Maintenance in Leopard 10.5.1

As my Mac Pro is turned off overnight am I missing out on the systems essential maintenance sequence and if so, can I use programs such as Onyx to run these?
Cheers
Mark

Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.0 is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.6.1 is Leopard compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. The current version, 1.5.1, is Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.
OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that presently AppleJack is not compatible with Leopard.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
4. arRSync
Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.

Similar Messages

  • Macintish Leopard 10.5.3 Maintenance Best Practices?

    I own an iMac with 10.5.3 installed. I just purchased Disk Warrior, as my research shows that it is the best Disk utility. What other maintenance tasks should I preform on my my machine, and what program or programs would you recommend?

    The only tools I use, and some are specific for Mac Pro:
    Hardware Monitor - I need to monitor temperature from time to time.
    Leopard Cache Cleaner:
    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9503/leopard-cache-cleaner
    - the Swiss Army Knife of utilities, including ClamXav, Memtest, cache cleaning, DNS, and other system tweeks.
    SmcFanControl
    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23049/smcfancontrol
    - because I need to boost the fans to keep ECC memory running cool.
    MacFUSE - to write to NTFS
    SuperDuper
    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/13803/superduper!
    Less is more, and I don't install or run anything more than essential.

  • Maintenance Question for Snow Leopard 10.6.4

    I was a PC user for years, new to Mac and I love it. With a PC there was regular maintenance necessary to keep it running faster such as defragging, cleaning out temp files, cleaning registry, running spyware, etc. Are there any regular maintenance things to do with a Mac to keep it running to optimum speed, as I notice my Mac is definitely slower after 8 months of use, especially on the internet? Going from site to site, or even opening new files use to be fairly instantaneous, but it's not anymore. Any advice would be appreciated!

    Good gracious, of course there are things that are useful doing. Nothing cleans itself.
    free space still gets fragmented
    browsers like Safari esp build up extra large history, cache, previews
    the system cache files, folders and temp files and logs - some of which get done, some not.
    sudo periodic all
    If someone says no ignore that, it is party line. Backup (clone) and then reinitialize and restore (SuperDuper is very reliable) does worlds of good.
    I wish CCleaner would run and clean out caches, cookies, etc on OS X. There are some utilities that do, though I don't like to let them run automatically all the time.
    Something like Snow Leopard Cache Cleaner for one, or Onyx
    http://www.macupdate.com
    Along with SuperDuper, I'd have to say Disk Warrior to rebuild the directory, so you have backup you can boot from, a way to account for lack of a real rollback outside of TimeMachine. Or the lack of means to rollback drivers and uninstall programs.

  • In Mac OS Leopard, are there any maintenance programs that I could run

    I recently had a failed attempt at installing Final Cut Studio, which has been resolved, but the filed install has left things "weird". The computer crashes ALL the time, there are left over mini-programs that I can't seem to get rid of unless I force it to delete, and the computer, which is a Core 2 Extreme 2.8 GHz, is slower than my iBook on some different tasks. The computer has been taking forever to shut down and boot up.
    Any ideas? If not, i will just reinstall all of mac os on it.

    Have you updated to OS 10.5.3 yet? It fixes a bug that prevented reinstallation of the Combo updater. If not, download the Combo updater rather than using software update and then install it. If you have used software update, download the Combo updater and reinstall it.
    There are some applications such as AppDelete or AppCleaner (both free) or AppZapper (shareware) which claim to clean out all the bits and pieces of an application. There is always the old-fashioned way, "search and destroy" using finder.
    There are several free utility programs that accomplish much of what has been recommended that you do in Terminal and some other operations that are useful. OnyX, IceClean, Yasu, Maintenance and a host of others are available. Check them out at MacUpdate or VersionTracker.
    I have experienced some failed installs with a couple of apps in Leopard that, I think, were related to some permissions issues. Check the permissions of all of the Final Cut Studio items, including any files that it created and trash the .plist file for it that should be found at User > Library > Preferences.
    If that does not improve the situation I would be inclined to uninstall Final Cut Studio and do a fresh install of it.
    Oh, be prepared for the permissions repair in any of the utilities such as OnyX to take quite some time. Leopard is incredibly slow at permissions repair in my experience with it to date.
    Good Luck!

