cache

If you're looking for a Mac uninstaller with a little extra under the hood, CleanApp offers all the features you need to get rid of unwanted apps once and for all.

With CleanApp, you drag and drop apps to the interface, and then you can view them and their associated files before you decide what to do. But unlike other uninstall utilities for Mac, CleanApp offers a few extras across the top of the interface, so you can zero in on what you want to uninstall. The Applications button displays all installed apps; a System Accessories button lets you … Read more

A few people are noticing after installing Lion that Safari may render fonts in Web sites incorrectly, and show some or all of the text as a series of square blocks with the capital letter A in them. When testing the problem in other browsers, such as Firefox, the sites appear fine. The problem does not happen to all Web sites, but instead seems to crop up only for specific ones, indicating an issue with how the rendering of specific HTML or styling code is being interpreted for those sites.

Users who have had this problem have tried resetting Safari … Read more

Our utilities update report is a column on updates for Mac utilities that have been released in the past week. Though a utility can be any tool that helps you perform a routine task (including image manipulation and synchronization), our focus in this column is on bringing you those tools that help in troubleshooting Mac hardware and software problems. This week there were updates for a data recovery tool, a popular maintenance program, an Apple products database, and an alternate filesystem browser.

If you have tried using the OS X Finder for complex management of files and file properties, you … Read more

If you hate waiting for what seems like an eternity for your PC to boot Windows, Diskeeper's ExpressCache might get it going a little faster than molasses.

Recently shown off at Computex Taipei, ExpressCache has been demoed with an 8GB SanDisk SSD to cut program launch times as well.

In the demo below, the Windows desktop appears 15.5 seconds after the OS starts, compared with 33.4 seconds on an identical machine that isn't souped up (BIOS time isn't included). The times it takes for the toolbar to appear are 1.9 and 23.8 seconds, respectively.

In simultaneous launches of Adobe Photoshop, the times are 5.9 and 11.8 seconds.

The SSD acts as a cache for the HDD, and either component can be of any capacity and still work with ExpressCache. … Read more

If you recently ordered a present for a loved one on your iPad or iPhone and don't want him or her to stumble across the site you used to place the order, clearing your browser history will eliminate that possibility. Clearing Mobile Safari's history is a great way to cover your tracks on the Internet, as well as free up some memory (although the amount of memory is minimal). We are going to show you how to erase your browser history, cookies, and cache on your iOS device of choice in two simple steps.

… Read more

Having tons of apps to choose from is one of the main perks of having a smartphone. Unfortunately, some apps may be keeping more stuff on your phone than just the core files needed by the app. This "stuff" is the cache for each app, which can be easily cleaned out to offer more space for new apps. Normally, you would need to look at the details for each individual app to see how much cache space it is consuming. However, with the use of one small app you can view their cache sizes all in one place, … Read more

Apple's new iMac systems came with a little surprise, which was the inclusion of the new Z68 chipset from Intel. This chipset supports a number of enhancements over the previous versions used, and Apple has already enabled some of these with a recent firmware update that unlocked SATA III capabilities in the new systems. Beside SATA III, however, the chipset does boast another speed-enhancing technology called SSD caching, but unfortunately for now iMac owners will not be able to use this.

SSD caching is a technology that uses up to 64GB of a high-speed SSD device to store frequently … Read more

WinZip System Utilities Suite offers a one-stop shop for optimizing, defragging, and generally cleaning out your system--and it does a pretty great job, adding extras that will come in handy whenever you need to perform routine maintenance. The interface smartly mimics many of the utilities in this genre--with various tools on the left, and the main window showing the options for each tool--making it easy to clean each area of your system quickly.

Like many modern system utilities, WinZip offers the option to be as involved with the process as you want to be. From the Home screen, you can … Read more

Every now and then people write in regarding various errors they see in the system console, where you can review system messages and troubleshoot problems. Sometimes these errors may be related to problems in which the system cannot build or access a specific cache, which can be an application cache, or a system cache such as the kernel extension "kext" cache.

Usually, when caching problems happen, the system will not show any signs of malfunction. Caches are generally binary databases of commonly accessed files that make items easier to load, and if one is missing then the system … Read more