Glance at these 11 applications and this short collection of dull-seeming apps many users may need. Incredibly useful (and powerful) system maintenance utility.Īn excellent solution that helps identify duplicate files on your Macįind forgotten files and folders that may take up space.Īlways maintain a current clone copy of your Mac.Ī fast and effective unused app deletion tool that safely eradicates space-consuming app resources. It makes sense to familiarize yourself with these apps – not only will they enable you to keep your own system in good shape, but if you are attempting to troubleshoot another person’s Mac, these tools may provide considerable help. There’s life beyond Disk Utility, of course. Lots more information on Disk Utility here. For this, you’ll need to start in Recovery Mode (Command-R). If problems are found with Disk Permissions you can fix these using this app, but you cannot fix the startup disk.
If the Mac you are working with is running slowly, seems to be missing data or even if you’ve just upgraded the system, you should launch Disk Utility and “Verify Disk Permissions” and/or “Verify Disk”. The Disk Utility app (Applications>Utilities) is Apple’s Swiss Army knife for most problems. Get to know these keyboard commands – zapping the PRAM, Recovery Mode and Hardware Test are invaluable. Command-S launches Single User Mode, a text-based UI for advanced users. Verbose Mode will show you what’s happening during startup and may help identify a Mac problem. Launches Apple’s hardware test to uncover any hardware problems on the Mac.Īllows you to choose which bootable device to launch Mac from. Launches your Mac in Recovery Mode and you get to access OS X utilities: Restore from Time Machine, Reinstall OS X, Apple support and Disk Utility. You will need to reenter some passwords (so get a note of these first), but this command should eradicate many inconsistencies.
Release them and the Mac should boot as normal, though now its PRAM data will have been reset. Keep the keys depressed until you hear a second chime. Power up your Mac and hold these keys as soon as you hear the startup chime. Graphics and system performance will be slower. Launches a Mac in Safe Boot mode, it will check the integrity of your startup volume and will launch with the minimum OS X extensions it needs, no user fonts, startup or login items. Startup from a bootable CD, DVD or USB drive (or N to launch from a network server, if available). Hold down these keys to access critical help. You can also run Disk Utility in normal mode.Įnter Disk Recovery mode (Command-R) to run Disk Utility to Verify and Repair your Disk, or to reinstall the OS. Launch Disk Utility in this mode and Fix Permissions on your drive. Still having problems? Restart the Mac holding down Command-R to enter Disk Recovery mode.