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Recommended Computer Maintenance for Apple Macintosh Systems 7.x-9.x

Regular maintenance can prevent many problems you may experience when using your computer.  Our recommended maintenance procedures help protect you against the most common causes of system crashes, slow performance, and damaged data. 

Why Perform Computer Maintenance

The areas of concern are:

1. Repair disk errors--catch physical disk problems before you lose data and recapture lost disk space.
2. Defragment your disk--put pieces of files back together to speed up opening and saving them.
3. Backup important files--keep a sceond (or third) copy of all files you cannot afford to lose.
4. Update/patch software--to fix known problems in your OS and application software.
5. Protect your computer against viruses--it is critical to keep the anti-virus software up to date as new viruses are introduced daily.

Some of the procedures can be set to run automatically at preset time intervals in newer Mac operating systems.

Recommended Maintenance Timetable

Weekly Maintenance:

Rebuild the desktop.
Check file system for errors using a disk repair utility (such as Disk First Aid).  Do not check for physical defects on your hard disk.

Monthly Maintenance:

Run a third party disk utility such as Norton Disk Doctor, Tech Tool Pro or Alsoft Disk Warrior. Check for physical defects on your hard disks when checking for file/folder system errors.
Defragment/optimize your hard disk using a third party utility software such as Norton Speed Disk, TechTool Pro or Alsoft Disk Warrior.
Check for Macintosh operating system updates using Software Update (available on Mac OS 9 or greater) or manually via Apple's web site.  Install all recommended updates.
Check that you have at least 10% of each hard disk available as free disk space.
Update your Virex virus definition files.  Check for an upgrade of Virex.

Repairing Disk Errors

Rebuilding the Desktop
Every disk that is mounted on the Macintosh desktop has it's own desktop file. The desktop file is an invisible file that the Finder uses to keep track of all the information added to the desktop display. This file should be purged of unnecessary information periodically. (This is a non-destructive maintenance procedure). To rebuild the desktop file:

1. Restart the computer.
2. After you see the extensions load hold down the Option and Command (the key that has the cloverleaf symbol and/or Apple symbol) keys simultaneously just prior to the mounting of a disk until an alert box appears asking if you want to rebuild the desktop. Click the OK button.
   

Checking for Directory and File Problems
Files and directories develop minor damage through the normal use of your computer. If not fixed this eventually turns into major damage.  We recommend you run a utility program to check for file and directory discrepancies at least once a month.  The Macintosh operating system comes bundled with a utility called Disk First Aid.   While Disk First Aid can repair minor problems you will need to use third party software to fix major problems. The Disk First Aid utility is non-destructive and can be used with relative confidence.

Procedure for Disk First Aid:

1. Double-click the Macintosh hard drive.  Double click the Utilities folder .  Double click the Disk First Aid icon.
2. Select the Volume (hard disk) in the top window and then click on the ‘Repair’ button.  Make a note of any problems that are displayed. 
3. To repair a volume, select the Volume (hard disk) in the top window and then click on the ‘repair’ button.  Make a note of any problems that are displayed.
4.  If problems are encountered that Disk First Aid can not fix you will need to use third party software such as Norton Disk Doctor.  (See instructions below for running Norton Disk Doctor).

Checking the Physical Integrity of the Hard Disk

Drive Setup is a utility from Apple that is bundled with newer Macintosh operating systems.  Drive Setup can create and maintain the underlying structure and format your hard disk drives and other media. It has built-in testing and formatting functions, as well as the ability to update and reconfigure your hard drives.  While it can test the physical integrity of a hard disk it cannot repair the disk.  If you suspect your hard disk has a bad sector or is failing run Apple's Drive Setup Test Procedure.

To test a disk using Apple's Drive Setup:

1. First disable any disk sleep or screen-saver utilities.
2. Go into the Utilities folder on the hard disk and double click on the Drive Setup folder.
3. Double click the Drive Setup icon. 
4. Select (highlight) the volume (hard drive) in the Drive Setup Display Window, and select 'Test Disk...' from the Functions Menu and press the Start button.
   
5. Upon completion, you will receive a message indicating success or failure. If it succeeds, you may use the drive, but with only limited confidence due to the limited nature of the test feature of Drive Setup. If it fails, you will need to use a more-advanced third party disk utility to attempt a better repair.

Various third party utility programs such as Alsoft DiskWarrior, Norton Disk Doctor, MacMedic, and Micromat TechToolPro can be used for checking and repairing the physical integrity of the hard drive if Drive Setup reports errors.  Computing Services is most familiar with using Norton Disk Doctor (included as part of Norton Utilities) to perform these procedures.  Follow the instructions below to repair a disk with Norton Disk Doctor.

Procedure for Running Norton Disk Doctor

We strongly recommend that you do not install Norton Utilities on the hard drive of the computer but rather run the program directly from cd.   

1. Make sure the Macintosh is shut down.
2. Insert the Norton Utilities cd in the cdrom drive and hold down the ‘C’ key on the keyboard then turn on the computer.
3. Keep the ‘C’ key held down until the background of the Monitor screen displays ‘Norton Utilities.’ At this point you can let go of the ‘C’ key. 
4. Double-click the Norton Utilities icon , then select ‘Norton Disk Doctor.’   Select the hard drive you want examined and then click the Examine button.
   
5. Typically minor errors will be found and you will normally want to choose ‘Fix’ or ‘Fix all’ when prompted.  If a major error is found that Norton cannot fix, make a note of the exact error message on a piece of paper and continue.
6. When finished, exit the program and restart the computer.  

