Should I use onyx to clean my imac

I am looking at clean my mac software but note several comments on using onyx instead. Looking for some advice.

What are you looking to accomplish?
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.x is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.1 or higher are Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. Versions 1.5.1 or later are 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 had been significantly reduced in Tiger and Leopard. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard 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.
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. Other utilities are also available such as Onyx, Leopard Cache Cleaner, CockTail, and Xupport, for example.
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 AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow 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):
Backuplist
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
iBackup
JaBack
Silver Keeper
MimMac
Retrospect
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
SuperDuper!
Synchronize Pro! X
SyncTwoFolders
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
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.

Similar Messages

I get Exit code 15 issue on CS installation, should I use the CS6 Cleaner Tool?

Upon startup the CS6 Beta would pop up the error that the sniffer_gpu.exe stopped working, and would not open. I updated my graphics card drivers suspecting an OpenGL issue, but that didn't solve my problem.
I then uninstalled CS6 via the control panel, and attempted to reinstall hoping that would fix things, but 2% into the process the installation fails with the following error: Inconsistency in the installer database - please restart your computer and install again.
There is a link to an error summary file, which reads:
Exit Code: 15
-------------------------------------- Summary --------------------------------------
- 0 fatal error(s), 0 error(s), 0 warning(s)
I have restarted and retried the process several times after cleaning the registry with the same results.
Does the normal Creative Suite Cleaner work for this release? I haven't run it to find out as I have CS5.5 installed, and would rather not screw that one up as well.
Thanks for any help I can get.
Regards,
Joel

Hi,
We are tracking this issue at: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/978912?tstart=30.
I will lock this particular thread and forward your issue to the installation guys . They will check the link above for your information and get back to you there.
I suggest you copy your issue there and an intstallation expert can help determine if the cleanter tool is appropriate for your situation.
Please note whether it is a MAC or PC and what OS you are running.
Thanks and sorry you are having issues.
Pattie

Should i use adobe flash on an iMac?

Are There any problems with installing Adobe Flash on my IMAC?

Yes, but only download and update it from Adobe - Install Adobe Flash Player

What should I use to clean the trackpad?

I bought iKlear to clean the screen of my MacBook and it works great. I have been using it for years on my iBook. I was reading the directions and it says not to use it on the trackpad. I had used it on my iBook trackpad with no problems. What should I use then to clean my trackpad? Why should I not use it on my trackpad? Anyone have suggestions or used iKlear on their trackpad despite iKlear's warnings?
Thom

A very slightly damped cotton cloth works wonders. Just be sure to wring it out as best you can so no liquid gets anywhere you don't want it to be.

I keep getting offers to clean my imac, Mackeeper its called is it a good idea to use this or not?

Ikeep getting offers to clean my imac, the offer is from mackeeper, one should a person clean the mac, and if so is this the product to use or not.

If it were that good, every-other post here would be recommending it. (None do.)
Instead, it is like online SPAM -- in your face, trying to sell you garbage.
Everything you have to have to keep your Mac working right is already installed at the factory. In certain unusual situations, you may need another program or two. Nothing is needed to clean your Mac -- it does not get filthy.

I want to clean all of the cookies and bugs that are in my computer causing it to be slow. What program should I use that is safe and won't mess up my computer?

I want to clean all of the cookies and bugs that are in my computer causing it to be slow. What program should I use that is safe and won't mess up my computer?

