Cleaning out my Mac

I am selling my G5 to get something faster and I am wondering what the best way to clean all my stuff out of there is. How do I get it ready for someone elses use? Is there a return to factory settings option?

Buy two copies of Pogue's "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual" one for new owner, one for you.
Option key will let you choose another drive if you have a system on more than one (one of the things in the "essentials" of maintaining a Mac).
http://www.apple.com/support/powermac/
Troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
Keyboard shortcuts
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106567
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459

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Can Apple Genius clean out my mac (internal) if I pay them?

Can Apple Genius clean out my macbook pro (internal) if i pay them too? For example remove logic board and fans and reapply thermal paste...
I can do this myself but do not have time too so any help greatly appreciated!

richardm0025 wrote:
Can Apple Genius clean out my macbook pro (internal) if i pay them too? For example remove logic board and fans and reapply thermal paste...
No they won't do all that, you'll have to let a local PC or do it yourself.
Mind you all that will void your warranty/AppleCare, however cleaning the dust out won't if nothing is removed (RAM and hard drive only) and you do it correctly.
Apple has all sorts of seals in there, and odd shaped screws painted etc to tell them the warranty has been voided.
And if you break something, they likely won't fix it even if you pay them because it's been tampered with.

How do I speed up/clean out my mac- it's really slow!

My macbook is about 8 years old...and has been upgraded to Yosemite...
it's rather slow...is there some kind of app available to clean it out and speed it up?

According to https://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/, the MINIMUM System Requirements are:
. Check your Mac hardware.
To get details about your Mac model, click the Apple icon at the top left of your screen, choose About This Mac, then choose More Info.
POST the MORE INFO is easier than EtreCheck for this purpose
These Mac models are compatible with OS X Yosemite:
    iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
    MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
    MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
    MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
    Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
    Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
    Xserve (Early 2009)
With MINIMUM TWO(2) GB RAM
Methinks you have maxed out your RAM usage with the OSX if you mean you have 2GB RAM TOTAL (not 4GB, 2GB in each slot)
I have read here many times that 4GB is the REAL Minimum & 8GB is recommended
What happens when you run both a browser and WP app at once, switching between?
One at a time?
Activity Monitor is a good way to see what's what > How to use Activity Monitor - Apple Support - Last Updated Late March 2015

Is this a good way to clean out my Mac?

Make a new user account. Put the items I want to save into a folder and move them to a shared folder. Log into the new account and delete the old account.
Or should I do a clean install? It does seem to speed up my mac.

Do a clean install. Much better.

Installing OSX tiger on cleaned out used Mac book Pro

Hi all
I have a universal OSX Tiger install Disc and was wondering if I can install it into a used Macbook Pro which has been wiped clean. Thanks for your help
Web dude

If you mean a retail disk (black with a silver X on it), then no. The retail DVD is for PowerPC only. You can't install it on an Intel based Macbook Pro.

When using my mac book pro, there's a window that comes up saying to force quit applications. i've done the updates cleaned out computer and have taken it in but it wont stop coming up.

when using my mac book pro, there's a window that comes up saying to force quit applications. i've done the updates cleaned out computer and have taken it in but it wont stop coming up. what can i do?

The force quit window appears when you:
a) type the key combination <CMD> + <OPT> + <ESC>
b) you select the menu item " > Force Quit..."

My Epson photo 1280 will only print 1/2 of a page from a document in Pages program. First print was fine. Have printed out a Mac templet and printer does same thing. Cleaned heads, checked nozzels etc. Any ideas?

My Epson photo 1280 will only print 1/2 of a page from a document in Pages program. First print was fine. Have printed out a Mac templet and printer does same thing. Cleaned heads, checked nozzels etc. Any ideas?

Hello, I have exactly the same problem. I could have written the same text. And I have'nt found solutions. Except, perhaps, change this printer (and quit HP?).
Any suggestions would be really much appreciated.
Thank you for your possible responses.

Clean out start up disc I Mac g5

How can I clean out the start up disk. I do not have enough space to import video into I movie on my G5.

If your hard drive is getting full,
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 Mac'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!
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.
Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.
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!

Adobe is not working properly after cleaning out a virus

After iyogi cleaned out a virus, adobe pdf insists everything is corrupt, re-loading saved files are getting corrupt error messages now that the system is clean. [email protected] 12/2/13

Carlospipo
A while back there was a thread which ended up in the same situation that you appear to be in.
Premiere elements crashing when adding disc menu on a mac
There does not seem to be a fixed answer in it. One suggestion seemed to be opening a new project which had no problems with the menus and that would trigger the problem project to work. From what you have written, it sounded like you have been there and done that.
I think this is going to go to permissions and preferences. But, not being a Mac user, I do not have any first hand information on that.
A common ground approach would be the deletion of the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file. But, haven't you done that already? Worth doing it
again after all the recent troubleshooting?
How many Timeline markers are you using? Have you allowed for at least a few frames between each marker....and no stop marker at the end of
the last item on the Timeline?
Please check out the above and then please let us know what is happening.
Thank you.
ATR

I downloaded Lion on my iMac. It apparently cleaned out the hard drive. Nothing shows up from before. It looks like a brand new computer. It is backed up on Time machine. Any idea of why this happened and suggestions on restoring? Thanks.

