Maintaining the Apple of your eye: tips for keeping the MAC operating system in optimum shape.

Tips for keeping the MAC operating system in optimum shape

Macintosh computer users hold such faith in their user-friendly operating system (OS) that they rarely think about maintenance. But even a Rolls Royce needs a tune up every now and then. In the same way, regularly scheduled maintenance can keep your Macintosh OS running smoothly.

The easiest way to enhance productivity of your Mac OS is to rebuild its desktop. "It's like aspirin," explains Rod Harlan, author of "The Hiding Place," a monthly column in MAC Today magazine, which uncovers hidden Mac tips. "It's one of those remedies that no matter what's ailing your computer, it might solve the problem."

The Mac desktop is an invisible database that holds the links to all your files. Each time you insert a floppy or install new software, the desktop file grows. Over time, this can create corruption (getting information mixed up). This slows your computer down and can interfere with your work, according to Macworld MacSecrets (IDG Books; $39.95). Rebuilding the desktop brings order back to the database.

There are a couple of ways to rebuild the desktop. According to MacSecrets, this is the official procedure:

1. Restart the Mac with the spacebar down so that the Extensions Manager's window appears.

2. Turn off all extensions except Macintosh Easy Open, then close the Extensions Manager's window.

3. As the restart proceeds, press the Command and Option keys until you're asked if you want the Desktop file rebuilt, click OK.

4. Restart the Mac with the spacebar down. Turn all your extensions back on.

Harlan teaches classes on the Mac at the Academy of Merchandising and Design in Tampa, Florida, and is currently president of the Bay Area Macintosh Users group in Clearwater, Florida. He offers users a simpler method for rebuilding the desktop. While rebooting, hold down the command and option keys simultaneously. A dialog box will appear asking, "Would you like to rebuild your desktop?" Click OK. Then follow instructions. Harlan recommends rebuilding your desktop at least once a month.

A key component of OS maintenance is reclaiming vanishing disk space. An easy way to free up disk space on your Mac is to empty the trash. Sounds simple, but many users ignore the bulking trash can icon. Just remember, everything you drag into the trash stays there until you empty it.

Another good way to free up disk space is to dump printer drivers. Like most people, you probably use one printer. But your extensions folder stores printer drivers for every major brand and then three or four models for each major brand. "That could be eating up two, three, even four megabytes," says Harlan. "What's worse is that these drivers use RAM." You can also retrieve disk space by cleaning the cache on your Web browser. If you spend many hours on the World Wide Web, you should clear the cache found under Preferences on most browsers at least weekly. "Sometimes people have 10 megs sitting there in the preferences folders," says Harlan.

Other regular scheduled maintenance for the Mac OS includes reinstalling a fresh copy of the System Software every three months and defragmenting your drive every six months if it's more than 80% full. These procedures will increase the efficiency of your OS. To defragment your drive, erase your drive and start over. Of course, you will first need to back up everything on your drive. Then reinitialize the drive by using the Erase Disk command in the Finder or Apple Drive and then copy all your files back onto your hard drive.

If you want a more automated way of defragmenting or maintaining your Mac OS, Harlan recommends Norton Utilities. "No Mac user should be without it," says Harlan. "Sometimes it's not until their first really bad crash that they realize they need it."

Say you've done all these things and your computer continues to crash every time you boot up. As a last resort, try "zapping" your parameter RAM (PRAM). This action will take your OS back to its default factory settings. To zap your PRAM, restart your computer and hold down Command and Option and the P and R keys simultaneously. The computer will make a "ping" sound and the screen will flash. After the screen pings and flashes three times, release the keys.

If these tips don't tune up your Mac, it's probably time to trade it in or have a technician look at it.

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