Cleaning inside of the iMac

wonering if anybody out there has cleaned the inside of the mac. clearing out dust.

I purchased my iMac G5 in December of '04. I installed 2GB of RAM within a couple weeks. At the time as to be expected the inside of the mac was clean. At the beginning of October of '06 I installed an airport card in my iMac. To my surprise when opening it I found it as clean as when it was first purchased. The only part that showed any type of dust was the inside of the rear cover. There was only a very slight hint of dust there. I wiped it down with a dust cloth and then made sure that there wasn't any static electricity left behind. I have both a dog and a cat and the PCs I owned before always had a lot of dust and dander in them within months. Needless to say I was very shocked when I found next to nothing in my iMac. The board of the iMac as well as the fans looked very clean. I didn't mess with it any further.

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I think my iMac got virus on my iMac through opening an email from Facebook on Safari, anyone knows how to do a complete erase and clean up of the iMac?

I think my iMac got virus on my iMac through opening an email from Facebook on Safari, anyone knows how to do a completely erase and clean up of the iMac?

Things You Can Do To Resolve Slow Downs
If your computer seems to be running slower here are some things you can do:
Start with a visit to: OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney.
Boot into Safe Mode then repair your hard drive and permissions:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions Pre-Lion
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Repair the Hard Drive - Lion
Boot from your Lion Recovery HD. When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Restart your computer normally and see if this has helped any. Next do some maintenance:
Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For situations Disk Utility cannot handle the best third-party utility is Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now 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. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or Lion and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defragments 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. For more about malware see Macintosh Virus Guide.
I would also recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX 2.4.3, or Cocktail 5.1.1 that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files 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 command line. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. There is no confirmation that this version also works with Lion.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand.
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. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Data Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. SyncTwoFolders
6. Synk Pro
7. Synk Standard
8. Tri-Backup
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 CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
Additional Hints
Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity as free space.
Add more RAM. If your computer has less than 2 GBs of RAM and you are using OS X Leopard or later, then you can do with more RAM. Snow Leopard and Lion work much better with 4 GBs of RAM than their system minimums. The more concurrent applications you tend to use the more RAM you should have.
Always maintain at least 15 GBs or 10% of your hard drive's capacity as free space, whichever is greater. OS X is frequently accessing your hard drive, so providing adequate free space will keep things from slowing down.
Check for applications that may be hogging the CPU:
Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time, then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.
Often this problem occurs because of a corrupted cache or preferences file or an attempt to write to a corrupted log file.

Dusty iMac G5, will cleaning inside slow the fans?

I've noticed in the past few weeks that the fans in my iMac definately sound louder than they were previously and i also recently opened up the RAM slot at the bottom and there was a lot of dust in there as its always been kept and used in a dusty room. I've tried resetting the SMU but this hasn't made a difference to the fans. Is it likely that the dust will be causing the higher fan speeds, and will it pose a heat problem in the long term? If so can i clean it inside myself or should i take it to an apple centre?
Stats:
CPU fan speeds of 1640 to 1700 rpm idle, 2000 when intensive
CPU temp 60/61 C idling, peaks at 72/73 C
Processor is/has always been set on Highest
iStat Pro idling:
Temperatures (C)
CPU: 61
GPU: 68
Incoming Air: 20
HD: 44
GPU Ambient: 27
OD: 38
Mem Controller: 77
Fans
CPU: 1650 RPM
HD: 1450 RPM
OD: 1330RPM
iMac G5 (iSight) Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.5GB RAM

Hi there,
I don't think the temps are all that out of line. Compared to my iSight, only the CPU fan speed is significantly higher, everything else you show is only slightly higher or the same. The higher CPU Fan speed is probably explained to you keeping your Processor on 'Highest', you might want to change this to 'Auto' and see if that helps.
Other than trying to clean the inside of your iMac, I would suggest looking into running the Maintenance Scripts here: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html - I use the Terminal method, I have noticed my machine runs quieter, cooler and more consistent. I highly recommend trying this.
As far as cleaning, I cannot imagine how you would remove the back yourself w/o causing some light damage to the Mac. I talked to an Apple Specialist about this, and he said it can be done but you need a special tool to remove back, the back is only 'pressed into place'.
Good luck, Rick
iMac G5 iSight 20" - 30G iPOD in Slimming Black - Mac OS X (10.4.7) - HP Pav 15" WS and Toshiba Sat 17" WS LP's - Canon 20D & A620

Clean install on the iMac G5

I am having problems with the old iMac G5 constantly crashing. It still runs tiger....and I would like to wipe the hard drive and clean install the OS. My problem is after a couple of moves I can't locate the original OS discs that came with the iMac. Is there any way to do a clean install with a leopard (not snow) upgrade disc?

