what is the best disk clean-up utility for mac os x? i want to maximize my hard drive space and i want to safely delete the files that i don't really use or files that have been "orphaned"... many thanks...
From what I can recall...OSX isn't like the peecee that installs program files in separate locations (i.e. sytem folders aside from registry entries). When OSX installs programs, it's in one location, that when you do not need the program, you just have to drag the app to the trash. So, to answer your question, clean up is easier and it depends on your file management. Usually, our personal files are stored in our user profile, and our programs are just in the applications folder. Whatever you don't need you can safely throw away, drag to the trash i mean...
I personally use Onyx. I've tried using MainMenu, but it's so buggy. It kept askin me to authorize every little option I choose. Onyx is flamin! Give it a try, it's more comprehensive than MainMenu
Hm. I don't know why MainMenu keeps asking for your password. I just authorize it once per login and it doesn't ask for a password again until the next boot. I've chatted with the author and he's very supportive. It's a good thing on his part that he disables MainMenu with every OS X update so that nothing gets messed up with your system. I use Onyx too, but I like MainMenu's convenience of being at the menubar all the time. At any rate, they're both rated very highly over at VersionTracker and they're both just front-end apps for Unix commands already under the hood of OS X.
Cant access the main menu site but the zapper looks really cool and its only $12 bucks. I wanna see the main menu first.
MainMenu 2.0 (unreleased, under development) has already undergone changes to the authorization scheme (authorize once, then no password ever needed again until updating). Interface redesigns are in development too. (and scheduling, growl support, more batch tasks, shapeshifter support, etc)
Not necessarily. If you have a valid reason, there is no reason why I would not provide licenses to those who ask nicely ;-)
You won't be able to access the site at the moment, as the free webhost I use (XMGFree) has been hacked, and the servers are currently being rebuilt :slanted: (One of the reasons for the next version becoming shareware, to pay for proper hosting) For now, MacUpdate has a mirror for the download to version 1.5.5. (http://www.macupdate.com/mainmenu)
How do I use Onyx and Main Menu do clean-up files? I delete files and programs by dragging them to the trash. I have been using Onyx though, but I'm not sure If I had unknowingly done the process of cleaning up user files. And how about widgets? Is it ok to just click on the red icon beside the widget's name (in the manage widgets window)?
The commands in MainMenu are pretty straightforward because it groups maintenance tasks by popup menus. You'll know what I mean once you've installed MainMenu. When we mentioned 'cleaning,' we referred to the process of deleting caches (user, system, browser, font), logs, temporary files, and .DS_Store files to clear up disk space by removing these unnecessary files. Deleting files by moving to and emptying the trash will suffice for that purpose: deleting files. We use system utilities like Onyx and MainMenu to force empty trash during times when the OS refuses to empty the trash, for some reason or another without the need to restart or quit some particular process that's still using that item in the trash. And it's enough to click on that red icon in the manage widgets window to delete widgets. I hope this helps.
I noticed that the last entry in this thread is from three years ago already. Can anyone provide an update of good, free software that can be used to do maintenance work for OSX? I just switched from windows not long ago, and I'm used to defrag-ing the computer and doing other tasks that help clean junk out of the system every once and a while.