  • Help - Migrating from Tiger to Leopard Server via Apple Maintenance Program

    Hi, I'm to upgrade an Apple Xserve running Mac OS Tiger to Leopard. There was an Apple Maintenance Program purchased for this Xserve. I plan to do a clean install on the server, however, I don't know where to find Leopard's serial number or if I need one or if I can do a clean install via AMP.
    This was the first AMP sold in my country I think and the VAR was a little clueless, it wasn't our plan to upgrade until now and I don't know who to ask.
    I have the media, but it wasn't the one that apple sent, the VAR just made me a copy of a Leopard Server. I have the license program agreement, there it is stated the License Number (amp - xx -xxxxx format), the License Date, the Sales Order # and something label PO.
    Could somebody please point me out how should I proceed? The server is being moved from its intended use so a clean install is no problem (and prefered).
    Thanks in advance
    Rafael

    You should get the media directly from Apple complete with "xsvr-"serialnumber in an envelope in the (snail-)mail.
    We have customers which didn't get the serial or DVD in the envelope so we had to contact Apple again.

  • Maintenance scripts - not in Leopard?

    Are the daily, weekly and monthly maintenance scripts still around in Leopard. If so they do not seem to be running.

    David: afraid I'm no expert with Automator, but I do know that you can run Terminal commands from Automator. Check with the folks who know what they're doing in the Automaor forum:
    http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=749
    Or you can go to VersionTracker and see which of the many utilities that will do this for you sounds good to you. Personally, I just use Terminal whenever it occurs to me.
    Andrew: it sounds like either something is amiss with the sudoers file, or else you are not a member of the admin group. I would suspect the latter, since it is known that the Leopard install sometimes results in the loss of the admin status for a user. To see if you are a member of the admin group, try the id command. Here's what I get:
    NoobiX:~ francine$ id
    uid=501(francine) gid=20(staff) groups=20(staff),102(com.apple.sharepoint.group.2),98(_lpadmin),101(com.apple.s harepoint.group.1),80(admin),501(francine)
    As you can see, I am a member of admin (group 80). If you have lost your admin status, see this Apple KB article:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306876
    It's easy to fix if you have a second user who was also an admin, and that user has retained their status. In that case you can just log in to the remaining admin account, go to System Prefs-Accounts, and click the box to enable admin rights to your regular account.
    Francine
    Francine
    Schwieder

  • Should I do any "maintenance" before upgrading to Snow Leopard?

    Are there any simple things I should do before doing a direct upgrade to Snow Leopard? I have gone through and deleted a ton of files that I don't need, but that's not the maintenance I mean. Should I do a disk repair, clear cache, etc? Anything?

    I verified the disk, but it's fine. I also did a permissions repair.
    For backups I've used Time Machine (to a 500gb external). I know it's not the best solution, but I like it. It's been working fine since Leopard came out, and I have done one restore from it.
    Actually, just tonight I've been experiencing a lot of beachballing, I'm not sure what's causing that. One thing I should point out is that I recently installed some new ram, and I've heard that can occasionally cause issues (but I doubt it's the problem).

  • Leopard File Maintenance

    Does Leopard carry out some form of file maintenance that might be similar to PC commands such as defrag?
    If so, are such routines automated requiring no user input, or are user commands required?
    Assuming no Mac Leopard particular knowledge, what if anything should I be doing on a regular basis to ensure my files remain healthy and my MBP does not become sluggish and fat due to bloated and fragmented files?
    As always, thanks for your advice!

