After downloading and using several applications to “clean and maintain” my Mac, I found out that most of them do the exact same thing: run commands already present in Mac OS X. These commands include daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance scripts, “rm” to eliminate logs, caches, and files, empytrash() to empty the trash can, and so on. Still, my Mac seemed to get slower when I used these programs. After digging around, I came to the conclusion that most of these programs run diagnostic processes, such as emptying the cache, and tag them as maintenance tasks. This, contrary to what one would expect, slows down the computer and generates other inconveniences. Think about it in this way: cache files are there to accelerate the start of your mac and the applications in it, so why would you want to delete them and make your Mac rebuild the cache if you don’t have any issues related to it?
As a solution, I came up with this little yet useful script that will perform the real maintenance tasks, while leaving other stuff, such as cache, intact.
Currently, the script is available in English and Spanish. Feel free to pass this along to your friends. I hope you find this script as useful as I intended it to be when I wrote it.
(Información e instrucciones en Español disponibles en el archivo Léeme dentro de la descarga)
February 3, 2012 at 9:40 pm
Victor,
Thanks for the three “Clean” scripts which I saw mentioned in MacLife. I have just installed OSX 10.7.3 released this week. Unfortunately the scripts don’t work, giving an Error message:
Can’t get window 1 of ” “loginwindow” of application “System Events”. Invalid index.
I would love them to work. I was hoping the new upgraded OS would provide a System preference allowing us to change the default and get rid of that pesky little button.
Any chance that you could fix the scripts? PLEASE.
March 27, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Try downloading the S version of the scripts. I just installed a new SSD onto my Mac with Lion 10.7.3, and can confirm that the S versions still work perfectly.
Victor
April 7, 2012 at 4:35 am
Hello. I love the idea of an easy safe way to clean my mac. I don’t trust these programs that you can buy. However, I’m not tech savy and I have no clue how to use your script. Can you please explain exactly what we are supposed to do from step one to the end. I mean, after clicking on the little hard drive above, what do we do next? Do we hit save file or open with Archive utility and then what? Please provide step by step instructions for the technically impaired among us. Thank you.
Also, I see that you mentioned an S version but I don’t see an S version of your cleaning script listed. Is there only one version in english and spanish or are there s versions as well?
April 7, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Hi
In order to use the script, follow these simple instructions:
1) Download the cleaning script of your choice (spanish or english). When you click on the hard drive image, it should redirect you to another page and then the download should start for itself. If a prompt comes up, select to save the file.
2) When the download is complete, you will see a .zip file on your download directory (usually the downloads folder in your Mac, unless you specified a different folder during the download).
3) Double click on the .zip file and a new folder on that same directory will appear.
4) There will be two files Inside the folder: a readme file and the script itself (the script has an icon of a broom).
5) Double click on the broom icon and you’re inside the script.
6) Now, simply follow the prompts of the script, and you will have your Mac clean in no time!
Answering your other question, there is no “S” version of the cleaning scripts. That nomenclature was only used for the shut-down, reboot and log out scripts.
Please let me know if it works out or if you need any further help!
Victor A.
April 8, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Victor,
Thanks for the quick reply. I haven’t downloaded it yet but I wanted to ask you a couple more questions first. When you say, “follow the prompts”, what do you mean by that? Are there commands that you have to type into the terminal like as if you are cleaning dns cache (dscacheutil -flushcache). I only know how to do that because someone said you should clean the DNS cache occasionally (I really don’t even know what that means). Is that similar to what your program cleans or does it clean different stuff? Or do the prompts take you through steps like clicking on different icons within the system settings folder. Just trying to understand if it’s typing in commands or going into the system preferences folder and clicking on stuff.
Also, how often would you recommend doing this cleaning?
Do you know anything about that DNS cache cleaning? Is that something that I should be doing and if so, how often?
Thanks so much for your expertise and assistance. I greatly appreciate it.
April 10, 2012 at 9:02 am
The program is an automated script that will run all the commands for you. You won’t have to type anything into a command prompt nor go around clicking on things, that’s the script’s job!
The script only asks for your Mac user password (In order to be able to execute the commands), and if you want your computer to automatically shut down after the maintenance has been completed (useful if you decide to run the script before going to bed).
You should probably run the script at least once a month. That’s how often I run it on my Mac.
Regarding the DNS cache, I haven’t come across the necessity of flushing it, nor have I read about it recently, so I will look into it before giving out non-factual information. As soon as I do, I will post a follow up comment on here.
Victor A.
April 10, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Victor,
I see. Thanks for the clarification. That sounds great. So basically, I just download the file, keep it in a folder and then run it once a month. That is excellent. I assume it’s never a bad thing to run it, even if I’m not having any issues with my mac. In other words, it can’t hurt anything, only help, right?
As far s the DNS cache goes, thanks for looking into that. I was always unsure about whether or not to do it and how often, so getting your opinion will be very helpful.
Thanks!
April 10, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Exactly, it is as simple as downloading it and running it.
That’s correct, you can run the script as often as you want, no damage will be done.
Regarding flushing the DNS cache, it doesn’t seem to be necessary to flush it at all unless you use your Mac as a server or you are having trouble accessing a particular web site from your computer. The DNS cache is where the ip addresses linked to domain names (such as http://www.victorandreoni.com/blog) are stored locally. Flushing the cache is only needed when the cache has become corrupt, and it is pertinent mostly to computers running as servers or when there is trouble accessing some ip address from a particular computer (an isolated problem).
In conclusion, flushing the DNS cache won’t give your computer a performance boost, but it will help to fix any corruption related to accessing websites or if you use your Mac as a server.
Hope that helps!
Victor A.
April 10, 2012 at 6:55 pm
That’s great to hear! Thank you.
And thanks for looking into the DNS cache. That is extremely helpful as well. Now I know what I can use that for and what it’s limitations are.
One last question. Will this cleaning script make any permanent changes to my Mac’s set up or operating system? In other words, will anything change permanently behind the scenes that I am not aware of other than just cleaning garbage files that I don’t want or need? I assume the answer is no but I just wanted to check. These things make me a little nervous so I apologize for all the questions. Thanks for your patience and detailed responses. I’m sure other less tech savy people like myself will benefit from this exchange. Thanks for taking the time.
Thanks again for all your help!
April 11, 2012 at 10:23 am
No, the script won’t make any permanent changes to your Mac. It will just execute maintenance tasks and leave all your data, settings, etc intact.
Don’t worry, having this kind of exchange is what an online site should be all about!
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Victor A.
April 11, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Terrific! Thank you!