Any thoughts about 'cleanmymac2'?

Stay away from it as well as all the others, it's crapware, incompatible with Mavericks memory management system. All it can do is slow your Mac down while the mess it made is untangled.

Off load some of the big stuff (videos/photos/music) to an external drive.

Don't touch it, or any others that make similar claims.

Installing third party software such as this is analogous to giving you pet rabies and paying for the privilege.

Ciao.

Stay away from those kind of programs. There are few good programs on app store. Disk Doctor is one of them.

Disk Doctor is certainly not a 'good' one.

That depends entirely on the app, if it is an Apple app dragging it to the trash is fine. For all other apps you should consult the vendors documentation to find out how to remove it. Don't just trash it, that may cause a reinstallation just so it can be correctly uninstalled.

wingsfan4,

The absolute best way (well, usually) to uninstall software is to use an uninstaller provided by the developer. I say 'usually' because there are some nefarious products that will leave bits and pieces of itself around and these, in themselves, can cause problems. Even 'big name brands' like Norton/Symantec can leave bits behind. Though not usually so that you can't find and remove it after an uninstall.

There's really no simple answer to your question. But take a look at the X Lab -> Uninstalling Applications.

Good luck,

Clinton

wingsfan4 wrote:

... it's hard when you read positive reviews/ratings/recommendations from big name sites.

Nearly all of the "big name sites" are being paid to write what they do. If the site accepts advertisements, they are not impartial, and nearly all websites accept advertisements.

Notice the lack of advertisements on this one.

wingsfan4 wrote:

OK, one more question.... the 'cleanmymac' app is from macpaw & they also have an app 'cleanmydrive' that is available at the Apple app store...

Because an application is available from the App Store is not an endorsement that it is good. I see no value in acquiring that application (cleanmydrive).

Ciao.

wingsfan4 wrote:

OK, one more question.... the 'cleanmymac' app is from macpaw & they also have an app 'cleanmydrive' that is available at the Apple app store... is that one ok to use?

No, none of them are.

There are a lot of useless apps in the App Store. "CleanMyDrive" is among them. The database files it claims to "clean" exist to enhance a Mac's performance. Deleting them will degrade performance, and require them to be rebuilt. Other tasks are more easily and safely accomplished by using the user interface tools every Mac already includes.

If you simply want to waste time, there are plenty of games to choose from.

When discussing any Mac related concern you should purge the word "clean" from your lexicon. It's misleading in that it implies neglecting a Mac will cause it to somehow become "unclean", and after all who wants a filthy Mac. The emotional connotation results in many Mac users represented on this site to relate tales of misery after using garbage "cleaning" apps. Avoid them as you would a social disease.

Macs are designed to be neglected when they're not being used, and work best if you simply leave them to work as they're designed to work - as the productivity, communications, and / or entertainment appliance you presumably concluded it was when you made that very wise purchase decision.

How to clean Apple products - Apple Support