Spring is in the air (we hope) and as thoughts turn to May flowers, let us help you with a little “spring cleaning” of your Mac…
Make sure you give it a good night’s rest.
The “brain” in your computer (whether it be an iPhone, iPad, or Mac) gets tired just like you do. You wouldn’t leave your car running all night? The same applies to other electronic devices in your household.
Keep your Operating System up to date.
Software updates are critical for the smooth and steady performance of your computer. Do NOT ignore them, despite what your Facebook friends tell you. A software update bug is far easier to fix than a computer running old and out dated software. On the other hand, OS UPGRADES can cause compatibility issues or cause an older computer to perform poorly, so please give us a call if you are not sure if you should upgrade to Yosemite (the current Mac OS).
Location, location, location.
Use and store your computer in a clean, well lit, well ventilated room. Do not use it, your iPhone or your iPad in the bathroom. Keep food and drinks as far away as possible. A liquid spill immediately voids any warranty. Don’t use White-Out on your screen either…;) We love our pets, yet pet hair can get into the cooling fans and really muck up the works so to speak. (woof, meow, moo???) Smoke of any kind whether it be from a cigarette, candle, incense burner, cigar, or “other” (wink, wink) can get into every crack and crevice in your device. Even the surface you rest your device on can potentially be troublesome. Stone, marble and the like conduct heat better than you would think.
Empty the trash and delete the cache.
Empty your browser. Over time these files build and do nothing but take up space. Get rid of ‘em! In Safari: Safari > Reset Safari.
Click on Finder and select Applications. Scroll through the list and if you have not used it in some time, it may be time to do some spring cleaning of your programs. Click, hold and drag to the trash can.
Open iPhoto and empty the trash there as well. At this point, empty the trash can then restart your computer.
After your computer restarts, take a peek at your Login Items. Go to your System Preferences, select Users and Groups Click on the Login Items tab and uncheck programs that you do not need immediately upon start up. Remember they can always be started at a later time.
Woof, woof! (Happy Spring!)