    OS X automatically defrags files under 20 MBs in size. There's virtually no need to do any disk defragmentation.
    Files only become "bloated" if you keep adding to them and making them larger. They don't "bloat" on their own.
    Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
    For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.0 is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.6.1 is Leopard compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. The current version, 1.5.1, is Intel Mac compatible.
    OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.
    OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
    I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
    For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that presently AppleJack is not compatible with Leopard.
    When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
    Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
    1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
    2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
    3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
    4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
    5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
    6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
    7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
    8. Data Backup (Commercial)
    The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
    1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
    2. Toast
    3. Impression
    4. arRSync
    Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
    Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
    Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
    Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.
    Others may remark that since Tiger the Unix maintenance scripts run automatically regardless of whether the computer has been asleep or shut down. Although this is true under some circumstances it is not altogether correct. The following is an excerpt from the XLab's FAQ on the topic:
    "How the timer used by launchd handles sleep time has led many to believe that they no longer need to run the maintenance scripts, and that the scripts are run automatically if the Mac was asleep or shutdown at the scheduled time, ala third-party utilities such as Anacron. However, this is untrue.
    While it may appear that launchd executes the maintenance scripts "on the fly" if the computer is asleep or shutdown at the appointed time, this is a side effect of how the timer treats time the computer has spent in sleep mode. The timer used by launchd does not count sleep time. If your Mac is asleep at the scheduled time at which a given script is supposed to run, the script may run later that day, at a time shifted by the amount of time the Mac was asleep. However, if you restart your Mac before the time-shifted execution time, pending events are lost and the script will not run off-schedule: the next chance for the script to run will be at its regularly scheduled time.
    If you regularly restart your Mac and the computer regularly sleeps or is shutdown at the scheduled times, it's possible that the scripts will never run, hence one should still run them manually, say on a weekly basis.
    The sleep time shift is also cumulative. For example, if you don't restart your Mac for weeks or months at a time, but let it sleep when not in use, this can result in:
    The daily script running once every few days or never.
    The weekly script once every few weeks or never.
    The monthly script once every few months or never.
    The time shift in each case is the total amount of time the Mac has spent in sleep since its last restart. If you have a process that writes heavily to the logs, you can wind up devoting good hard disk space to the log files."

  • Mac OSX Leopard Maintenance

    Hi folks,
    I have just done a clean install of Leopard from the ground up on my G5, all apps have been freshly installed as well.
    I want to keep the OSX running quickly and smoothly and I was wondering if any of the 3rd party 'maintenance' apps (Such as Onnynx, MacJanitor) are any good, or if they could do more harm than good.
    So what things should I be doing on a daily or weekly basis to keep my Mac healthy and up to speed?
    Any pointers most most welcome.
    YZ

    Start with
    Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
    Mac OS X speed FAQ
    Maintaining OS X

  • Cool Maintenance Utility for Leopard ....

    Leopard users might benefit from this utility available here:
    http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/systemdisk_utilities/maintenancetitaniumssoftware.html
    Carolyn

    Carolyn Samit wrote:
    HI Joshz,
    I like Onyx. I've been using it forever. Some users hate it, some love it.. but it's good to be able to check out the Support/System Disk Utilities that Apple provides. I was just trying to make it a tad easier to access the options for Leopard users.
    Carolyn
    Fair enough, I just believe in the right to choose.

  • Best hard drive maintenance program for Leopard

    Hello,
    What software program (Prosoft's Drive Genius, Micromat's Techtool Pro or other)
    available best maintains a healthy hard drive throughout its lifetime? I have read many good and bad things about each listed.
    Frighteningly, I have read that hard drives, with data on it, that sit idle for longer than a year could have its data evaporate unless surface scans or other maintenance tasks are performed quarterly or so to maintain the drive's effectiveness. This is why I'm looking for a program that does this.
    Thanks,
    Jordan

    Thanks for the Techtool Pro advice. Now here is the excerpt from the an engineering manager of a hard disk drive company:
    "Magnetic signals recorded on a hard disk are designed to be refreshed periodically. If your hard disk stay on this happens automatically. However, if you store your projects to a removable hard disk drive, then store that hard drive on a shelf, unattached to a computer, those magnetic signals will fade over time...essentially, evaporating.
    So.. in the interest of checking things out, simply reading every sector on a disk actually is preventative . If the controllerwithin the hard disk detects any marginal data in either the servo tracks or the data bits recorded on the surface, the controller will automatically rewrite the data to the sector. If it cannot, this block is mapped out, again, automatically, and a substitute data block will be mapped in. All modern disks to this for you today. A simple read cycle of every sector or data block is all that is neccessary.
    So, the scanning is simply reading every sector of the disk surface. The act of copying all the files from one disk to another disk would almost accomplish the same thing. With this latter method, unused parts of the disk would not be read again.
    As for duration, I would say that the disks could lose data if not used for a long period of time. Doing this surface scan every year or two is preventative. It is hard to define a point in time when a failure due to degraded media occurs. I do have drives here that have not been spun up for several years, and they are fine, but I have heard from many who do have issues after leaving the drive in storage for several years. Sometimes it is actual fade, sometimes it is power supply related, sometimes it is due to extremes in temperature or humidity.
    Bottom line, revisiting your storage archives periodically is some assurance that what you have saved away is really still there."
    What do you think about this one man's opinion about this issue?
    Jordan