I downloaded Lion on my 4 yr old iMac. The download stalled at the last minute so I clicked "CANCEL". When it was restarted, Lion was there, with no apparent option but to go ahead and install so I assumed it was okay. Didn't transfer data from "another computer" when prompted - assumed it would transfer from that computer. It apparently cleaned out the hard drive. It looks like a brand new computer. None of my apps, programs, files, or thousands of photos.   It is backed up on Time machine, but it's a sickening sight. Any idea why this happened and suggestions before restoring? Thanks.

I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots. Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
See Pondini's page for more explanation:   What are Local Snapshots?   http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.
The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library. Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

Hi! I´m having problems with showing video files in Qlab on my Macbook Air. A sound/video technician told me to "blow out" my Mac. Was told to use cmd+ r when restarting. Is this the right way?

Hi! I´m having problems with showing video files in Qlab on my Macbook Air. It started suddenly. Consulted a sound/video technician who told me to "blow out" my Mac. Was told to use cmd+r when restarting. Is this the right way to clean up my Mac? And is it likely that some kind of bug is causing problems for Qlab to show video files? I´ve already tried with a bunch of different video files and sometimes Qlab plays them and sometimes not. I need the Qlab playlist for a theatre show and only have a week until showtime so starting to really worry. Is there anyone out there who can help?

Your Mac runs maintenance in the background for you.
Command + R gives you access to restore, repair, or reformat the drive using OS X Recovery
No idea why that was suggested.
You may have a third party video player installed that's causing an incompatibility issue.
Check these folders:
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/
/Library/Input Methods/
/Library/InputManagers/
/Library/ScriptingAdditions
~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/
~/Library/Input Methods/
~/Library/InputManagers/
~/Library/ScriptingAdditions
The first four locations listed are in the root-level Library on your hard disk, not the user-level Library in your Home folder.The tilde (~) represents your Home folder.
To access the Home folder in OS X Lion or Mountain Lion, open the Finder, hold the Option key, and chooseGo > Library.

Where to find the best application for cleaning out my MacBook Air with OS X 10.7.5? I've been using MacKeeper but believe it's slowing down my laptop considerable.

where to find the best application for cleaning out my MacBook Air with OS X 10.7.5? I've been using MacKeeper but believe it's slowing down my laptop considerable. Thank you.

How to maintain a Mac
1. Make redundant backups, keeping at least one off site at all times. One backup is not enough. Don’t back up your backups; make them independent of each other. Don’t rely completely on any single backup method, such as Time Machine. If you get an indication that a backup has failed, don't ignore it.
2. Keep your software up to date. In the Software Update preference pane, you can configure automatic notifications of updates to OS X and other Mac App Store products. Some third-party applications from other sources have a similar feature, if you don’t mind letting them phone home. Otherwise you have to check yourself on a regular basis. This is especially important for complex software that modifies the operating system, such as device drivers. Before installing any Apple update, you must check that all such modifications that you use are compatible.
3. Don't install crapware, such as “themes,” "haxies," “add-ons,” “toolbars,” “enhancers," “optimizers,” “accelerators,” "boosters," “extenders,” “cleaners,” "doctors," "tune-ups," “defragmenters,” “firewalls,” "barriers," “guardians,” “defenders,” “protectors,” most “plugins,” commercial "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, this stuff is useless, or worse than useless. Above all, avoid any software that purports to change the look and feel of the user interface.
The more actively promoted the product, the more likely it is to be garbage. The most extreme example is the “MacKeeper” scam.
As a rule, the only software you should install is that which directly enables you to do the things you use a computer for — such as creating, communicating, and playing — and does not modify the way other software works. Use your computer; don't fuss with it.
Safari extensions, and perhaps the equivalent for other web browsers, are a partial exception to the above rule. Most are safe, and they're easy to get rid of if they don't work. Some may cause the browser to crash or otherwise malfunction. Some are malicious. Use with caution, and install only well-known extensions from relatively trustworthy sources, such as the Safari Extensions Gallery.
Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.
4. Beware of trojans. A trojan is malicious software (“malware”) that the user is duped into installing voluntarily. Such attacks were rare on the Mac platform until sometime in 2011, but are now increasingly common, and increasingly dangerous.
There is some built-in protection against downloading malware, but you can’t rely on it — the attackers are always at least one day ahead of the defense. You can’t rely on third-party protection either. What you can rely on is common-sense awareness — not paranoia, which only makes you more vulnerable.
Never install software from an untrustworthy or unknown source. If in doubt, do some research. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec” or “plugin” that comes from the same site, or an unknown site, is untrustworthy. Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, must be acquired directly from the developer. No intermediary is acceptable, and don’t trust links unless you know how to parse them. Any file that is automatically downloaded from a web page without your having requested it should go straight into the Trash. A website that claims you have a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with your computer, is rogue.
In OS X 10.7.5 or later, downloaded applications and Installer packages that have not been digitally signed by a developer registered with Apple are blocked from loading by default. The block can be overridden, but think carefully before you do so.
Because of recurring security issues in Java, it’s best to disable it in your web browsers, if it’s installed. Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This action is mandatory if you’re running any version of OS X older than 10.6.8 with the latest Java update. Note: Java has nothing to do with JavaScript, despite the similar names. Don't install Java unless you're sure you need it. Most people don't.
5. Don't fill up your boot volume. A common mistake is adding more and more large files to your home folder until you start to get warnings that you're out of space, which may be followed in short order by a boot failure. This is more prone to happen on the newer Macs that come with an internal SSD instead of the traditional hard drive. The drive can be very nearly full before you become aware of the problem. While it's not true that you should or must keep any particular percentage of space free, you should monitor your storage consumption and make sure you're not in immediate danger of using it up. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of free space on the startup volume for normal operation.
If storage space is running low, use a tool such as the free application OmniDiskSweeper to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the most space. Move rarely-used large files to secondary storage.
6. Relax, don’t do it. Besides the above, no routine maintenance is necessary or beneficial for the vast majority of users; specifically not “cleaning caches,” “zapping the PRAM,” "resetting the SMC," “rebuilding the directory,” "defragmenting the drive," “running periodic scripts,” “dumping logs,” "deleting temp files," “scanning for viruses,” "purging memory," "checking for bad blocks," "testing the hardware," or “repairing permissions.” Such measures are either completely pointless or are useful only for solving problems, not for prevention.
The very height of futility is running an expensive third-party application called “Disk Warrior” when nothing is wrong, or even when something is wrong and you have backups, which you must have. Disk Warrior is a data-salvage tool, not a maintenance tool, and you will never need it if your backups are adequate. Don’t waste money on it or anything like it.

