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Finding bad- corrupt- or un-needed files

I think I have some bad files. All the files in my download Folder have a mess. It seems my App files and personal files , are mixed in with good ones! Now, how can I tell what's no longer needed?

MacBook, macOS 10.12

Posted on Jul 21, 2022 4:14 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 21, 2022 10:26 PM

EveDapple Said:

"Finding bad- corrupt- or un-needed files: I think I have some bad files. All the files in my download Folder have a mess. It seems my App files and personal files , are mixed in with good ones! Now, how can I tell what's no longer needed?"

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Reinstall the macOS:

The volume may corrupt.  So, reinstall the macOS. Nothing would be lost. It's just that misplaced items would be placed back to where they should be and corrupt system files would be replaced by clean files. Go Here: Reinstall macOS - Apple Support.


Important: Prior to the reinstallation, to prevent data loss, be sure to back up your Mac with Time Machine, so that you can have something to restore your Mac from, should anything happen after the reinstall.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 21, 2022 10:26 PM in response to EveDapple

EveDapple Said:

"Finding bad- corrupt- or un-needed files: I think I have some bad files. All the files in my download Folder have a mess. It seems my App files and personal files , are mixed in with good ones! Now, how can I tell what's no longer needed?"

-------


Reinstall the macOS:

The volume may corrupt.  So, reinstall the macOS. Nothing would be lost. It's just that misplaced items would be placed back to where they should be and corrupt system files would be replaced by clean files. Go Here: Reinstall macOS - Apple Support.


Important: Prior to the reinstallation, to prevent data loss, be sure to back up your Mac with Time Machine, so that you can have something to restore your Mac from, should anything happen after the reinstall.

Jul 21, 2022 10:15 PM in response to EveDapple

There is no easy way, but...


Start with this...


Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode? Could take 10 minutes or more.


Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches & loads safe Drivers, & prevents loading of 3rd party extensions, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.


We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...


EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/


Pastebin is a good place to paste the whole report if you capture the URL while there…

https://pastebin.com/

Whew, they've changed pastebin & made it harder, but after pasting in, click Create new paste button, then Embed button, then copy the URL...

<script src="https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA"></script>


The important part of the above is...


https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA


Workable but harder for me to work with...the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...

Finding bad- corrupt- or un-needed files

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