Advice On Cleaning And Maintaining A Mac

[bellringr]

I need advice or helpful links please on how to maintain and clean up a Mac ibook. I haven't used a mac in probably 10 years and have no idea if they have the equivalent of disk check and defrag.

 

Another question - my mom somehow turned off the option to have her OS automatically updated and hasn't done updates in a very long time. How can I get that turned back on for her? I've Googled for sites but haven't come up with much useful info yet.

 

Thanks!

[earache]

Pretty easy to do. First, I wouldn't worry about defragging unless you're really noticing a slow down. I'm assuming that she's running OSX: to get to the software update control panel, look in the dock at the bottom of the screen for System Preferences. If it's not there, click on the Apple icon in the upper left and select System Preferences from there. Once that's open, click on Software Update and make any setting changes you want... you can also force it to check for updates now. You'll need her system password to do the installs.

 

You can also use the Disk Utility to check the drives. Find it in the Applications/Utilities dir.

 

Hope that helps.

 

I need advice or helpful links please on how to maintain and clean up a Mac ibook.  I haven't used a mac in probably 10 years and have no idea if they have the equivalent of disk check and defrag.

 

Another question - my mom somehow turned off the option to have her OS automatically updated and hasn't done updates in a very long time.  How can I get that turned back on for her?  I've Googled for sites but haven't come up with much useful info yet.

 

Thanks!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[kellybellydotnet]

In addition to what earache suggested (in Disk Utility, make sure to Repair Permissions -- you won't be able to check for errors unless you're booted from a CD or external volume), I recommend using a program called MacJanitor. This program runs the clean up and maintenance scripts that are scheduled to run each night but usually don't since most home users shut down their computer. I usually run all every few weeks.

 

Do this stuff before you install anything from the Software Updates, and again after. It's a good habit to get into.