A big Christmas cleanup and optimization of Mac OS X

You have already polished all the glasses in the living room wall that you don't use even once a year, you have washed the bathtub that you didn't use this year nestThey have carefully scrubbed the aquarium and now you are just waiting in impatient anticipation for the moment when the first piece of carp falls into the pan and you will know that the last seconds of impatience will quickly pass and theoneAre you ready to start unwrapping Christmas presents?

If your wife has asked you a thousand times if you really cleaned everything and you always answer with a sentence like: "What do you think I've been doing for the last 14 days, reading?" LsA?” So now is the right time to speed up the wait and start completely cleaning your Mac OS X operating system. If you have never done the following steps before, you will probably find a gift before Christmas in the form of a faster running of your existing computer.

Clean up your desktop and Dashboard
It may seem silly to you, but the more icons you have on your desktop and in your Docku, the slower your system may be. Try as much as possible minireduce the number of icons and folders on the desktop and in Docku. It is also advisable to clean the folders as much as possible AppApplications, Documents and Downloads that you see in Docku. When opening them, fewer icons are loaded and everything is much faster.
Dashboard is an application that runs continuously while you are using Mac OS X. It uses your computer's hardware and slows it down. Every Widget slows down your system. So you can turn off all Widgety if you are not using them. This will speed up the system.

Turn off auto-start applications after startup
Some applications, without you wanting it, can start either themselves or at least their client directly at the start of the operating system. These applications can then run the entire time you are working on your computer without you knowing about it and thus use system resources for their own operation. Open System Preferences and then Accounts. Under the Login Items tab, you can see most of the automatically launched applications. Uncheck all the ones you don't want to use right after the system starts and delete them from this list immediately with the minus button (the application itself is not deleted from the disk, only from the menu of launched applications after the system starts).

Monolinqual - remove unnecessary languages
The Monolinqual app basically does the same thing as Xslimmer at first glance. However, the difference is that while Xslimmer only removes languages ​​from individual applications, Monoliqual removes a given language completely from the entire operating system. In addition, Monoliqual is completely free and will also allow you to remove information about keyboards and support for older processors. Monoliqual is an application that can remove all language sets, keyboard languages ​​and support for older processors from your Mac OS X. Although Mac OS X 10.7 seems to have absolutely no support for PPC processors anymore, the opposite is true, it has around 70MB of this support. If you had Mac OS X installed on your Mac and haven't reinstalled since then where you manually omitted the language sets, then believe me you have over 900MB of keyboard languages ​​and something like 300MB of Mac OS X locales on your disk.

The application installs just like any other on Mac OS X, after installing it, just run the application and three menus will appear.

• Languages
• Input Menu (keyboard languages)
• Architectures (PPC support)

After you have selected the items you want to remove in the given menu, you can remove all languages ​​that you do not use from the Languages ​​menu. For example, we will select all languages ​​except English/Czech and select Remove. Be careful though! If you use third-party applications in Czech/Slovak or another language, you must exclude the language from the languages ​​you want to uninstall! Then we will confirm that we really want to remove the languages ​​by clicking the Continue button and entering adminipassword. The whole process will take about 4-5 minutes if you select all languages, during which your processor will sweat a little. The result is almost one gigabyte of free space on your disk. In the Input item, you can safely delete everything except AppleKeyboardLayouts, you get about 300MB more space on your disk. The last item is a bit of an oddity. Although indeed Apple advertised everywhere that Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was stripped of support for PowerPC processors, it contains almost a hundred megabytes of them. So you can again choose to remove everything except Intel and Intel 64-bit.

Of course, we were not talking about saving about 1,2 GB, but about cleaning the disk from files that Mac OS X has to work with and are not useful at all. So if you have removed everything, your Mac should be much faster after restarting than before, as many people who have used the application have already confirmed. Of course, not all of them necessarily have to speed up the computer, if not at least you have more disk space. Important notice for Mac OS X 10.7 testers, the application is not compatible with this version of the operating system.

