The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    OS X Install bloated - Reinstallation?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Superczar, Mar 9, 2009.

  1. Superczar

    Superczar Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    166
    Messages:
    249
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    So I managed to do the unachievable... I junked my OS X install the same way Windows junks by itself in 6 months

    The super snappy interface now randomly throws beach balls at me, Safari 4 often pauses for several seconds while scrolling through a page...apps take 20-30% longer time to launch...

    It's not like the system is crawling, it's just that it feels a lot more bloated than what it was a few months ago
    Possibly due to the fact that I installed a lot of junk applications

    I tried cache cleaning etc but didn't help all that much

    Been thinking of doing a reinstall but without losing my personal data..

    - Take a time machine backup
    - Do a clean reinstall
    - Restore backup

    The question I have is what options do I choose when restoring the backup

    - I need to make sure my Documents/pictures/Videos etc are restored as-is

    - I'd prefer to get back some of my applications although I am not sure if restoring the applications would make the entire reinstall exercise futile since the junk apps would also return back.. Is there any way I can selectively choose the apps to restore

    - Any other ideas to resolve this problem
     
    Superczar, Mar 9, 2009
    #1
  2. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,686
    Messages:
    3,982
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Try removing some unwanted startup apps from System Prefs>Accounts, and repairing file permissions with Disk Utility.
     
    Budding, Mar 9, 2009
    #2
  3. HerrKaputt

    HerrKaputt Elite Notebook User

    Reputations:
    444
    Messages:
    2,510
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I have no experience on Mac OS, but my experience with Windows is that it is best to backup the folders you want to keep manually, and reinstall everything from scratch. The only thing I backup is files and folders, and I have tried using a backup program once (Acronis) which gave lousy results.

    I have yet to try Vista's backup utility. I was using XP at the time, and stupidly enough, I didn't use XP's backup utility either.
     
    HerrKaputt, Mar 9, 2009
    #3
  4. HowardZinn

    HowardZinn Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    80
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Wow you must have a lot of apps in there.
    Before you do a reinstall, I would suggest removing the 'junk' apps you no longer need and also running some maintenance app for OS X. http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16790

    You could possibly fix it relatively easily and save yourself a couple of hours.
     
    HowardZinn, Mar 9, 2009
    #4
  5. Underpantman

    Underpantman Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    356
    Messages:
    2,073
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I second the maintenance route, I have found that this fixes the issues most of the time. Onyx is a great free app that can help you out here.
    a
    :)
     
    Underpantman, Mar 9, 2009
    #5
  6. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

    Reputations:
    1,253
    Messages:
    2,086
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    +1 for Onyx. Very nice app that allows you to do some heavy maintenance and cleaning. It's the Mac OS X version of a high-end CCleaner for Windows. ;)
     
    Colton, Mar 9, 2009
    #6
  7. Superczar

    Superczar Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    166
    Messages:
    249
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Ah..I did the following:

    - Removed useless apps
    - Onyx maintenance
    - Reverted back to Safari 3 from the safari 4 beta followed by a safari reset

    Glad to say that the system is back to its usual snappiness although I cannot pinpoint which of the above did the trick
     
    Superczar, Mar 11, 2009
    #7