Mac defrag anyone?

Ern Dog

When I had a pc I would need to defrag my computer regularly, but now I have a Macbook Pro for the past couple years and I haven't performed a defrag once. I'm using 2/3 of my 200 gb capacity and I have lots of music files stored on there. Are people defragging their macs? If so what are you using to do it?

cnh

I don't currently use a Mac. But I did use them between '88-2000 and I never once had to defrag anything? I assume if you're using a new MAC and you have Windows on it you might have to check that using Billy Gs system that, as I understand it, still rests on MS DOS (I could be wrong--but isn't that the problem is here? All that OLD partition nonsense that DOS had, etc.).

But I'd wait for some of our computer nerds to check in on this!

cnh

newrival

To defrag get something like DiskTools Pro. If you have a solid state, do not defrag it. The way data is arrayed is completely different, and defragging shortens the lifespan. MBPs have a program that manges data location, so inefficiencies due to fragmentation are not an issue.

But if you have a standard HDD, check it out in the app store. If you want, you can go into disk utility and repair the drive and permissions, but if you're not having any real issues, i'd just leave it alone.

mantis

Mac's don't need to be defragged. After maybe 4 or 5 years I would consider replacing your hard drive. Hard Drives go bad and slow down over time. Keeping your Mac or Pc running at tip top shape , replacing the Hard Drive is the best way to do it.

I have had my Macbook Pro for 5 years now and just replaced the hard drive with a new one. I did this so I didn't have a crash. I however really have no worries as I use a 2T Time Capsule.
One thing about a mac is it's very low maintenance. I have never had to repair any of my 3 mac's we have. They are all now over 5 years old and none of them have had any issues at all. I love it.
Another thing that is badass is none of them have had the typical Slowdown like all of my Pc's have over the years.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I went through all this crap when I bought the first Mac a couple years back. All those programs are a total waste of time, and MacKeeper in particular is very intrusive and I would not recommend it. I did tons of reading and testing when I 'made the change' and really the best thing with a Mac is to just leave it alone. I've blasted people on here before for saying things like 'Macs don't get viruses', but seriously it just doesn't happen. I've been running solid for 2 years now without a single antivirus or maintenance program installed, doing no regular maintenance, and I've had zero issues with any of my machines. The iMac is my oldest Mac though at 2 years, so I can't speak about longevity beyond that.

Ern Dog

Ok, this is good info to know. I guess no need to worry about defragging. I'll put my energy into ripping my cd collection into my new Minipro external HD.

I have the mackeeper software and I like that it removes files I don't need that are using up my memory.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Keiko wrote: »

Also sim, it's rare, but Macs can indeed be infected by viruses and malware. Try doing a search, there's tons of info out there on the topic.

Cheers,

Mike

Of course I know that, and like I said there's plenty of evidence on this forum alone of me yelling at people who say they can't. My point was, it's obviously possible, but doesn't really happen much. That's not because Macs are impervious to viruses like the fanboys think, they're just not as popular and not a target...

AsSiMiLaTeD

Ern Dog wrote: »

Ok, this is good info to know. I guess no need to worry about defragging. I'll put my energy into ripping my cd collection into my new Minipro external HD.

I have the mackeeper software and I like that it removes files I don't need that are using up my memory.

That's fine, just be aware that that program has overhead itself as well.

helipilotdoug

Here is some good info on defraging a Mac.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4032