• You can download the Monolinqual app for free here

Daisydisk
The longer you use your Mac, the more files accumulate on the disk that most users don't even know they have on their computer. Of course, we're not talking about files that you've saved with the intention of actively using them. After a few months of use, your computer will start to contain several GB of backup history. iOS devices, email attachments, duplicate files and other things that often take up a huge amount of disk space. These files are not normally visible to the average user and they usually don't even realize they are on the computer. The problem arises when, even after deleting all the files you intentionally saved on the disk, you don't have enough free space. Manually searching the entire disk is completely impossible, which is why there is an application called DaisyDisk that can detect all the files stored on the disk and sort them by size.

When DaisyDisk is first launched, it first scans the entire disk and analyzes individual files and folders. Subsequently, you can already see the individual folders, including information about how much disk space they take up. In the directories, it is possible to proceed from the entire disk to individual files. The current size is displayed for all folders and files. In addition, DaisyDisk renders a clear graph that visually displays individual files and folders on the disk, including their relative size. If you want to view the files of a selected folder and do not want to go through the entire disk, just move the folder to the DaisyDisk application icon.

Selected files or folders can be opened in Finderor simply add them to the so-called Collector, which stores selected files/folders and then allows you to conveniently delete them all at once. However, this feature only works with the paid version of the application. In the trial version, you can mark files/folders and add them to the Collector, but subsequent deletion from the disk is not possible.

The DaisyDisk application is a handy helper that will give you an overview of the files on your disk and will surely discover files that you didn't even know you had on your computer. If you just want to get an overview of the files or you're not too spoiled, the trial version will surely be enough for you, which will allow you to open the selected files/folders in Finderwhere you can delete them. The application stands out especially for its simplicity, thanks to which even a complete beginner who is just learning how to use a computer can get an overview of the files. However, be very careful not to delete files that you do not know whether they serve the function of the operating system itself. Always delete only files whose function you are 100% sure of.

• You can download DaisyDisk for free for 30 days here
• You can purchase DaisyDisk for $9,95 here

Clean the system - MainMenu
I chose MainMenu because of its simplicity and the functions it offers. We can add a menu icon to the taskbar, where we can find individual program tools, such as: Disk utility, cleaner, rebuild, finder, scripts, etc. Thanks to MainMenu, you can delete all the data that is stored on your Mac without your knowledge, clean up your internet browsers, repair your disks, clean up your login records and much more. In addition, you can set all the functions you want to perform under one menu item, which will do everything automatically.

It is a really great program, but it has functions that can lead to system failure if used incorrectly, so it is definitely not a good idea to try everything that comes to mind. Some of the basic functions that are good to perform about once a week include Repair disk permissions (correcting access rights to files on the disk), clean system cache (clearing the system cache), clean browser history (clearing the browser memory, which includes search history, cookies, information about downloaded files, history of viewed pages, and more). If you use these functions, there is no risk of system crashing and your Mac will not be overwhelmed with unnecessary information.

• You can download the MainMenu application in a trial version, or buy it for EUR 16,80 here.

clean my mac
Each operating system has its advantages and disadvantages, and in addition to the standard installed files, everyone needs to create auxiliary so-called temporary files, which have the task of speeding up or simplifying some activities necessary for trouble-free work in the system. But these temporary files, on the one hand, useful to us, over time start to take up a lot of disk space that we may miss to a large extent. Not to mention the gradual slowing down of the system, which will cause us to display "beach ball" more often than is healthy for our nerves. That's when we start looking at the system and its speed, with which we worked immediately after unpacking the MAC from the box. One option is to install a clean system, but let's face it, who would want that, and the other is to use some software that will rid us of these unnecessary files. One such program is an application from MacPaw called CleanMyMac.

The advantage of the application is its friendliness and ease of use. The emphasis is on cleaning the system with two clicks so that you don't have to go through complex settings and startups that sooner or later you will get tired of. The left part of the window shows the items that CleanMyMac works with and can clean:

• My Mac (basic version information, size of deleted files...)
• Caches (Caches files that help applications load content faster)
• Logs (logs record information about the activities of various applications and system services)
• Language Files (Removal of unnecessary language files for some selected applications)
• Uiversal Binaries (Removing unnecessary FAT binaries can speed up application startup)
• System Junk (e.g. .DS_)Store files created by Spotlight)
• Trashes & Leftovers (files referencing files that no longer exist)

Utilities:

• Manage Extension mini-applications of the so-called  widgetfrom the dashboard)
• Uninstall Application (Uninstalling applications using the “drag n drop” system)
• Quick Erase Files (Quick removal of unwanted files without moving them to the trash)

• You can download the MainMenu application here.