  • Steps to Upgrade to Leopard from 10.39 ~please~

    Hello all, thanks in anticipation that someone will help me upgrade or know what are the cheapest steps to take to do so and enable me to use the "MacFamily Tree 5" please. I wanted to buy a version of it for my OS X 10.3.9 but cannot find it at the Apple site now. I would like to upgrade this computer to the latest version and to have 'Windows' would be cool. How do I check if I have enough space in the Hard Drive for upgrades though? I only use my puter for online stuff mainly. Thank you for any help you can offer me

    freedone,
    Your Non-Intel PPC iMac can only be upgraded to Tiger 10.4.x, as it does not meet the Leopard System Requirements.
    -Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster processor) Yours is 600MHZ, which cannot be upgraded.
    -512MB of memory You have 256MB, which you can add to, and should, if you install Tiger 10.4.x.
    -DVD drive for installation The 600MHZ iMac, shipped with a DC-RW drive, so unless you have replaced it, with a DVD drive, you do not have one. There are alternate methods of installing Tiger 10.4.x, without one though. More info posted below.
    -9GB of available disk space You currently do not have sufficient available free space. More info posted below.
    With some upgrading of the iMac's Hardware, to meet the Tiger System Requirements, you can upgrade to that version. More info posted below.
    "...19.07 GB 837.7 MB free."
    You are dangerously low on available Hard Drive free space!
    Backup the system ASAP, and then create additional drive space!
    Insufficient available space, can cause performance issues, system corruption, and possible loss of data.
    Depending on Mac system usage habits, it is a general recommendation, to keep 10% to as much as 20%, of the Total capacity, available at all times.
    Review the suggestions, in the documents that I have linked to below.
    Authored by Dr Smoke:
    Problems From Insufficient RAM And Free Hard Disk Space
    Freeing Space On Your Mac OS X Startup Disk
    Mac OS X 10.3/10.4: System Maintenance, authored by Gulliver
    Maintaining Mac OS X, authored by Dr Smoke
    Is the Mac shutdown overnight, or does it run 24/7?
    Have you ever run any routine Maintenance procedures?
    If you turn the PowerBook off nightly, the Background Maintenance Tasks, are never run.
    These can also be run, using a Third-Party utility, or manually using Terminal, to run the CRON Commands.
    I use MacJanitor, when necessary.
    INSTRUCTIONS TO RUN CRON MANUAL COMMANDS
    Quit all applications/programs.
    Navigate to HD > Applications > Utilities.
    Double click on Terminal, to open.
    At the prompt, type:
    sudo periodic daily
    Press Return.
    Enter your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
    This will execute the daily script that is sheduled to run every night.
    When completed, repeat this procedure, but change the command to:
    sudo periodic weekly
    This one rebuilds a database or two, and usually takes somewhat longer to complete. It is scheduled to run once a week.
    Repeat again, with command:
    sudo periodic monthly
    Or they can all be run in one pass, which is preferable, with this command:
    sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
    When the tasks complete, and return to the prompt, you may quit Terminal.
    Restart the Mac, and run Repair Permissions.
    TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
    1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
    2.Click First Aid.
    3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)
    Rerun RP, until the only messages reported, are listed here Spurious Permissions Errors Using: 10.3.x, authored by Michael Conniff.
    When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
    Mac OS X Versions 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5, are complete system upgrades that must be purchased.
    Once an OS has been installed, the point upgrades, such as 10.1.x to 10.1.5 (Final) 10.2.x to 10.2.8 (Final), 10.3.x to 10.3.9 (Final), 10.4.x to 10.4.11 (Pending), and 10.5.x to 10.5.1 (Pending), can be downloaded for free.
    Tiger is available for purchase at The Apple Store (U.S.).
    If you know what to look for, a Full Retail Version, of the Tiger Install DVD, can be purchased, sometimes less expensively, at some online Apple retailers, Amazon, eBay, FastMac, HardCore Mac, AllMac, etc.
    Be sure not to purchase grey, upgrade or machine specific CDs or DVDs.
    The disc should look exactly like the images in the above links, and not say Upgrade, CPU Drop-in DVD, or "This software is part of a hardware bundle purchase - not to be sold seperately." on it.
    Additional info in these links.
    Using OS X Install CDs/DVDs On Multiple Macs
    What's A Computer Specific Mac OS X Release
    Software Update, Upgrade: What's The Difference?
    Caveat Emptor!
    If any are presently available, examine these items very carefully, and if in doubt, ask questions of the seller before purchase!
    Tiger On eBay
    Once Tiger 10.4.x is installed, you can use the PPC 10.4.11 Combo Update, to upgrade to the current version.
    Additionally, Tiger 10.4.x ships on a DVD, so if your Mac doesn’t have a built-in DVD-ROM player, you will have to use an alternative method of installation.
    Info here Installing Tiger Using Firewire Target Disk Mode.
    And here Installing Tiger Without A DVD Drive.
    The Tiger Media Exchange Program, referred to, is no longer available.
    Shop Carefully, Examine All Documentation, And I Wish You Success!
    ali b

