Keith Trevolt , a reader who has switched from a Windows microcomputer to the Mac , has a cosmopolitan maintenance interrogative . I have some specific suggestions . He write :
I used to reformat my PC ’s voiceless drive annually to clean out all the files that slowed it down . Then it would run like it was make new . How often do I call for to do that with the Mac ? I want to make clean it up , make it run quicker , etc .
There are two schooling of persuasion on this ofttimes - expect question . They fall into these encampment :
Never .
and
Neverever .
I ’m not a Windows hombre , so forgive me if I paint this falsely , but my understanding is that this variety of advice is thrown so casually about because attempting to locate and cleanly distribute with all the dribs and drab of cruft that slack down a personal computer can be the oeuvre of an unpleasant life . So , rather than propel yourself into such a meter - sucking hell - hole , you start fresh .
But again , not a Windows guy so the reality may be far worse than I ’ve posited .
Although I ’ve heard of Mac users admit such a diagonal - and - burn approach shot , I honestly ca n’t recall the last fourth dimension I did such a thing . Instead , you might try these techniques :
1 . re-start your Mac every so often .
2 . Keep the desktop uninfected .
If you have a lot of files on the background your Mac will slacken down . Tidy up those files by placing them in brochure and the Finder will be snappy .
3 . Slim down the subject matter of your hard drive .
If your hard drive is closely full , your Mac will tend more tardily . Archive or scrap old file you no longer need .
4 . Add RAM .
More RAM can speed up some coating .
5 . reset your web browser and clear its cache .
Browsers are notorious for slowing down after they ’ve been run for a long time . If you find that your Web surfboarding has been scale down to dog - paddle , quit and reboot your browser app . If it ’s still slow , clear its cache . In Safari choose Safari - > Empty Cache . In Firefox choose Firefox - > Preferences - > Advanced - > connection and dawn the Clear Now button .
6 . discipline login particular .
Background coating and appendage can slow down your Mac . open up the Accounts organisation preference , select your invoice , and click the Login Items button to take a gander at what ’s slated to endure at startup . Do you need everything it number ? If not , delete the unnecessary item .
7 . condition Activity Monitor .
Launch Activity Monitor ( regain in /Applications / Utilities ) , take My Processes from the pop - up computer menu at the top of the window , and click the % C.P.U. heading . seem at the top several particular . This tell you what ’s drawing most of your Mac ’s attention . Are there detail there that you could do without ?
8 . Quit program .
Per the last trace , it ’s very promiscuous to run multiple applications on your Mac . But perhaps there are more running than you need . Look in the Dock . If you see loads of program with footling gamy dots beneath their icons ( indicate that they ’re active ) , quit those you are n’t planning to habituate in the near future .
9 . Speed up your wireless connection .
There are times that your connection is the bottleneck rather than your Mac . If you surmise this is the guinea pig , take a feel at Macworld contributor Glenn Fleishman ’s Speed Up Your Wireless internet . It ’s the goods .
10 . Buy a faster ( or dissimilar ) thrust .
A faster hard drive can zip up your Mac as can a solid state drive ( SSD ) . SSDs can have read and write times that are four to five time faster than a standard spinning hard drive .
