OnyX: Are These Dangerous?

Amie

Amie

Mac Convert for Life
I've been using OnyX for a while (only for certain tasks, not all features that are offered by this utility app). Can someone please take a look at these features listed below and tell me if any of them are potentially dangerous to my computer, or could I execute these tasks weekly without any worry? I've attached a screenshot with all the features in question checked. If you think that one (or more) is not such a good idea to do, please let me know – and why. Thanks so much.
 
OK, I've tried this four times and for some reason the attachment isn't showing up. I have no idea. Maybe it's something to do with this Web site? I've done attachments before and it always worked fine ... until now. Hmm...
 
I'm trying to attach it as a .jpg file, just like I always do. It's not working. :(
 
Argh! It's STILL not working! What's wrong with this Web site? Is not accepting attachments at the moment?
 
Forget it. I'll just hand type it all in. Here they are, in the Cleaning category of OnyX:

Browers' cache
Download cache
Browers' history
Cookies
Bookmark icons
System logs
Application logs
Archived logs
System CrashReporter logs
Application CrashReporter logs
User cache ("Clean" ... not "Clear All" option)
System cache ("Clean" ... not "Clear All" option)
Recent servers
Recent items
Reset Mac OS Help
Temporary files
 
I would REALLY like to know why this "manage attachments" feature on this site isn't working. :(
 
Lt Major Burns said:
i think scotts taken it off for some reason. ever the tinkerer! use image shack for now, i reckon.
Click to expand...

Oh, good. So it's not just my computer. Whew! Thanks for letting me know. Damn you, Scott! lol

Since I have no idea what "image shack" is, I guess I won't use it. At any rate, I've hand typed all the features in question. See above.

Thanks so much.
 
None of those are potentially dangerous.

The logs can be safely deleted, unless you're currently troubleshooting some problem on your Mac. All those caches are safe to delete, as they only hold temporary data.

Bookmark icons are downloaded each time you visit those sites, which means it's kinda pointless to delete them. They do not take up much space after all. Clearing your recent servers and items list is rather pointless. That won't save much space, and being able to easily find servers/documents you recently used is quite handy.

All in all, none of those items in the list are dangerous to delete.
 
Viro said:
None of those are potentially dangerous.

The logs can be safely deleted, unless you're currently troubleshooting some problem on your Mac. All those caches are safe to delete, as they only hold temporary data.

Bookmark icons are downloaded each time you visit those sites, which means it's kinda pointless to delete them. They do not take up much space after all. Clearing your recent servers and items list is rather pointless. That won't save much space, and being able to easily find servers/documents you recently used is quite handy.

All in all, none of those items in the list are dangerous to delete.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Viro!
 
Wow! Lt. Burns, thank you so much. Image Shack is great! OK, I did it, and here's the screen shot:



P.S. I'm not sure what the other (unchecked) features do (I've read them in OnyX Help, but I don't understand some of it), so I only use the features checked. If you see anything else that isn't checked that I *should* be doing, or that would be useful, please let me know. Thanks again.
 
I think most of this stuff will only hurt performance if you do it excessively. The system and browsers cache things to improve performance. If you clear the cache, that means it needs to get that data all over again, wasting time. Clearing system caches is sometimes useful if something has gone wrong and you need to force the system to get/make fresh data, but if everything is running as it should, it's probably best to let the system handle it.
 
Those items should not pose any problems, depending on what onyx does to those files, and what you might want those files for in the future.

For instance:
The system log files are maintained by the unix "periodic" daily task. What specifically does Onyx do to that/those files?
If Onyx was completely destructive with regard to those files, your machine would still happily churn along. No problem.
However, if you should experience problems, you might want to look at the system log file for clues. If Onyx hosed the log file, you will have no long term (typically 7 system.log archives are created and rotated out if all is working correctly...) log to reference.

But basically it should be okay to let Onyx do it's thing.
Caches can be problematic, and occasionally cleaning them out is not a bad idea.

Have fun! :)
 
Thank you all for your replies. :)

Ya know, it's funny ... I know some Mac users who have never done a thing, maintanence-wise, to their computers and run fantastically. On the other hand, I know Mac users who are a bit anal (like me!) about housekeeping, cleaning, maintaining, etc. their computers ... and they run fantastically.

I guess that's a good thing. It seems like whether you do or don't, the Mac still runs great!

I know one thing, I've never had such bliss with a computer in my life. I love my little iBook. I'm a Mac convert (used PCs my whole life, and boy, the hell I went through!).

*gets down on her hands and knees and worships Apple*

(Yikes. I got a little off topic here. Sorry!)
 
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