Confirmed with a local tech, will work with leopard upgrade.

How can i remove dust from the inside of my iMac ?

Good Morning (?)
Recently moved and there was a fair amount of dust in the new place, some of which has collected around the fan. Is there away to clean the dust that I would guess has migrated to the inside of the computer?
Early '09 IMac.
Thank you
Brian

As old as your iMac is, have you cleaned out the dust? Dust buildup can lead to over heating issues. Remove any and all things plugged into it including the power cord, Remove the RAM access grille. Vacuum all openings starting with the RAM access area (air intake). Vacuum all ports and plugs, DVD slot and the opening across the top of the rear of the body. Blow compressed air through all your openings and vacuum again to remove any dust you loosend. Reinstall the RAM grille. Plug in the keyboard and mouse if not blue tooth. Insert power cord...
You are now in a perfect position to do a
SMC RESET
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and ALL peripherals.
Wait 15 seconds.
Attach the computers power cable.
Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on the computer.
Here is a Widget to monitor your temps and other operations:
http://islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

Cleaning the iMac screen

I have a new iMac.
It seems that it has some kind of screen cover , I don't succeed to clean the screen from marks with any product.
Is there a solution please ?
Thanks.

Spit Shine with the "Provided" Micro Fibre Cloth is the best way.
In Detail:
I had my iMac for a few months now (purchased 1qtr 2014) and I have wondered about cleaning the screen for some time. The thing is, I to tried a non-abrasive cleaning product but it did not work. All that did was clean off the dust but left some insanely annoying smudge marks. I wondered for sometime and inquired a far and wide about cleaning the iMac but no one really had an answer that actually worked.
Frustrated, I went back to the original box the product and pulled out the manual but also pulled out a black micro fibre cleaning cloth still sealed inside of the box where the keyboard was. I thought, "sure why not".
I continued to perform a really light strokes with the provided cloth and surprisingly all the smudges and streaks started to disappear. I felt as though I was Kratos killing a Titan or something at this point but beauty is the details.
There were some fine peaces of dirt specs stuck on the screen that the cloth would not get off. I figured I came this far so I wasn't going to give up.
For some odd reason, I thought, "maybe a spit shine D?" . LOL, no not hocking at the monitor, that would be silly but then again ... Anyways, I did dap a little salvia off my tongue, on to my finger, and then directly on those tough spots where specs were, and wiped it away with the micro fibre cloth with ease. This was by far the best way I have ever cleaned the d*am* thing since purchase.

Cleaning the iMac

Hello!
I'm just curious how often you all dust/clean your iMac? I've noticed that my iMac gets pretty dust (new house), and I was just wondering how often I should be dusting it.
Also, what is the best way to clean dirt off the keyboard keys (wireless keyboard)?
Lastly, is it worth opening up my iMac to clean the dust out of it?
Thanks much!

Hello Hoff81
{quote:}I'm just curious how often you all dust/clean your iMac? I've noticed that my iMac gets pretty dust (new house), and I was just wondering how often I should be dusting it.{quote}
As per page 67 of your User's Guide, slightly dampen the little micro fiber cloth and wipe it off.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/iMac_Mid2010UG.pdf
{quote:}Also, what is the best way to clean dirt off the keyboard keys (wireless keyboard)?{quote}
A dampened soft lint free cloth
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3226
{quote:}Lastly, is it worth opening up my iMac to clean the dust out of it?{quote}
If you periodically shut down (stopping the fans) and vacuum the air intakes (the bottom grill and small vent on the back under the stand) you should not need to open it up for years. The trick is to not touch or disturb any dust that builds up on the grills when the fans are running.
Do not blow air into the intakes, all that will do is blow dust deeper into the iMac.....
I have vacuumed the air intakes on my iMac every three months sense Jan of 2006 and it runs as cool as the day I bought it. I opened it up in Jan of 2009 to upgrade the Hard Drive and there was almost no dust collected on the fans or anywhere on the inside.
Dennis

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dry Qtip and best is a DRY cheap toothbrush (dollar store)
dont use anything wet at all.
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How do I clean my mid 2007 iMac?
The disk space is running VERY low and I would love an idea. I make videos and upload them to youtube and I need space to do that. Thanks for your time!
If you have an idea please respond!

You should never, EVER let a conputer hard drive get completely full, EVER!
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your iMac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Look though other Apple Mail folders like the junk mail and delete the mail that is in there. Look through your sent items folders and see there is any mail in there that can be deieted.
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Other things you can do to gain space.
Once you have around 15 GBs regained, do a search, download and install OmniDisk Sweeper.
This app will help you locate files that you can move/archive and/or delete from your system.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Good Luck!