Repair the hard drive
Given all the changes being made, I recommend using the system Disk Utility, which can be found in your Mac OS X in the Applications – Utilities section, up toonec. Simply open the application and then select the hard drive and choose to either test or repair the disk access rights (Repair Disk Permissions). Correct the access rights miniat least once every 2-3 weeks. If you want to repair the entire disk directly, first use Verify Disk to check if the system really needs repair. Insert the Mac OS X DVD into the drive and restart your computer. Hold down the C key while booting up, then open Disk Utility and then choose Repair.air Disk.

PRAM and NVRAM Reset
The following procedure is suitable for anyone who feels that their battery has stopped reaching the same endurance as before. Also for anyone who feels that their Mac OS X and computer are no longer as powerful as before, or have problems with the display/keyboard backlight, speed, and so on. For example, when switching from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, putting my Mac to sleep and waking it up took long seconds, fortunately, PRAM and SMC reset helpedstoreThe following procedure is completely safe, you will not lose any data or system settings, the only thing that can happen is changing the date to the default setting, but changing it to the current time takes a few seconds, there is no risk of anything more.

Before you start resetting something, you might be interested in what it actually is and what such PRAM and NVRAM memory is responsible for. PRAM memory takes care of the following settings and communication of the operating system with the hardware in the following matters.

• Status AppleTalk
• Serial Port Port Configuration and Definition
• Alarm clock setting
• Font usage
• Printer location (USB/Wifi….)
• Autokey rate
• Autokey delay
• Speaker volume
• Alert (beep) sound
• Double-click the time
• Cursor Blink Rate
• Mouse speed
• Startup disk
• Menu blink Count
• In-depth monitoring
• 32-bit addressing
• Virtual memory
• RAM disk
• Disk cache

By resetting this memory, you can correct errors that may appear in one of the parts listed above, of course these characteristics also affect the condition and performance of the battery. To reset PRAM and VRAM, follow the procedure below.

1. Turn off the computer
2. Find the keys on your keyboard Command + Alt + P + R
3. Turn on the computer and press keys Command + Alt + P + R
   
4. Hold down the keys immediately after pressing the Power button until you hear the Mac startup sound a second time. (Mac will restart)
5. Allow the system to boot and then restart Mac OS X in the normal way
6. All is done!

No data or settings will be lost when resetting PRAM and VRAM! Restarting can help resolve issues your computer may be having as well as improve battery health and performance.

SMC reset

The SMC, or System Management Controller, is one of the most important components of your computer, affecting all of its sensors and, among other things, the health and life of your battery. Before resetting the SMC, my battery was in MacBook Pro 15″ Unibody endurance at 100% charging time 2 hours and 5 minutes, after resetting the SMC the battery has 100% charging time 4 hours 10 minutes. SMC management is therefore responsible for:

• Reaction to the Power button
• Response to opening and closing the display on portable Macs
• Battery management
• Thermal management
• SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor) function
• Ambient light sensing sensor
• Keyboard backlight
• Light status indicator (SIL) management
• Battery status indicator - battery light
• Selecting an external (instead of internal) video source for some iMac displays

Resetting the SMC varies depending on the type of your machine, if you have a computer without or with a non-removable battery, follow these steps:

1. Turn off the computer.
2. Plug it in and let it charge.
3. On the keyboard, press the keys on the left side Shift + Ctrl + Alt and at the same time the Power key (Turning on the machine), i.e. all 4 at the same time.
4. Hold the keys for 2-3 seconds and release them all at once.
5. Turn on the computer normally
6. All is done

If you have a computer with replacement batteries, choose the following procedure:

1. Turn off the computer
2. Unplug it from the outlet
3. Remove the battery
4. Press the Power button for 5 seconds
5. Insert the battery
6. Turn on the computer
7. All is done

No data or settings will be lost when resetting the SMC! Restarting can help resolve issues your computer may be having as well as improve battery health and performance.

Of course, the condition and performance of the battery will also affect battery formatting, you can read more about how to do it in our next article.

Summary
If you have used all the tools and options in the above article, you will definitely see a noticeable difference in free space, system speed and especially in its responsiveness and response to commands. Of course, it all depends on the state of your system before cleaning.