News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

May 9, 2006

huh

Does Apple’s left hand know what the right is doing?

Posted May. 9, ’06, 10:14 PM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Apple » Huh?

iMac First Aid MacInTouch pointed out an Apple Knowledge Base article on maintenance yesterday. Some parts are no brainers. Some of them are a little less obvious. The rest just don’t seem to make sense.

There’s ten tips in the document and rather than clutter the front page, I’ve broken my discussion into the extended section. Meet me there and see if you agree with my assessment.

1) Keep Things Up to Date
Make it a point to check for Apple software updates once a month to keep your system running optimally. From the Apple menu, choose Software Update (make sure that your computer is connected to the Internet). Software Update will assess the Apple software on your computer and check our servers for new versions. If it finds any, the updates will appear in the Software Update window. Select the checkbox for the software you want and then click the Install button to download and install the software.

Software Update can do this automatically. Why are we doing it manually here?

2) Put Your Toys Away
You’re not 5 years old anymore—make it a point to clear off the mess strewn about across your desktop and put your files away where you can easily find them. This can help prevent accidental file deletion (you may inadvertently select and trash a wanted file with your undesirables) and help you find things much more efficiently. You can get organized by creating new folders (in the Finder, press Shift-Command-N) and arranging them into a workable hierarchy for your files at hand, or you can move your files into existing folders.

Staying organized is always a good idea.

3) Name Your Children
Untitled folder 8, Word027.doc, DSC1366.jpg—you’ve probably got a few (or way more than a few) files and folders that you’ve felt less than inspired to properly name. Then suddenly you need to pluck that prized picture from your ginormous collection of DSC0001.jpg to DSC_1400.jpg named files—if you only knew which number it was. Go through your generically-named files and folders and give them more descriptive names so you can find what you need fast (though it can find files quickly, Spotlight won’t find your tabloid-ready Bigfoot picture if you left the file alone with its cryptic camera-given name).

This makes sense for everything but the pictures. iPhoto handles this for you. If you rename after you’ve imported into it, iPhoto gets confused. Oops.

4) Prune Through Your File Forest
To reduce the amount of clutter on your hard drive, free up some disk space by archiving large, seldom used files (learn how here), and be sure to name the resulting archive file appropriately too, so you know what’s in it. Delete any unnecessary or outdated personal files whenever possible and anything that you no longer want or need—just drag them all into the Trash and don’t forget to empty it. Be brave. Your computer will reward you with improved performance.

Aggressively doing this can cause you to delete files accidentally, or lose them in random archives. I’m assuming the performance increase is supposedly due to less file fragmentation, but realistically, unless your hard drive is nearly full, I don’t think it’s really a concern.

5) Repair Disk Permissions
It’s a good idea to make sure that your disk permissions are in good working order on a regular basis—especially after upgrading or installing new software. Open Disk Utility (find it in /Applications/Utilities) and select your hard disk icon in the left pane. Click the First Aid tab, then click Repair Disk Permissions to start the process, which can take a few minutes to complete. If Disk Utility finds any issues, it’ll fix them along the way.

This step is highly debated (it’s also known as zapping the PRAM for the new millennium). If it’s such a good idea after installs, why doesn’t Apple enforce it in the Installer application, or when their own updates are applied?

6) Back Up Your Files
To prevent losing your prized or important files, make it a point to back up your keepsakes on a regular basis. You can back up files onto a CD, DVD, external hard drive, iPod, iDisk, or other storage medium and then delete the copies on your hard drive to free up some space. To learn how to back up files, choose Mac Help from the Help menu in the Finder and do a search for “back up files.” To get some ideas of what and what not to back up, see this page.

Absolutely. Bad stuff happens. Be a boy scout. Be prepared.

7) Restart Your Computer Every Once in a While
While your Mac can happily hum along 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you should restart it every once in a while to refresh the system if you’re in the habit of keeping your computer running all day and night. This can help clear issues before they arise.

Like 5, this seems to be more voodoo than realistic advice. I don’t reboot my systems unless I have to. In particular, my Powerbook usually stays running continuously between software updates that require a restart.

8) Check for Viruses
Macs don’t get anywhere near the amount of viruses that Windows PCs are prone to, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t get infected. If you don’t already have antivirus software, you may want to consider making a purchase. If you have the software installed, be sure to keep your virus definitions up to date—you can find the latest updates on your software manufacturer’s website.

This is crap. Has someone from the FUD machine started moonlighting as a tech writer for Apple’s KB?

9) Optimize Your Hard Drive
To ensure the best system performance and keep file damage to an all-time low, optimize your hard drive once a year. Third-party utilities such as Alsoft Disk Warrior Optimizer and Micromat Tech Tool Pro will defragment and optimize your drive.

Again, WHAT? The former isn’t even a real product (it’s PlusOptimizer). And what they actually mean is for OS 9 only! As for TechTool Pro, they tell you not to use it on Intel Macs. Furthermore, HFS+ isn’t fragmentation prone like FAT32. OS X even defragments files under 20 MB in size automatically.

Be sure to back up important files before optimizing your drive.

Here’s some smart advice. That said, optimizing is a waste of time.

10) Clean the Outside Too
Dust and other debris can harm your computer’s innards if you allow the stuff to build up around your workspace. Use a soft, dry, lint-free cloth, feather duster, or canned air to clean your Mac’s outside as well as the surface areas around it. You can use a slightly water-dampened cloth to clean the screen. Do not use any type of liquid cleaner to clean your Mac.

Yup. Electronics work better clean.

Honestly, I expect better out of Apple. I hope they reevaluate and edit this document. It’s almost like the writer knows nothing about Macs.


4 Comments

Jesse said:

A few things that you need to consider about this Maintenance guide thing. Its aimed at people who know nothing about their mac. Everything on there is a great idea for the beginner to start doing. Yeah Software Update runs itself, but it doesnt always pop up right away. These are mostly good habits to get into. This is a step in the right direction for Apple. They are getting away from the "our OS is bulletproof" idea and stepping toward the "Our OS is better then yours, but you still need to maintain it" Not a bad thing at all

May 10, 2006 5:42 AM
Dan said:

I agree with your comments except number 7. I've noticed a reboot helps clear out random havoc-wreaking midgets in my powerbook sometimes. I didn't think it would work either, but if you've got a program that's behaving, ahem, disagreeably, a quick reboot has helped me in the past.

May 10, 2006 5:45 AM
sonartempo said:

"You can back up files onto a CD, DVD, external hard drive, iPod, iDisk, or other storage medium and then delete the copies on your hard drive to free up some space."

Perhaps a slightly pedantic point, but if you delete the original copies then you haven't actually performed a backup, have you? You've just moved the files to a different location that could equally suffer from loss, deletion, corruption, Alien invasion...

May 10, 2006 6:22 AM
clarkbar said:

actually, about #7, telling you to restart occasionally, i do find that works for me. i have an ibook from late 05, and this has helped on 2 occasions:
1. my power settings seemed to be wacked, and the computer wouldnt go to sleep as it was scheduled to. no freezing of anything, just thought it was in best proformance mode when it wasnt. restart fixed it
2. the other day istat on my dashboard said i had alot of wired but inactive RAM, but i was only running safari. restart fixed it

May 10, 2006 7:53 AM

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