[Morbius]

how do i defrag a mac
or better yet, what is general good maintenance to do on one?

[Grozni Majmun]

Originally posted by Morbius:
<STRONG>how do i defrag a mac
or better yet, what is general good maintenance to do on one?</STRONG>

To defrag, you need a program like Norton Utilities (there are others too, but that is what I use)

Another good maintenance thing to do occasionally is to rebuild the desktop file. Hold down the option and apple keys during startup until you are asked if you really want to rebuid the desktop.

[VRL]

TechTool Pro works, too - has several useful tools. Of course, Norton is the old stand-by.

Another I use on an older Mac is from Alsoft ... DiskExpress Pro (with scheduled defrag). (They now sell DiskWarrior, but I've not used this one.)

General maintenance?
1. I back up (automatically) important files weekly. (Projects are backed up daily.) For this, I tend to go with free software like Redux. http://www.versiontracker.com/morein...796&amp;db=mac
2. Defrag every month or two, at least. More frequently for computers that I use for day-to-day projects.
3. Do virus checks every week or two. I also check everything that comes from a PC user (esp. files off of zip disks, etc.) and all files I download off the internet.
4. I clear out/organize e-mail at least weekly. Be sure to clean out attachment files, etc. I also clear out cookie file weekly (using software like MagicCookie Monster).
5. If you have software installed that you don't use, delete it.
6. Watch for updates to your software (versiontracker.com will e-mail weekly lists of updates to you). Many updates are free - makes sense to use them!

[ 11-04-2001: Message edited by: VRL ]