Problem description:
I would like to clean up my computer. Its beginning to run slow and I believe cookies and bugs are apart of the reason.
EtreCheck version: 2.0.6 (91)
Report generated October 26, 2014 at 4:59:31 PM EDT
Hardware Information: ℹ️
MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014) (Verified)
MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir6,2
1 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM Not upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Video Information: ℹ️
Intel HD Graphics 5000 -
Color LCD 1440 x 900
System Software: ℹ️
OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Uptime: 13 days 2:41:41
Disk Information: ℹ️
APPLE SSD SD0128F disk0 : (121.33 GB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 120.47 GB (70.38 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Internal Memory Card Reader
Apple Inc. iPhone
General USB Flash Disk 16.13 GB
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
MSD (disk1s1) /Volumes/MSD : 16.13 GB (11.18 GB free)
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
/Library/Extensions
[loaded] foo.tap (1.0) Support
[loaded] foo.tun (1.0) Support
Startup Items: ℹ️
tap: Path: /Library/StartupItems/tap
tun: Path: /Library/StartupItems/tun
Startup items are obsolete and will not work in future versions of OS X
Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
[running] com.perion.searchprotectd.plist Support
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[loaded] com.genieo.completer.download.plist Support
[loaded] com.genieo.completer.ltvbit.plist Support
[running] com.genieo.completer.update.plist Support
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
[invalid?] com.jdibackup.ZipCloud.autostart.plist Support
[running] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper.plist Support
User Login Items: ℹ️
iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.1.3r153 - SDK 10.6 Support
Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.189 - SDK 10.6 Support
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.189 - SDK 10.6 Support
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
User Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
TroviNPAPIPlugin: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9 Support
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
Trovi Search for Safari (Disabled)
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
Flash Player Support
Time Machine: ℹ️
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
 53% mds
 9% WindowServer
 3% mds_stores
 3% storeagent
 2% hidd
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
920 MB mds
31 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
30 MB Messages
29 MB Safari
21 MB WindowServer
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
31 MB Free RAM
713 MB Active RAM
681 MB Inactive RAM
1.09 GB Wired RAM
17.85 GB Page-ins
1.95 GB Page-outs

Is it necessary to use a cleaner such as Onyx to clean a mac?

Is it necessary to use a cleaner such as Onyx to clean a Mac Pro?

Certainly not a routine necessity. If you are having problems then by all means but use with care - take the time to understand what it can do. And the more routine stuff is handled by OSX anyway.

Should I use "clean up my mac 2" to make my mac run faster?

My mac is running super slow. I keep seeing ads for "clean up my mac" and "clean up my mac 2". Should I use these programs? Is there something else that is recommended? I have deleted my download folder, but that didn't help much.

When you see a beachball cursor or the slowness is especially bad, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.
These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
          SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
          View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.
Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.
Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

What do you use to clean your iMac screen?

I bought a bottle of 'screen cleaner'(for computers and cameras.) I spread it on the screen (it looks like hair mousse) and wiped it with soft cloth.... It left marks! I tried it many times but couldn't make it spotless ...
Should I use window cleaner instead ... since the outer screen is made of glass?
Message was edited by: wawalulu

Yes ... 'rub gently' ... that might be the key ...
Thank you, Dennis!

What registery cleaner should I use with firefox vs 6?

A registry cleaner keeps popping up and indicates over 400 problems - Just need to know what cleaner is recommended for firefox vs 6 and how to use it -

There is usually no need to use a registry cleaner. 
If you see that poop-up while visiting websites then that is most likely a simulation that is downloaded from internet and not showing a scan done on your computer. 
The intend of such a pop-up is to get you to buy their software and you should never respond to such an alert or you will be infected by malware.
Do a malware check with some malware scanning programs. 
You need to scan with all programs because each program detects different malware. 
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan. 
 
* http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
* http://www.superantispyware.com/ - SuperAntispyware
* http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Windows Defender: Home Page
* http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Spybot Search & Destroy
* http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php - Ad-Aware Free
See also:
* "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked

Macbook Pro Won't Shut Down, Restart, or Logout after using Onyx.

Hi,
Earlier this week I found that my macbook wouldn't shutdown, restart, or logout from the finder menu (or any other menu, such as Onyx or Software Update). The only way I could get it to restart was through Terminal. I tried every solution, but nothing would fix it. After backing everything up, and doing a clean reinstall, everything was fine. Then, when I used Onyx, I tried to install the Archives Preference pane and the Processor Preference pane. The window just sort of hung there not responding - and finally I had to force quit Onyx. Now my system is back to not shutting down, restarting, or being able to log out again. The good thing is that I think I've isolated the problem. The bad thing is that I have no idea how to fix it. I tried uninstalling Onyx, but that did nothing. I've used Onyx regularly and have never had any issues, and I can't seem to find anyone else with this problem.
Can anyone help? I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum for this topic. If there is a better forum for it, let me know and I can repost.
Another problem that I'm having is when I open iTunes, the dock icon comes up for about a second and crashes. I tried completely reinstalling iTunes, but that hasn't worked. Perhaps I missed something? BTW - everything else is operating just fine (i.e. Quicktime, etc.)