I want to clean out my macBrook pro for my daughter to use in college

I have a macBook pro I want to clean out, would it be better to take it to the apple counter or do it myself? If doing it myself, simple simple pls, how do I go about it?

I assumed you didn't mean physically clean it.
Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
Step One - Back up your data:
       A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
       B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
          1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
          2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
          3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
              side.
          4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
              sure to opt for that.
               Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
               startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
          1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
          2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
          3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
          4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
          5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See.What to do with iCloud before selling your computer
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
     A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
          1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
          2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
          3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
              Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          4. Install OS X.
          5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
          6. Shutdown the computer.
     B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
         Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
                   it is three times faster than wireless.
          1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
              Utilities window appears.
          2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
          3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
              on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
          4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
              and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
          6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
          7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
          8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

How do i clean out caches

Hello everyone-
I am travelling and am away from my 27" Mac *twitch*
Anyway, I am working on some edits on my MacBook Pro and I need to clear up some space. I wanted to clear out the cache folder but wanted to be sure what to delete and what to keep before I go any further.
Any suggestions? Tips?
Help!
Thanks!

Yep, I use Time Machine, but I've never needed it to fix a problem with CleanMyMac. I take it you've had a bad experience? The link you posted above goes to a discussion where somebody used it to remove an Apple program called Aperture which likely uses shared resources. Not the smartest idea, and certainly not something I would ever do.
From my point of view CleanMyMac is pretty good and gives me a fast way to clean out the caches and junk. It also gives me a useful way of completely removing 3rd party Apps and their junk when I want to uninstall. It probably helps to know what you're doing and to know what you're selecting to be cleaned...
Any cleaner program can cause problems if you don't know what you or it are doing. Luckily I do.
To Lboogie111, if you're at the stage where your MBP is running out of space and you need to clear cache files to get some space back, you're likely going to have bigger problems. It's not usually a good idea to run with your drive nearly full. It can cause all kinds of weird problems.
I would recommend you consider upgrading your HDD to a bigger one.

Cleaning my I-mac intel I5

What's the best program to donwload to clean my I-mac. Would the Clean My Mac from MacPow be a good solution for that?? Thanks a lot. M.

If you are trying to clean out data own your hard drive or make space of your hard drive, here are some ideas to help you.
Have you emptied OS X Trash icon recently.
iPhoto has its own trash the needs emptying.
Have you emptied the trash in Apple's Mail app?
Other things you can do to gain space.
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive older emails you want to save.
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Uninstall apps that you no longer use. If the app has a dedicated uninstaller, use it to completely uninstall the app. If the app has no uninstaller, then just drag it to the OS X Trash icon and empty the Trash.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its thing initially, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run all of the processes in the tabs. 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.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects?
Look through these for anything you no longer need and either archive to disc or delete.
Good Luck!

Cleaning out my Mac

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