Do I Need This?

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Hi!

I did a search first to see if I could find some information on this but didn't find anything. So, if I have done something inappropriate ... I am saying "sorry" from the get go!

I just wanted to know - all these ads you see for speeding up your Mac, do I really need this kind of stuff?

I have CleanGenius and Washing Machine (it's a trial) currently and haven't had a chance to really look into them and see what they do.

Any feedback would be great, thank you!

Ryder
 
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I wouldn't bother with them, myself.
 
OP
R
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Thank you ... I appreciate you taking the time!

I wasn't sure!
 
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The sure way to speed up your mac is get a faster hard drive and add more RAM
 

vansmith

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And if you need something for maintenance, stick with something reputable like OnyX.
 
OP
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Excellent help ... thank you. I am actually going to look into adding RAM and getting a faster hard drive. I never really thought about this when I initially bought.

I am so use to the "other" system and wasn't sure if there was some sort of maintenance I should be doing on a regular basis.

Thank You!!
 
M

MacInWin

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The only maintenance you need to do is to occasionally check and repair permissions. Onyx does that brilliantly (and painlessly). Other than that and backing up your critical files, you should be good to go.
 
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And avoid MacKeeper, the so called speed up of your system, like the plague as it is crapware of the worst scenario.
 
C

chas_m

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In addition to the occasional (and we do mean "occasional" use of OnyX or something equally reputable), two other tips I've found over the years that REALLY help to keep your Mac performing at its best:

1. Backup, backup, backup. My current strategy is to use two different external hard drives -- one for the hourly Time Machine backups, and one for a daily (or so) Carbon Copy Cloner clone backup (the latter of which is bootable). I also store a few really precious bits of data in the cloud (and use iCloud and iTunes Match for my music files).

2. Keep a reasonable amount of disk space free at ALL times. Mac OS X, I've come to realise, prefers having plenty of temp space for whatever it wants to do (and some programs, like iMovie, feel the same way). If you're working with video and audio in particular, LOTS of free space on the boot drive is a MUST (even if you're using scratch disks elsewhere when available). I would say AT MINIMUM 20GB should be kept clear at all times, more if you're a "power user."
 

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