Mac experts, I am new to Mac and I need help on knowing how to maintenance iMAC computer?

Question

I am knew to Mac and I want to know if there is anything I need to do to maintenance it. I remember with PC I did a disk clean up and defragged it every night. Is there something similar with Mac computers? So please let me know and thanks for all your answers.

Answer 1

Welcome to the world of Macs, but more specifically, the technology behind it.

If your idea of maintenance is disk cleanup, defragmentation, etc, then you don't need to worry about any of that. Apple, in conjunction with the Unix core that the Operating System is built on, do a good job of keeping the system running smooth and snappy at all times.

Unlike Windows who trashes the file system, making the system very slow as soon as just 3 months old. With Apple, there are built-in maintenance scripts that run daily, weekly and monthly, which are perfect for people who keep their systems running 24/7, they rarely needs a reboot.

If you still want to have more control over the maintenance part of the system, you can always get a software like OnyX, etc, that gives you an interface of the things that you can perform to your system for tuning and tweaking.

Defragmentation is not necessary, the mac will automatically optimize files everytime it installs a program and at several other instances, none of which require you to go out for lunch while it does that.

Also, even with you PC, i don't recommend you defrag the hard drive often, especially not almost every night!! It kills the hard drive mechanically.. If you need to defrag your hard drive every night, then your hard drive is already half dead.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Macs don't need much maintenance. Plus, most viruses are made for PCs so Macs aren't as likely to get sick.
Norton stopped making a lot of the utilities that do things like Defragmentation. But even then this was only something I did when things were really acting up. If you bought Mac's tech support, it proves worth it. It comes with some tools and they're really great at troubleshoooting should you run into difficulty. But for the most part, I think you won't.
Still, clear out your cache, temporary files, trash etc. That will keep your system running more smoothly. All in all, Macs are user friendly and reliable.

Answer 3

I have a Windows box that I use sometimes in my office for the rare can't-do-it-on-a-Mac things and it is a horror to maintain. I used to do tech support for Dell and we were kept busy by customers with virus issues. Most of them didn't think they had a virus. Most of the customers who declared they had a virus were mistaken so it was quite a circus. Fortunately, it isn't an issue of significance for a Mac.

I have used Macs for more than ten years and it is my opinion that the only maintenance that can be useful is to run a disk repair utility every thousand hours or so of use. Even then, I only find a problem about once a year. If the scan finds no problems, relax and get back to work (or play).

I have never found any improved performance from defragging and I base this on simply timing Photoshop filter processing before and after defragging -- no difference at all. If you still think you should defrag, just copy everything to an external drive, erase the internal drive, reinstall OS X and copy stuff back from the external drive. From my experience, this is usually faster than any defrag utility.

As far as disk clean up, what the heck is that, anyway? Does it find files it thinks you don't need and either delete them or nag you to approve deleting them? I don't get a build up of unwanted files and I use my Mac 6-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. This becomes a personal choice and my choice is to forget about it. You should be able to find those downloads that are no longer needed and toss them yourself.

I have used anti-virus software occasionally when I get it free from my workplace but it never finds anything on my Mac so I consider it a waste of time.

Cache is automatically limited by your browser so why empty it? Another case of throwing salt over your shoulder.

The only thing I am careful about is browsing. I use Firefox with NoScripts. You can't get any safer. Most people don't realize how many web sites that appear innocent harbor devious cross-scripting to get your personal data. If there is a similar script regulator for Safari, you should give it a try but until that and half a dozen other oddities of Safari are fixed, I will stick with Firefox for best security.

Of course, 99 percent of preparation for possible problems involves backing up data. If you don't do that, you are courting disaster.

Answer 4

With my Mac I used to just empty trash every week or so - whenever I remembered basically. I would also clean the internet cache once a week or so. I have to do more maintenance on my PC than I ever did on the Mac - they are easier to use and more user friendly.
Just remember to run the software update each week, or set it up to automatically run, as that will update your security updates for you, plus i-tunes, and operating system updates and then install them.

Answer 5

Great answer from nightkids. There is some minor routine maintenance though when you update software. MacFixit.com and others recommend that you run the "repair permissions" section of the disk utility (in utilities folder) before and after you install or update your software. Other than that, there's little to do.

Answer 6

nope. the computer basically takes care of its self. if something does go horribly wrong, just take it into a mac store and talk to one of there geniuses, they can help you fix it.