Windows computers have a number of wellknown and easy-to-use diagnostic tools, but the people in the Mac camp lackthat versatility. MacOS is known to be harder to work with, and most users findit easier to let a specialized tech handle the problem rather than deal with iton their own.
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- Best Mac Clean Up Software
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But if you hail from the land of DIY, thenthese tools are for you. We’ve put together a list of some of the most usefuldiagnostic tools on macOS to help you figure out why you’re leaking memory, whyyour CPU is maxing out, and where all of your hard drive space has gone.
OnyX (Download)
It is one of the best OBD software for the OS X platform. The Auto Doctor allows the user to examine and reset the alert codes. Using this OBD2 diagnostic software a user can interact with a car's OBD2 system readily, and make a computer or a laptop with OS X a very clever automotive scanner. Update Freezer is a free tool which provides options to disable automatic updates of software programs in your computer system. The update freezer PC Maintenance Software can be downloaded for free and it comes with a simple interface. This tool helps you to enable/disable Windows startup items and software updates. Avira Free Security is an all-in-one security tool for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS that that keeps your devices free of viruses, ransomware, and spyware. Powered by a smart scan, it scans your devices for threats, unsecure networks, software vulnerabilities, and performance optimizations, then fixes issues with one click.
OnyX is a free disk utility for the Macthat’s perfect for ferreting out why things aren’t running as quickly or assmoothly as they should be. OnyX lets you run diagnostics on your hard drive,perform various system maintenance tasks, and delete caches you might not evenknow are there. It also provides access to a lot of hidden features in macOS.
The best part? OnyX is totally free. Theprogram is consistently updated to work with the most recent OS updates, so youdon’t have to worry about incompatibility. The creator releases updates soonafter Apple does, so if it doesn’t work quite right immediately after theupdate, give it a bit of time.
Disk Utility
Disk Utility is a disk utility (surprise!)provided with macOS that helps handle drive errors and corrupted files. It’salso the go-to tool if your Mac won’t boot into its operating system. If you’venever heard of it before, you can find it tucked away in the Applications >Utilities folder.
Best Mac Maintenance App
Since Disk Utility comes with macOS, it’s afree program. If you have a drive that is throwing errors, you can run FirstAid on it after you launch the utility. You can also use this utility to createan image of your drive and export it to an external hard drive—a useful featureif your hard drive is failing.
MemTest86 (Download)
Apple computers are inscrutable in moreways than just their OS. Many of them make it difficult, if not impossible, towork on the hardware or modify it in any way. A Macbook tends to have all itscomponents soldered to the motherboard, but iMacs usually provide a way to swapout RAM. But as anyone that has worked with RAM before knows, it can be faulty.
When you find your RAM not workingproperly, give MemTest86 a spin. It’s a program that can be downloaded to abootable USB drive. When you want to use it, just press down the Option key asyour Mac boots. MemTest86 will test your RAM for any instability and help younarrow down where your memory problems might come from.
Malwarebytes (Download)
Malwarebytes is one of the most commonlyused programs for testing for malware. It’s more common for Windows users, butdespite the common belief, Macs can fall prey to malware and viruses.Malwarebytes is simple to use. Just run the scan at least once per month, ifnot once every two weeks, to make sure your Mac is free of any malware.
Even if the chance for a malware infectionis low, it’s still good to be on the safe side of things. A quick scan a coupleof times a month will keep you protected from phishing software, keyloggers,and much more.
DIY Diagnostics
As with any tool that lets you work inside the files of an operating system, use diagnostic tools with care. Make sure you are completely aware of what the commands you’re using do before you use them.
These tools can be tremendously useful for extending the lifespan of your Mac, but misuse of them can cause irreparable damage to your system.
Maintenance is a System Maintenance and Cleaning utility.
**It allows you to run misc tasks of system maintenance: repair permissions, run periodic scripts, reset Spotlight’s Index, rebuild the LaunchServices database, delete Application, Font and System cache, check the status of the Hard disk.
BackityMac
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NOTE: Though this software does have an option to pay, which grants you additional features, this FREE portion of this software is very robust and useful.
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Carbon Copy Cloner
*In its simplest form, CCC will clone one hard drive to another, copying every single block or file to create an exact replica of your source hard drive. This is very useful if, for example, your laptop is damaged and you must send it in for repair.
*CCC can also be used to perform regular backups of your data. When you select a source disk in CCC, you are presented with the contents of that disk (hidden items too). Simply uncheck the items that you do not want to backup, and CCC will provide ample indication what will and will not be copied. Select a target disk to which you would like to backup, then press the clone button.
Netrestore
Whether you’re deploying five, five thousand, or 32,000 systems, NetRestore is the software deployment solution for you. Built on Apple’s Apple Software Restore technology, NetRestore can be used to quickly and accurately restore a master disk image to a computer’s hard disk while that disk image is hosted locally, on a network via AFP, NFS or multicast, or on the internet via HTTP. NetRestore can also be used in conjunction with NetBoot to fully automate the deployment of a lab full of machines. NetRestore was designed to be very easy to use, yet flexible, powerful, and extensible. NetRestore supports the deployment of Mac OS X and Windows XP.
Best Mac Clean Up Software
VacuumMail is an AppleScript application that performs an SQLite “vacuum” job on Apple Mail’s database, thereby optimizing it and boosting the performance of Mail as it fetches and stores your email. VacuumMail is designed to be incorporated into an automated maintenance routine and run at regular intervals, although you can also launch the software interactively if you need to do a manual run.
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AppleJack is a user friendly troubleshooting assistant for Mac OS X. With AppleJack you can troubleshoot a computer even if you can’t load the GUI, or don’t have a startup CD handy. AppleJack runs in Single User Mode and is menu-based for ease of use.
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