  • My Macpro Intel Core Duo-running OS 10.6.8 has been crashing pretty much with everything I try to open.  I find the last resort will be to boot from Snow Leopard system disc. Has anyone experienced  this? I can only run Google Chrome.

    In the last few days, it seems that my computer has all of a sudden caught a virus.  I have never had that happened to a computer, but I have surely heard about it.  I can't think of any other reason it is behaving like this.  I know that Macs have been pretty much impervious to viruses, but that was before they were the majority of users.
    Anyway, what is happening is, my computer keeps crashing whenever I try to open a program, app, document, folder, file, etc.  I tried to boot from Drive Genius to establish the problem, but Drive Genius crashed too.  I know the last ditch effort (after cleaning and maintenance of disc verification and permissions and repairs, is to reboot from the system disc.
    Before I go there I was hoping someone in the community would have a suggestion to help me avoid that ultimate last resort.  The tech support guy at Drive Genius told me that probably would have to be the way to go (as in reboot) and if that doesn't clear it up, it's repair time.
    Thank you for your consideration in advance;
    Lorain R

    In the last few days, it seems that my computer has all of a sudden caught a virus.
    As others have pointed out, this isn't malware. That should not be your first (or even fifty-first) thought when your Mac starts misbehaving. For more on this topic, see my Mac Malware Guide.
    I know the last ditch effort (after cleaning and maintenance of disc verification and permissions and repairs, is to reboot from the system disc.
    You mention "cleaning and maintenance." Have you been running utilities claiming to do those things? If so, you may be the victim of an overly-zealous cleaning job, which has removed important files and damaged your system.
    If I'm understanding correctly, you're unable to open any applications at all... is that right? Do you have any backups? If you don't have backups, you're in a sticky situation, as it will be difficult to make backups in your current state, but you shouldn't try any kind of repairs without them. (Actually, you shouldn't do anything with your computer without backups, but this is especially important when something is going badly wrong.)
    If you have backups, reboot from your Snow Leopard install disc. From there, first, repair the hard drive with Disk Utility. Once that is done, assuming repairs were successful, reinstall the system. You can simply reinstall it on top of your current system, and it will replace any damaged or lost system files with new copies. (You'll also need to update the system via Software Update after reinstalling.)
    If you don't have backups, or if Disk Utility can't repair damage, or if the problem continues even after a reinstall, post back with those details.

  • Lost my external hard drive and now Snow Leopard can't find it

    I was doing some maintenance with Onyx (repair permissions, clean caches) and something happened to my external hard drive that I use for Time Machine. Snow Leopard no longer recognizes that the drive exists. It is not listed as a drive in the Mac HD window and is not listed in the Time Machine preference window as a choice for use by Time Machine.
    I have already tried the following: (1) unplugged the external drive and replugged it into the back of my iMac (2) restarted the iMac both with and without the external drive plugged in (3) shut down the iMac and restarted both ways (4) pulled the plug on the iMac and restarted. Nothing works and the drive remains unrecognized. In all the attempts, I can feel that the external drive is spinning and it is still warm to the touch. It appears to be working.
    Can anyone help?

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  • Multiple Safari hangs after installing Snow Leopard

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