Maintenance of Macbook.

[Garn]

I ordered a Macbook two days ago and it's slowly making its way here, but I want to get some stuff straight first.

Can I leave it on all the time? How often should I restart it? Should I put it in sleep mode at night?

Also, I am going to want to free up as much disk space as I can when I get it. What is the best way to go about doing this?

Thanks for any and all replies.

 

[FullmetalZ26]

So far as disk space is concerned, the first thing you should do is boot off those OS X DVDs, format the hard drive, and reinstall Mac OS X. Be sure to select "Expert Install" or "Customize" during the installation, and deselect all the junk you don't need. Get rid of stuff like drivers for printers you don't own, localization files for languages you don't speak, extra software such as iMovie that you won't be using. That alone will probably give you an extra 4-6GB, depending on what you remove.

If you'll be leaving the MacBook on all the time, or using it for an extended duration, it'd be a good idea to put it on a hard, flat surface when using it. (This means not setting it on the carpet, or your lap, or a couch cushion, etc.) The Core Duo processor can generate a lot of heat, and it'll build up quick if the system doesn't have a little space underneath it. I'd recommend putting it to sleep when you're not using it, just to save power, and to let it cool when you won't be using it anyway. Leaving it on 24/7 shouldn't be an issue, however, provided it's properly ventilated.

Also, it's Mac OS X, so restarts generally aren't needed unless you're doing a Software Update, or something manages to completely hose the system (which is fairly rare, in my experience.) Mac OS X is a Unix-based OS, so it knows what it's doing when it comes to memory management and such.
Hope you enjoy your new MacBook as much as I'm enjoying mine

 

[gman71882]

Good job FullmetalZ26. very thorough information.

I'm an apple tech in the Design Dept. of a university and i usually get these questions allot. A good measure to follow would be that if you notice a slowdown in the computer's CPU, Hard drive, etc... a restart will more than likely help clear the memory and speed things up.
If all your doing is surfing the web and light things they you probably wont even have to restart your machine but once every 2-3 weeks or so (maybe more)
With heavier usage in biggers progrmas like IDVD, Imovie, Final Cut, Photshop, then you may find the need to restart more often. (once a week or less)

 

[Garn]

Thanks for your thorough replies!

And yes, it is going to be used to run programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXPress etc.

So maybe turning it off every night would be a good idea (if i dont need it on for some reason! )

 

[After G]

Leave it on all the time. I did this with my iBook, and it turned out fine. You don't have to shut down except for system updates (though I know that people don't usually have as much luck as I have so far with my mini.)

Sleeping it is good, as you conserve power and help the environment.

Oh yea, don't forget to calibrate the battery when you get it, and at least once a month afterward (charge it to full, and then discharge it completely). But don't do it all the time, because the batteries in notebooks are not designed for repeated charge-discharge cycles.

 

[emotistically]

I know I leave my desktop on all the time but doesn't the macbook start up in under a minute? Why not turn it off every once in a while when you are asleep I don't think the extra minute of waiting around for it to start up is that much of a problem. Keep you macbook right next to your alarm clock when that thing wakes you up press the botton to make it stop and press the botton to turn on your macbook, by the time you are awake enough to use a computer your macbook with be freshly charged and waiting for you.

 

[wako]

I know I leave my desktop on all the time but doesn't the macbook start up in under a minute? Why not turn it off every once in a while when you are asleep I don't think the extra minute of waiting around for it to start up is that much of a problem. Keep you macbook right next to your alarm clock when that thing wakes you up press the botton to make it stop and press the botton to turn on your macbook, by the time you are awake enough to use a computer your macbook with be freshly charged and waiting for you.

OR... instead of doing any of that you can simply to turn it off and just flip up the screen and go... oh wait, i've been doing that already


My macbook since I have gotten it has only been restarted 3 times. 2 because of updates, and once to calibrate the battery.

 

[FleurDuMal]

I leave my MB on almost all the time. Especially at night when I leave something downloading on Transmission.

My advice, if you're doing CPU-intensive stuff, is to download and run CoreDuoTemp, just to keep check on your processor temperature. If it seems too high, then you'll know somethings up with how you're ventilating your MB.

Also, I use a fantastic little program called MainMenu every so often. It's basically a maintenance program that'll perform all the little maintenance scripts in one batch execution. I know OSX probably does this already in the background, but I like to do it myself as well just to make sure. Plus, if for no particular reason a program starts behaving strangely (for example, iTunes wouldn't minimise on mine), then running MainMenu's will sort it out straight away.

 

[Garn]

please tell me more about calibrating the battery.

 

[clevin]

please tell me more about calibrating the battery.

you will find it here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284