, plus additional system level maintenance operations.

Consider downloading, at least, all the freeware utilities - reviewing each. Only then you will know of their differences and similarities; and, which one(s) you may prefer to utilize within your preventative maintenance program.
 
Lt Major Burns said:
fsck is basically a thorough disk clean up on the main start up volume that only takes about 30 seconds.

right after the startup chime, hold down apple+s until you see the horrible looking code, not dissimilar looking to dos. when it finishes loading, type

fsck -fy

['f', 's', 'c', 'k', 'space', 'dash', 'f', 'y']

and hit enter. it checks the start up volume. if it says it fixed errors, run it again and again until it says "the startup volume appears to be ok"

restart.
Click to expand...

Dosen't holding down the 'shift' key at startup do the same thing (without resorting to typing UNIX comands)?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107393
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107394

Just a thought.
 
Holding down the Shift key only takes it to Safe Mode, similar to Extensions Disabled on Classic Mac OS systems. However, you won't be able to perform a repair on the disk using Disk Utility in this Mode. You have to use Single User Mode or boot from the install discs and access Disk Utility from the menu at the welcome page of the installation.
 
nixgeek said:
Holding down the Shift key only takes it to Safe Mode, similar to Extensions Disabled on Classic Mac OS systems. However, you won't be able to perform a repair on the disk using Disk Utility in this Mode. You have to use Single User Mode or boot from the install discs and access Disk Utility from the menu at the welcome page of the installation.
Click to expand...


From Apple:
"Safe Boot forces a directory check of the hard drive. This is identical to using Disk Utility's Repair Disk or the fsck -fy terminal command."

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107394
 
OK, so I'm wrong. :p

Problem with that is that you don't see what exactly is going on. If you do it through Single User Mode, you'll get feedback on the command line about what is being done and whether it was able to repair the problem.
 
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