Operating System Updates

Macintosh System 9 and greater has a tool called Software Update that connects to the Internet and checks your system to see if there are updates from Apple that aren't installed.  If there are, you can download them and they will automatically be installed.  You may need to restart your computer at the end of an update session.  You should check for updates manually at least once a month or schedule Software Update to update automatically.  To update your operating system files:

Running Software Update (OS 9.0 or greater only)

1. Connect to the Internet if you are not connected currently. On campus machines should already be connected via ethernet.
2. Go into the Control Panel and Select Software Update.
3. Click the 'Update Now' button.
   
4. Your system will be examined and recommended updates may appear. If you want these updates to be downloaded and installed check the appropriate box(es) when prompted and click the OK button. Files will be downloaded and installed to your system. (Note: Software update can be scheduled to update automatically if the Update software automatically box is checked).

If you have an older Macintosh system that does not have Software Update use your web browser to download updates for your specific Macintosh model and operating system at: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

Defragment/Optimize the Hard Drive

Use a disk utility program to defragment/optimize a hard drive. This procedure reorganizes all the files on the hard disk so that similar files types (ie. Mac system files) are packed close together.  This will normally increase the speed and performance of computer when accessing files because the ‘read’ head of the hard disk does not have to move as frequently.  There is no built in utility application from Apple that can defragment/optimize the hard disk. You will need to purchase a third party program such as Norton Utilities, TechTool Pro, or Alsoft Disk Warrior to perform this function. The Division of Information Technology has provided instructions for Norton Speed Disk – which is part of Norton Utilities.  We recommend you defragment/optimize the hard drive monthly.

Procedure for Running Norton Speed Disk:

We strongly recommend that you do not install Norton Utilities on the hard drive of the computer but rather run the program directly from cd.   

1. Before running Norton Speed Disk it is very important to run Norton Disk Doctor (see instructions above) or an equivalent disk utility application to repair file/directory and hard disk problems.
2. Make sure the Macintosh is shut down.
3. Insert the Norton Utilities cd in the cdrom drive and hold down the ‘C’ key on the keyboard then turn on the computer.
4. Keep the ‘C’ key held down until the background of the Monitor screen displays ‘Norton Utilities.’ At this point you can let go of the ‘C’ key. 
5. Double-click the Norton Utilities icon, then select ‘Norton Speed Disk.’   Select the hard drive you want defragmented then click on the ‘Optimize’ button.
   
6. Once Speed Disk is finished, exit the program.

Check Your Hard Disk Volumes For Available Space

Having enough free hard disk space for the creation of temporary files by both the Macintosh operating system and applications is critical. You should have at least 10% or 100MB of free disk space, whichever is larger, on each hard disk. Check the free disk space on your hard disk volumes at least once a month. This should be checked immediately if you get an Out of Memory error message.

1. Use the mouse to highlight the Macintosh hard drive icon located on your desktop.
2. From the menu bar click on File then select Get Info and choose General Information.
3. The drive Info window will tell you how much disk space you are using and how much is free.
4. If you have less than 10% free disk space on any hard disk you need to either delete files from that hard disk or move them somewhere else.

Special Note of Caution:
Many applications install files into the System Folder and/or into the Preferences Folder (located within) the System Folder. Simply deleting an application by dragging the application file to the trash may not remove the entire program since there may be associated files with the particular application installed in the System Folder. If you are tech savy you can browse through the System Folder and Preferences folder and check if you need any of these files. Be very careful when deleting files - deleting the wrong file may seriously damage the Macintosh operating system rendering it unable to boot properly.

The Macintosh operating system does not have a custom remove option to remove specific applications. A Utility such as Aladdin System's Spring Cleaning can assist with these tasks.

Graphics, animations and music are among the biggest disk space hogs. They are large and easy to collect without being aware of just how many you have. Zip disks make a good removable media to archive (store without keeping a copy on the hard disk) seldom used files on. If available, tape is another excellent archive media. You should keep copies of important archived files on at least two separate removable disks or tapes.

Backing Up Your Data

A good backup strategy can save you from the agony of lost critical data.  Hard disk's occasionally fail and can result in loss of all your data. We strongly recommend you frequently back up your data to another media device (external hard disk) or to network.

Please visit http://www.sfsu.edu/~helpdesk/backup/mac.htm for details on backing up data from your Macintosh.

Virus Software

It is important that your Macintosh have software installed to protect against computer viruses.  Also, the virus software needs to have the virus definitions updated regularly to be able to protect against newer viruses.  

1. Install the lastest verison of Virex.
2. Follow the installation instructions to configure Virex to auto update the virus definitions once a month.

Norton Antivirus is another popular product used to protect against computer viruses.  If you are using this product ensure that you have configured it properly to automatically update the virus definitions regularly to guard against new viruses.

Links to other Macintosh Resources

Alsoft DiskWarrior - Highly rated Disk Utility
Apple Software Updates - Downloads and updates for various Mac models and operating systems.
MacFixIt - Web site of Ted Landau - author of 'Sad Macs Bombs and other Disasters.'
Retrospect - Highly rated backup solution
Sciencequest - Comprehensive site detailing preventive maintenance procedures for Macintosh computers on the web
Symantec - Makers of Norton Utilities and Norton Antivirus
TechTool Pro - Highly rated Disk Utility
Virex - Highly rated Anti virus program

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