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User profile for user: xoBRiot
xoBRiot Author
User level: Level 1
1 points

Macbook pro upkeep

Alright, so I'm in college and my Mac is only a year and a month old - it's been used pretty heavily lately and it's great and I love it. I had to download a "antivirus" through my school - it does nothing, it's pointless. My Mac has been kind of touchy lately, I cleaned up some files, my desktop, cleared start up things, installed updates I've been dragging my feet on. I almost made the mistake of downloading MacKeeper - luckily I came here first and found out about Onyx. When I went to their site, it brought me to this page http://www.titanium.free.fr/download.php so I downloaded all three things. Is that necessary? What do you guys use to keep your Mac beautiful?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Dec 17, 2013 9:11 AM

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4 replies
User profile for user: Eustace Mendis
Eustace Mendis
User level: Level 7
25,416 points

Dec 17, 2013 9:23 AM in response to xoBRiot

Other than serious technical issues that are not controllable by the user, the single most recurrent problem in these discussions is hard drive obesity.


In my opinion one does not need third party utilities if you keep your Mac lean and mean. Images, videos, music etc. can be kept on an external drive, with the boot drive reserved for essentials.


And do make sure you have a back up. Two, if you want to be really careful.

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User profile for user: Melophage
Melophage
User level: Level 5
7,213 points

Dec 17, 2013 9:42 AM in response to xoBRiot

xoBRiot,


of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 😉 Unlike Eustace Mendis, I do find a few third-party utilities to be indispensable for my particular usage, though I wholeheartedly agree with his recommendation to make regular backups — recovery from a disastrous situation is far, far easier that way. If you haven’t done so already, buy an external disk (ideally with at least triple the capacity of your MacBook Pro’s disk) and use Time Machine to set up the external disk as the backup destination. Leave the external disk plugged into the MacBook Pro when they’re both on your desk, and your MacBook Pro will do the backing up for you.

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User profile for user: bugzinc
bugzinc
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 24, 2013 8:34 PM in response to xoBRiot

I've been using mackeeper for 3 years on my MacBook Pro. I swear by it and recommend it to everyone. I even have it on my Mac mini and MacBook Air...

It's a great tool.

Yes, if you leave it constantly running, it can be a resource hog...but most any virus style apps are.

Regardless, I see a lot of mackeeper bashing in the support forums and I just don't understand...

I love the virus software, duplicates finder, disk cleanup, and login items and update tracker...just wanted to throw in my 2 cents.

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User profile for user: PlotinusVeritas
PlotinusVeritas
User level: Level 6
14,872 points

Dec 24, 2013 8:41 PM in response to xoBRiot



MacKeeper is pure trash, is "worse than awful" dont dare install it.



Eustice is certainly right about "hard drive obesity"


see:


Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection




as for keeping your Macbook physically taken care of:



See here:


Considerations for the long life of your MacBook. Handling and environmental care tips



😉

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Macbook pro upkeep

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