Q: how to clear my MAC cache

My laptop with a vertually free HD was slow and unresponsive. Word took forever to open, forget about photoshop! So I erased the HD and started again. Installed OS 10.9 and renistalled Microsoft Office 2011 and Adobe CS 6 and everything is running considerably faster ... can someone tell me why? I cant be all those little 'crapware' apps as mentioned in Linc's post?

My iMac 2010 desktop is having the same problems, I'm thinking of doing the same ... starting fresh. Does having 3 external HD connected simmultaneously cause considerable speed issues? ... or having a HD at 95% capacity?

Thank you so much Linc for this exellent and thorough intruction. Wish I had read it 2 years ago when I first bought Mac ... I have made some of the mistakes we often make as you listed, and learned some hard lessons. I copied it and keeping it.

Thanks Linc!

And I used this: http://www.macworld.com/article/2028900/how-to-disable-java-on-your-mac.html, by @rmogull

Best,

having a HD at 95% capacity?

That will do it!  It's time to clean up that hard drive.  If you reduce it to 50% or less things should improve considerably.  You may not need to erase & reinstall.

Having external HDs connected generally should have no impact on performance, unless they are also full and you are using USB connection.

One piece of software that I would suggest if you are worried about network connections that happen without your knowledge is "Little Snitch" I have used it for about 2 years and it works like the Zone Alarm software for Windows.

It will alert you to any internet or network connection coming from or going to your Mac. It will let you set rules to block whole apps from the internet or just a certain port. It is a great program for those who are looking to know what is and isn't using the internet for connectivity.

You will need to understand what programs will need connectivity and you can easily do a search the ones you don't know what they are for.

http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html

Linc,

Thanks so much for your detailed suggestions posted in response to the question about clearing caches on the mac. It was very helpful to me.

Maria

Allan Eckert wrote:

 

CleanMyMac was one of more dangerous apps I tested. It was forever going off and doing things without telling me it was going to do that. I would get rid of it.

 

I was not able to get a demo copy of Cocktail so I was not able to test it.

 

Allan

Agreed! CleanMyMac was one of the WORST programs I ever installed. My other Macbook that I installed it on never worked the same afterwards, even after (supposedly) removing the program and the files it secretly installed along with it. I consider this program malware!

I clean my cache manually and copy all the files to my Airport before deleting just in case.