HI and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
Run Disk Utility from your Mac install disc.
Insert your install disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window. Where you see Capacity and Available. *Make sure there is always 10% to 15% free disk space*
If you cannot boot from your install disc, try booting in Safe Mode
You do not need Onyx, especially not good for Snow Leoaprd. You can run cron tasks from the iStat Pro widget available here.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

Cleaning an iMac .

Tried cleaning my iMac screen and it's was like a purple gloss looked disgusting I would appreciate if someone can tell me what I can use to fix it and what should I use to clean my iMac screen.

How to Clean Apple Products > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3226

Using OnyX utility on a MBP w/ SSD installed

Good Day all,
I was curious to know if it is safe or necessary to using common Mac cleaning utilities like Onyx on a Macbook Pro that has been upgraded to an SSD. I recently upgraded my 13 Macbook Pro 8,1 to a Samsung 840 SSD 512Gb and have gone through various website that like ways to optimize using an SSD on a Mac.
This is what I have thus far:
Don’t run benchmarks on your new SSD
Use Trim Enabler (I went with Chameleon Optimizer for this)
Turn off local Time Machine snapshots
Turn off hibernation
Set noatime flag
Turn off sudden motion sensor
Turn off hard drive sleep
Delete old sleep image
So after doing all this, do I still need to use a utility such as Onyx from time to time on a MBP with an SSD. Or are these kind of utilities harmful to SSDs?
Thanks

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.
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.
Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.
The free anti-malware application ClamXav is not crap, and although it’s not routinely needed, it may be useful in some environments, such as a mixed Mac-Windows enterprise network.
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 have new hard drive, should I use migration assistant before I install Snow Leopard or install Snow Leopard first?

I just had a new hard drive installed after a hard drive failure. I need to install Snow Leopard, Lion and VMware Fusion. Should I use migration assistant to reinstall my old files and applications first or should I install the new Operating Systems first? Some of the old files do have corrupt data and I will have to pick and choose what back-up files I re-install.

Pondini wrote:
memalyn wrote:
Some files were backed up on another external drive but not all.
How was that done? Drag & drop? An app like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper?
Initially files were backed up on the iMac with Time Machine. I purchased a My Book external hard drive and after doing a full back up on it, I began doing all of my incremental back ups on it using Time Machine. Sometime later, I purchased a Western Digital external hard drive that included back up software on it called "WD Back-up" so I could use it to store all of my Music and Audiobooks on to keep my iMac and My Book free of those file types. The WD Backup software allowed me to pick and choose what files I wanted to back-up. I don't think I had been backing up Music and Audiobooks on the Mac anyway or maybe I was, I don't remember if I can selectively pick and choose files with Time Machine - I have not checked as I have not yet plugged it into my new hard drive. Once The My Book drive became full with regular back ups, around June or so I had to switch over to the WD Back up drive. I recall that I was very concerned that I could not do a full back up on the WD drive because if I did, I would have to reformat the drive and I did not want to do that, so I think I was able to selectively back up some additional files from my iMac but again, I do not know for sure since I have not looked at what is on the drive. I do know that if I was able to back up additional files I had to do it with WD Back up and not Time Machine, if that matters.
I know that the files in the partitioned drive and files associated with VMware Fusion are damaged. If I do a full restore, it will restore the VMware Fusion app and partioned drive
We need some clarification:
Do you mean there were 2 partitions on your internal HD? If so, how was the second one formatted? Was it backed-up?
No, there was only one partitioned drive. The way I understand it is the VMware Fusion software does the partitioning and the app resides on the Mac. After that was done, I then installed the Windows software on the partitioned drive. There is a critical file on the Mac under a Folder called Virtual Machines and in the Virtual Machines folder, the "Windows Bundle" or some such thing keeps locking each time the software crashes due to the problem files somewhere within the files in the VMware Fusion software that (I think resides) in the Windows environment that I cannot access. The Virtual Machine file on the Mac gets backed up so the Windows Bundles files get backed up and that includes all the screen shots (essentially backups) of the Windows environment. The Windows environment includes some of the apps and their data in Windows such as Quicken. Theoretically, the partitioned drive does not get backed up but in reality if the screen shots do, some of the partitioned drive does - corrupt or not. If you have a Quicken file open and a drop down screen in Quicken frozen when the system crashes, that is what gets backed up and there is no way you can get back into Windows or Quicken.
               If I do a full restore, it will restore the VMware Fusion app
If you restore an OSX volume, yes, that will restore all apps, but that's not necessarily bad. If necessary or desired, you can always delete or reinstall a suspect app. That way, all your other apps will be ok. For most users, reinstalling all apps is a considerable project. See Transferring Applications for an explanation.
Well, that is true. To reinstall VMware Fusion, Windows and Quicken would much, much easier than all of the Mac software I have. Plus, the VMware Fusion version I have is not compatible with Lion and my goal is to install Lion, so I will have to upgrade VMware Fusion no matter what. Further, I'm so aggravated with the dual operating system, I've been looking at products to replace Quicken, so if anyone knows of a good home, small business and home rental financial product they can recommend, I'm all ears!
               If I do a full restore, it will restore . . . and partioned drive
If there are 2 partitons, a full restore only restores the OSX partition. If a non-OSX partition was backed-up, it must be restored separately.
               Now that I've said I only have 1 partitioned drive, does that mean it will restore the partitioned drive? I would prefer it did not. It seems now that it would be much cleaner to restore the OSX drive. Would I be able to do that?
So, depending on the exact circumstances, your best be may be to restore the most recent OSX partition, then restore/copy those files that were backed-up on another drive; reinstall VMware if necessary; restore the other partition.
So . . . things may be a bit more complex than we though, but perhaps less dire.
More detail on the various partitions and backups should clarify things.