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I have the gray Smart Cover and love it.
Today I noticed some lint on the Inside of the cover - can I use a lint brush on the inside of the cover to clean it?
I do not want to damage the soft felt that rests against the screen.
Thank you.

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Seeing how everyone seems to have eliminated the magnets of both devices as the culprit, I think I know what the problem is. It's the joint flexibility. Fresh and never folded the joints are more stiff, which means it doesn't buckle/pop up easily. After a few days of folding though the joints are much more flexible, causing them to buckle if the cover slides around. Since the magnet hold it in place is at the edge of the cover, if the cover slides a little the magnets are no longer aligned, hence the falling open.
If I'm right, then sadly this is a design flaw that can't be remedied by replacements.

My 920XL ink cartridge leaked all over the right inside of the printer ... can it be cleaned?

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Yes you can clean it.
Say thanks by clicking the Kudos Thumbs Up to the right in the post.
If my post resolved your problem, please mark it as an Accepted Solution ...
I worked for HP but now I'm retired!

Opening up the iMac for cleaning: educate me!

So I've tried to unscrew the bottom screws but for some reason--I can't get the back off for cleaning--pls help.
Thanks!

To remove the back panel you need to get a credit card to the top vent of the iMac (the thin opening at the top-rear that runs the width of the computer). There are two latches on each corner that when pressed upwards are released.
I have pried mine off by bending the panel (due to poor instructions and haste); luckily it didn't ruin them to the point where it didn't close properly or snap my panel, but with some patience the credit card will release them properly so that you don't bend them; it's worth the patience. (Be careful at this point, the iSight is still connected to the main machine, I don't recommend trying to remove the iSight because there is some tape securing the cables IIRC and although there is a Torx there it won't be the only thing securing it, so you'll have to keep the panel close to the main machine)
I noticed the internals of my 17" iMac were not very dusty at all. I expected to see a lot of dust, but maybe since the vents are on the underside of the machine, not much dust gets sucked up. Also, to get to the internals you'll have to remove the black-aluminum sheeting (think heavy duty foil, maybe 2x as thick) from the "Chin" portion, and remove the LCD screen entirely (Torx driver required). The black sheeting seals the face and LCD so that air flows properly and is secured with some sort of glue that you may ruin by pulling it off, and you risk tearing the black-aluminum sheeting (nothing some electric tape can't fix); just FYIs.
Unless you're really bored and your warranty is expired, bottom line I'd say you won't gain much by doing this as far as performance of the machine goes. It is a great learning experience though if you like to tinker with computers.

How do I import my folders of bookmarks created on a Dell laptop to an Apple iMac and clean up the mess I've created trying to create a new set of folders and bookmarks on the iMac?

I have been unable to find and import from the version of Firefox on my Dell laptop to an Apple iMac the folders containing bookmarked website addresses. In the process, I've created a mishmash of unwanted bookmarks. Please provide me a step by step process to import the folders to the version of Firefox on the iMac. The process to accomplish this seems very awkward and counter-intuitive. The same goes for creating new folders and bookmarking website addresses to those folders on the version of Firefox installed on the iMac.

Chris,
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I have Dust inside of the screen of my macbook pro, it has accumulated now and is a big hindrance. Is there any way to clean it

Its a Mac book Pro (Late 2012). Dust is in the display, and its annoying how its in the center of the screen

Hi. the glass in front of the display on the 2012 macbook pro is held on by magnets. If can be removed, but it's tricky.At the store they use a suction cup. The Imac is the same way and I have remove the glass on them. I did it by inserting a thin but sturdy piece of plastic starting at the upper corner and working around the top edge. You have to be very careful or you can crack it. It would be safer to take it in to apple store. I know if too much dust get on the screen between the glass and the lcd it will kind of burn into it.

The iMac doesn't recognize my external hard disk

My iMac doesn't recognize my external hard disk. The iMac also keeps a DVD inside. It doen't throw it out despite "eject".

Sounds like you might need to make that call. In the meantime here are a few of things you could try that may help:
To eject the disk try a restart holding down the mouse button - hopefully it'll eject.
If you are running either Mountain Lion (10.8) or Lion (10.7) try booting into the Recovery HD:
Restart holding down Command+r. At the screen with 4 choices choose Disk Utility and then select Macintosh HD and click on repair disk. If it fixes anything click on repair disk again until you get a clean pass. Restart as normal from the Apple menu.
If you are running an earlier OS you would normally carry out this process by putting the grey restore disk that came with your Mac in the Disk drive and restarting holding down the C key. Choose your language and at the next screen from the menu bar select Utilities>Disk Utility and then follow the above instructions (I realise you won't be able to do this if you have a disk stuck in the optical disk drive).
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Cleaning inside of the iMac

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