how to "clean up" hd

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elizabethc3 Author

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how to "clean up" hd

How do you clean up the hard drive? I know how to do it for a PC, but haven't needed to do it yet for mac.
Thanks

macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jan 14, 2009 8:35 PM

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Answer 1

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Kappy

Level 10

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Jan 14, 2009 8:47 PM in response to elizabethc3

If you mean defragment a hard drive, then there's no real need to do so. OS X defrags all files under 20 MBs on the fly. Furthermore, OS X's filesystem minimizes the effects of fragmentation, and today's hard drives are much faster so there's little loss in performance caused by fragmentation until the drive becomes nearly filled. At that point, however, fragmentation would be the least of your concern.

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Answer 2

elizabethc3 Author

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Jan 14, 2009 8:59 PM in response to Kappy

I don't mean defragmenting really. I mean getting rid of the junk files that tend to accumulate in your computer.

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Answer 3

Kappy

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361,741 points

Jan 14, 2009 9:04 PM in response to elizabethc3

Drag them to the Trash and empty the Trash. What program would you hope to find that would know what junk files you've accumulated?

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Answer 4

elizabethc3 Author

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Jan 14, 2009 9:08 PM in response to Kappy

On a pc, there is an application called "disk clean up" which checks for unused temporary files, temporary internet files, broken links, etc. Is there anything comparable on a Mac?

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Answer 5

Kappy

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361,741 points

Jan 14, 2009 9:13 PM in response to elizabethc3

It's not much needed as such cleanups are performed automatically by the Unix maintenance scripts that run daily, weekly, and monthly.

You'll need to get used to the idea this is not Windows.

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Answer 6

1000rr04

Level 1

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Jan 16, 2009 9:38 AM in response to Kappy

I did not know that. this was informative. thank you.

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Answer 7

Jan 17, 2009 3:31 PM in response to 1000rr04

I think it is possible that those unix scripts don't get run on a computer that is not left on all the time. MacJanitor is a shareware app that lets you run that stuff whenever you care to.
Peter.

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Answer 8

Jan 17, 2009 3:53 PM in response to Peter Campbell

S'easy peasy in Terminal and there are ways and means to change the default settings.

I'm surprised that a Mac guru has not drifted details into this thread.

sudo (super user do?) is a very powerful command and MacJanitor allows a neat stepping stone into doing things Mac way.

Be bold, be positive ... now where is that Mac guru? Have you tried your local Mac shop?

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