I started out trying to delete the epson scanner monitor (a printer I haven’t had for years) as it shows up in activity monitor and it bothered me it was there and I didn’t need it. That led me to looking at all the strange bits and bobs I have there.
So - your expertise please ---- recommendations for software to help me delete the crud from Macbook Pro 2014… (I know she’s old, but she still works wonderfully). Clean My Mac? Onyx? Mac Cleaner?
many more I won’t name.
I started out trying to delete the epson scanner monitor (a printer I haven’t had for years) as it shows up in activity monitor and it bothered me it was there and I didn’t need it. That led me to looking at all the strange bits and bobs I have there.
So - your expertise please ---- recommendations for software to help me delete the crud from Macbook Pro 2014… (I know she’s old, but she still works wonderfully). Clean My Mac? Onyx? Mac Cleaner?
many more I won’t name.
First don’t go near Mac Cleaner, I think it is called. Do a clean install
Others here I am sure will chip in? I do have a reputable program I have used that you mention I think if it is the same program. Most of them are really malware as far as I am concerned and they use similar names to the good ones just to keep us all confused. I used Onyx once and it did a good job if I remember. I can’t remember what the issue was though. I did load a bad ‘cleaner’ once so I had the experience.
Otherwise what @dfay said is right. If you want a real clean do what he says, it is quite easy these days.
My current set up was put on the machine from my previous one in 2015: not a ‘clean’ install even then and stuff even older than that came along with it. I am not sure I need to do it, but I am going to nuke and pave when I install Catalina this time; probably in December. I can keep nearly everything I really need, all my files, on a thumb drive and re install them and if I lose say a Keyboard Maestro pslist, well, it isn’t the end of the World: it would give me a chance to rethink some of that in fact and all’s well that ends well. I might even just re start Launchbar from its fresh state and rethink that too now that I know so much more after listening to the Launch Bar v Alfred episode.
Most of my stuff is text files or psfs so a clean install is quite easy for me, so maybe I am blase about it.
I use Clean My Mac on my MacBook Pro and iMac Pro. It’s good at cleaning up debris when you uninstall an app. It has a section that lets you enable or disable login items, find large and/or old files, run maintenance scripts, etc.
“Nuke & Pave” is the ultimate solution. But only if you don’t restore from a backup. Only install the software you need and manually copy the user data back to the correct places.
Before going all out you can clean house by organizing all files, empty the desktop and remove redundant applications.
Scan for malware with MalwareBytes and run https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html with all options enabled.
Yes that has been my experience; the really weird stuff, that happens sooner or later somewhere or other is often just carried through from backups. That is what happened to me. I had a problem, I and an apple guy spent a couple of hours, we tried everything other than nuke and pave, the problem sort of resolved itself to an extent and I forgot about it. Months later I discovered a weird copy of keychain in some unexpected place which I suspect was interfering with some process which had carried over back up install to back up install.
Is there anything that Nuke and Pave will not catch by the way? Anything you know of? just out of interest.
A nuke & pave is like starting a new Mac. The only thing I can add to my previous advice is to keep an eye out for problems that might carry over with the iCloud synced k chain
I agree, I found it useful, I might even install it again, especially if I subscribe to Setapp. I am afraid always to recommend it only because people confuse it with some other apps which I don’t want folk to upload. I found its best use was uninstalling stuff, it did it really well and is one reason I haven’t had to do any kind of maintenance for 5 years now. I agree with @MacExpert though, one has to nuke and pave at some point. For me it will be quite easy. I am tempted just to use it as an opportunity to rethink my app settings etc. if I have a quiet period late fall.
@MacExpert Ahh thanks, I didn’t really realize that k chain worked from iCloud, I thought it was just on the Mac! That explains a lot. I might contact the Apple guy to and let him know what that issue was, I am now sure it was kchain in liight of what you say, there were two files of exactly the same name with different contents if I remember rightly. In the same place too.
I prefer the “nuke & pave” method myself, but it’s important to remember that restoring from a backup as a part of that process can just restore all the things you’re trying to get rid of.
If I’m really trying to clean my Mac, I format the drive and reinstall macOS, create a fresh account, manually install only the applications that I want, and then manually copy the directories from my home directory backup to the new home directory.
There are bunches of more or less important things that may not be transferred with that method, especially various settings, some data (local mail, I think), and things of that sort, that are sitting in hidden files and directories. They’re wonderfully commingled with things you may actually be wanting to get rid of and not easy to separate. A (probably wise) compromise is to reinstall applications by hand but restore users and settings.
they should 