Help: Mac Mechanic: 4 of 5
Quarterly Maintenance Procedures Defragment Your Hard Drive When you create and save a new document, the computer "writes" it onto the hard drive wherever it finds a big enough space. If you make changes to that document and save again, the computer doesn't "re-save" the whole thing. Instead, it only saves the parts you've changed, and it writes those changes somewhere else on the disk. Over time, all those changes can result in a single document that consists of many little pieces scattered around your drive. That is called "disk fragmentation." When a disk is fragmented, it can't access or store files efficiently. That can slow you down. It makes the drive work harder, so it may reduce the usable life span of your drive. And, it gives the desktop database more items to keep track of, so it increases the risk of database corruption. The process of "defragmenting" picks up all the files on your disk, joins the various pieces back together into one file, and places them back on the disk in a neat and orderly fashion. There are two great commercial software utilities that can defragment your disk, Norton Utilities for Macintosh and MicroMat TechTool Pro. (WARNING: Be sure to use only the newest version of each utility. Older versions are not compatible with Apple's new HFS+ disk format and can damage your files!) IMPORTANT NOTE: You should always check the drive with a disk repair utility before defragmenting to remove any corruptions that could cause problems. Also, there is a "slight" chance that system problems may occur during the defragmenting process which could damage the files on your disk drive. You should ALWAYS backup critical files before defragmenting the drive! HELPFUL HINT: You can reduce disk fragmentation by using the "Save As" command. When you "Save As," a brand new file (all in one piece) is created to the disk. So, when you're done working with a document that has seen many changes, use the Save As command to write the final version on your disk to replace the original fragmented document. Zap Your PRAM: Sounds painful, doesn't it? PRAM (pronounced Pea-RAM) is "Parameter RAM." This is a small RAM chip on your computer's motherboard that remembers the "parameters" (settings) you've chosen in various Control Panels, like your screen display options, mouse speed settings, memory settings, network connections, desktop image settings, clock settings and more. If your PRAM gets corrupted (often caused by improper shutdowns or two applications that try to control the same settings), the computer can act strangely - as if it has forgotten how you like to work. To ZAP (erase) the PRAM, restart the computer and immediately hold down four keys: COMMAND-OPTION-P-R. The computer will "restart" (you'll hear the chime) a second time. Keep holding. It will "restart" again. (You'll hear a third chime.) Now release the keys and let the computer start normally. When it's running again, you'll have to open several Control Panels to reset all your preferred settings. To make PRAM Zapping easier, use MicroMat's TechTool. (The same free software we recommend for rebuilding your desktop.) It completely erases the contents of the PRAM so you can start fresh. NOTE: The PRAM is able to remember your settings, even when the machine is turned off, because a small battery on the motherboard provides just enough electricity to let it remember things. If your computer seems to be forgetting the PRAM settings consistently (especially if your Mac is 4+ years old) the battery might be dead. (Some Macs won't even start up if the battery dies.) Call 5-Minute Mac or any Apple Service Provider to have the battery checked and replaced. Organize Hard Drive Files and Folders This is another task which isn't "technically" a maintenance procedure, but it sure will make you more productive. Having to search all over your hard drive to find the files you want can be a real pain, and it can slow down your hard drive. Our systems usually have only five folders on the hard drive: System, Applications, Fonts, Utilities and Data Files. (Often the Data Files are stored on a second disk partition or a second drive.) It can take some time to get organized like this, but it really can help you work faster and more productively. In addition, organizing up your drive gives you the chance to throw away useless old documents, extra copies of TeachText and SimpleText, duplicate fonts, preference files for software you no longer use, empty folders, and all the ReadMe files you've never read. That can make it easier for your hard drive to keep track of the really important files. To make organizing a little easier, check out Aladdin's Spring Cleaning utility software. It may be just what you need to get organized - finally.
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