How can I share printers using a non apple router, imac to ipad?

Newbie in osx, but experienced in linux.
My new imac has 3 printers setup for sharing, but ipad 2 / iphone 4 fail to see them. I am using the belkin router that I owned already, instead of buying an Airport.
I found a solution at askubuntu.com Q 26130 at http://askubuntu.com/questions/26130/how-can-share-my-printer-so-that-i-can-use- it-with-airprint
I setup a linux machine on the network, with no physical connection to any printer. The 1st, an hp fax psc has a usb to imac, as the 2nd, an hp psc, the 3rd printer is an epson wireless, which is only connected on the network by wifi to the belkin router. I'm certain the imac "sharing" is properly setup, because the linux machine has no trouble finding the printers. Only the ipad / iphone have a problem.
Once I put the linux machine (with the above changes) on the network, everything works as desired. I can print on the ipad / iphone to any of the 3 printers, using the built in Airport printer routine (not the epson or hp apps). And the imax and linux machines can also print on all 3.
So, I suspect the imac isn't telling the router to display the printers on the network in a way that iOS can see them. I know it would work if I owned an Airport, but I'd rather not spend that much right now.
I'm sure someone knowledgable in OSX might have an idea where to stick an Airport definition file, created from the python script in askubuntu, that could solve this without having to run the linux laptop all the time. Any ideas?
TIA

It's possible to use free software (Virtualbox and Ubuntu) to fix the broken iOS 5 Airprint printing with non supported printers. Here's a fix that works on my imac, but should also work on even a windows pc.
My setup is a lion imac with 2 non-airprint supported usb printers attached, a belkin wifi router that provides network connectivity for my imac, ipad, and iphone.
Install ubuntu 11.10 in a virtualbox vm. Specify to use the "Bridged Adapter" with "en1: WiFi (AirPort)" for the network hardware. Make sure the imac's usb printers are setup with sharing. On ubuntu, select System Settings > Printers and add your imac's shared printers to the list. Then start ubuntu's firefox and set "localhost:631" in the address. On the administration tab, under the Server section, check "Share printers connected to this system" and hit Change Settings button to activate it. Go back to ubuntu's printer setup, and right click on each printer and check that the properties Policies tab does not have any messages about it being unshared. If so, then go back to firefox and make sure the Server sharing checkbox is enabled. It may help to reboot.
Fire up virtualbox to be able to use AirPort printing to your imac's usb printers, when you want to print from the iphone or ipad. This also works on iOS 5.
Only problem is error message from iphone to check the printer for errors, even though it actually prints ok.
references:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/26130/how-can-share-my-printer-so-that-i-can-use- it-with-airprint
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2011-June/033611.html

Should I use onyx to clean my imac

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