How to Clean Mac Hard Drive

Is your mac running slow? Seeing that color pin wheel too often? Want to "clean up" your computer? Here's one way to do it using a free software called OnyX.

• Determine your Operating System: Click on the blue apple in the upper left, then click "About this Mac." At the top it will likely say "Mac OS X" and below it a version number, which you should write down. (If you have an old Mac it might say something about Version 9).
  
  
• Download and Install OnyX: You can find it at http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html You'll need to install the version that matches your operating system. [more details on downloading & installing software.]

Using OnyX: These are instructions I got from a discussion board. They worked for me. In particular, this process seemed to resolve a problem of very slow rendering with Final Cut Pro video editing software.

• Using OynX: The OnyX software has slight variations depending on the mac Operating system you have. I'm using OS X Version 4 (Tiger).
  
  For OS X version 4, I was prompted to do the following, which I did:
  
  
• check SMART status
  
  
• Verify Startup Disk
  
  As general advice, I ran the following steps without changing the default items that were selected.
  
  
• Check System Preferences: Under Unix Utilities, run plutil, which checks system preference files to ensure none are corrupted. Hopefully it will run and say "OK".
  
  
• Clear Caches: Under Cleaning run the program with the defaults. if you select other items, e.g., cookies, you'll delete auto passwords to sites you visit.
  
  For some versions of OnyX, depending on your operating system, you might need to reboot your computer and restart Onyx.
  
  
• Maintenance Scripts: Under Maintenance, run "verify permissions." Then, run the maintenance scripts. Then, run a "complete optimization."

Now you're done with OnyX.

Here's some more checks you can do following the use of OnyX:

Load "disk utility" software from the applications>utilities folder. Under first aid, verify the disk. If it's OK, great.

If it finds any issues, then reboot your computer from the OS X CD, holding the C key down. From the menu bar, start disk utility. Under first aid, repair the disk (you can't repair a disk the hard drive you booted from).

Thankfully, I've not had to do the latter, but would try it if necessary.

I hope this is helpful and not harmful. You can always Google the various terms used above to gain a better understanding of them.

Sources:

Discussion Thread from which I got this advice.