Maintence
- Thread starter Bluesman
- Start date
I'll fire the opening salvo. I use Macaroni
http://www.atomicbird.com/
http://www.atomicbird.com/
Does a Mac OS X system naturally bog down over time? Anyone know? I haven't noticed anything like this.
To the original poster, my advice would be to keep enough space on the hard drive empty for virtual memory to do its thing, and for other temp files and caches. That'll make a world of difference in speed and the overall "health" of the machine. I've heard figures anywhere between 10 and 20% for the amount of free space desired on a boot drive (if anyone wants to chime in on this...). Regular archivals to DVD, with two or three copies of each backup disc, are relatively simple. Toast 7 has a disc spanning feature that makes it easier to archive/back up without having to think about file space on a disc as much.
I don't know your profession, but speaking as someone in a design field, limiting the number of fonts active on your system (using Apple's Font Book, Extensis Suitcase, Linotype FontExplorer, etc.) can help performance.
To the original poster, my advice would be to keep enough space on the hard drive empty for virtual memory to do its thing, and for other temp files and caches. That'll make a world of difference in speed and the overall "health" of the machine. I've heard figures anywhere between 10 and 20% for the amount of free space desired on a boot drive (if anyone wants to chime in on this...). Regular archivals to DVD, with two or three copies of each backup disc, are relatively simple. Toast 7 has a disc spanning feature that makes it easier to archive/back up without having to think about file space on a disc as much.
I don't know your profession, but speaking as someone in a design field, limiting the number of fonts active on your system (using Apple's Font Book, Extensis Suitcase, Linotype FontExplorer, etc.) can help performance.
Mobius Rex
Registered
Since viruses for Macs are, for all intents and purposes, still nonexistent, anti virus programs are really not needed.
In the event that an active virus does rear its ugly head,
you would likely get wind of it via the internet well before it attacks your Mac, and in plenty of time to take defensive action.
I do keep ClamX(it's free...well, it's donationware, and highly regarded): http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/15850 anti-virus on my Mac and run it occasionally, but its never found anything.
Regarding routine maintenance, I also use Macaroni and recommend it highly. It automatically performs five important maintenance functions: Cleans daily Unix files,
Weekly Unix files, Monthly Unix files, Repairs permissions, and Removes localized files. You just schedule how often you want those functions performed and Macaroni does it automatically, reliably and dependably.
I also use Cache Out X: http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/9538. I run it from time to time and definitely find that it helps keep my OS running smoothly and quickly.
If you're not command line phobic and have an admin password, you can also perform daily/weekly/monthly maintenance routines from the Terminal:
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
You'll then be prompted for the password. You can run any of them individually as well, and I like to tack on another command to quit the Terminal when it's done -- as in:
sudo periodic daily; killall Terminal
I'll have to try Macaroni. Another good one is Cocktail. I like it because I can use it to disable the desktop, Finder animations.
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
You'll then be prompted for the password. You can run any of them individually as well, and I like to tack on another command to quit the Terminal when it's done -- as in:
sudo periodic daily; killall Terminal
I'll have to try Macaroni. Another good one is Cocktail. I like it because I can use it to disable the desktop, Finder animations.
ElDiabloConCaca
U.S.D.A. Prime
Ther daily/weekly/monthly scripts get run automatically, even if your computer is off or asleep during the alotted times. There is no need to run them manually, unless something is wrong with your system and they're not getting run for some reason.
Easy way to check: fire up "Console" and look at the daily/weekly/monthly logs.
Easy way to check: fire up "Console" and look at the daily/weekly/monthly logs.
MacGizmo
Graphics Guy
Read through this article and get yourself a Protege.
ElDiabloConCaca
U.S.D.A. Prime
I don't know what version of OS X started doing that, but both Panther and Tiger do it for me.
Just check "Console" for the logs for each (under /var/log), and you'll likely see that those scripts are run on-time and when the computer is awakened from sleep.
For example, here's an extract from my "daily" console log:
You can plainly see that Thursday, I did not awaken the computer until 6:03pm, at which time the "daily" script ran... Friday not until 2:45pm, and Saturday at 3:15am (most likely because I was awake and the computer was too then!). All of those times are accurate as to when I first awoke the computer that day.
My weekly and monthly logs are the same -- some on-time because the computer was awake, and some delayed until the first time the computer was awakened after.
Just check "Console" for the logs for each (under /var/log), and you'll likely see that those scripts are run on-time and when the computer is awakened from sleep.
For example, here's an extract from my "daily" console log:
Code:
...
Thu Apr 6 18:03:31 CDT 2006
...
Fri Apr 7 14:45:01 CDT 2006
...
Sat Apr 8 03:15:00 CDT 2006
...My weekly and monthly logs are the same -- some on-time because the computer was awake, and some delayed until the first time the computer was awakened after.
jbarley
One more, for the road!
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Can anyone explain then why Mac in their OS X 10.4.6 help files state the following?
Mac OS X: How to force background maintenance tasks (logs and temporary items)
Mac OS X performs background maintenance tasks at certain times if the computer is not in sleep mode. If your computer is shut down or in sleep at the designated times, the maintenance does not occur. In that case, you may want or need to run these manually.
jb.
ElDiabloConCaca
U.S.D.A. Prime
It may be leftover from a previous version of Mac OS X that did not auto-run the maintenance scripts.
You also notice that it says "may want or need" to run the scripts.
You also notice that it says "may want or need" to run the scripts.
jbarley
One more, for the road!
Here is a very simple"Terminal" command I use to check..
ls -al /var/log/*.out
this gives me output that verifies when my maint. scripts were last run, as such.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1822 Jun 15 01:29 /var/log/daily.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1055 Jun 11 15:31 /var/log/fixperms.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3473 Jun 1 01:30 /var/log/localclean.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 217 Jun 15 01:30 /var/log/monthly.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 437 Jun 12 16:16 /var/log/weekly.out
BTW, Apple telephone help line confirms that these scripts need to have the system up and running in order to function unless the system has been hacked in some way such as using "Anacron"
I suppose the Help Techie could also be left over from a previous version
jb.
ls -al /var/log/*.out
this gives me output that verifies when my maint. scripts were last run, as such.
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1822 Jun 15 01:29 /var/log/daily.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1055 Jun 11 15:31 /var/log/fixperms.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 3473 Jun 1 01:30 /var/log/localclean.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 217 Jun 15 01:30 /var/log/monthly.out
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 437 Jun 12 16:16 /var/log/weekly.out
BTW, Apple telephone help line confirms that these scripts need to have the system up and running in order to function unless the system has been hacked in some way such as using "Anacron"
I suppose the Help Techie could also be left over from a previous version
jb.