filesystem

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 to maintenance programs, a number of filesystem and file management tools, and one hardware utility for managing battery calibrations.

Maintenance The popular maintenance tool Snow Leopard Cache Cleaner was updated in this past week. There is … Read more

If you find your Mac is running slowly, generally there are a few things you can do, including running a general maintenance routine, deleting unneeded files to keep at least 10 percent of your boot drive free, increasing the installed RAM, and quitting unused applications (both foreground and background) that you may have installed. In addition to this, one possible cause of slowdowns is if your hard drive contains undetected bad blocks, and forcing the system to remap them can result in things running smoothly again.

Hard disks are "block-based" storage systems, meaning that their writing surfaces are … 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 to file recovery software, some drive monitoring utilities, and duplicate file management tools.

Maintenance

Cocktail is a good option to use as part of a general maintenance routine and also has options to allow for adjusting … Read more

It is not uncommon to see computer terms getting mixed up in everyday discussions. For instance, I regularly hear people referring to a flash drive as simply a "USB," or a full computer system as a "CPU." For some purposes the cross-use of these terms seems to work out, but at other times it can lead to confusion, especially when troubleshooting storage media, when terms like disk (or "disc"), memory, media, filesystem, volume, partition, and mount point can be a headache if used interchangeably.

Ultimately all of these terms refer to some sort of … Read more

Every now and then it can be useful to track how a program or process is accessing the hard drive. There are times when troubleshooting when you may want to track what files get changed when application settings are adjusted, or which files are accessed when you load a particular feature. Apple provides the Activity Monitor utility that will show you the overall input and output rates of the hard drive, but this overview does not specify the files that are being accessed.

While there are numerous ways to monitor hard-drive activity and usage in OS X, I've found … 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

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 to file recovery software, some drive monitoring utilities, and duplicate file management tools.

Files and filesystem Sometimes locating duplicate files (especially groups of them after migrating files) can be useful for clearing up hard-drive space. GrupaDupa, … 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 to some maintenance and filesystem tools, including a major update of TechTool Pro, and some hardware and process management tools.

Maintenance Some standard maintenance programs were updated this week. The tools OnyX and Maintenance are made … 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 to some maintenance and filesystem tools, including a major update of TechTool Pro, and some hardware and process management tools.

Maintenance In maintenance utilities this week, the popular tools OnyX and MacPilot have been updated. OnyX … Read more