Step 2b: Get the install file for an older version of macOS. For older versions of macOS and Mac OS X it's a bit more difficult to get the install file: Apple doesn't offer downloads of outdated. Maintaining Mac OS X. Much dubious advice is available concerning 'routine maintenance' of Mac® OS X. This FAQ, based on the 'Maintaining Mac OS X' chapter of our book, Troubleshooting Mac OS X, is intended to provide guidance on recommended maintenance and to dispel some common maintenance myths. Recommended maintenance. The first release of the new OS — Mac OS X Server 1.0 — used a modified version of the Mac OS GUI, but all client versions starting with Mac OS X Developer Preview 3 used a new theme known as Aqua. Aqua was a substantial departure from the Mac OS 9 interface, which had evolved with little change from that of the original Macintosh operating. Jun 01, 2013 Needed only for hard drives (not SSDs) and OS X does it's own so you don't have to unless it's been upgraded or in a very rare long time, then if it's required there is a very safe and long lasting method to go about it here: How to safely defrag a Mac's hard drive.
Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk.
Erasing a volume on your disk: In other cases, such as when your disk contains multiple volumes (or partitions) and you don't want to erase them all, you can erase specific volumes on the disk.
Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep.
How to erase your disk
Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue. If you're not erasing the disk your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar in Disk Utility. The sidebar now shows your disks (devices) and any containers and volumes within them. The disk your Mac started up from is at the top of the list. In this example, Apple SSD is the startup disk:
Select the disk that you want to erase. Don't see your disk?
Click Erase, then complete these items:
Name: Type the name that you want the disk to have after you erase it.
Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map.
Click Erase to begin erasing your disk and every container and volume within it. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
When done, quit Disk Utility.
If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the disk you erased, reinstall macOS on the disk.
How to erase a volume on your disk
Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue. If you're not erasing the volume your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
In the sidebar of Disk Utility, select the volume that you want to erase. The volume your Mac started up from is named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name. Don't see your volume?
Click Erase, then complete these items:
Name: Type the name that you want the volume to have after you erase it.
Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
If you see an Erase Volume Group button, the volume you selected is part of a volume group. In that case, you should erase the volume group. Otherwise, click Erase to erase just the selected volume. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
When done, quit Disk Utility.
If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the volume you erased, reinstall macOS on that volume.
Reasons to erase
Maintain For Mac Os X 10.10
You can erase at any time, including in circumstances such as these:
You want to permanently erase all content from your Mac and restore it to factory settings. This is one of the final steps before selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac.
You're changing the format of a disk, such as from a PC format (FAT, ExFAT, or NTFS) to a Mac format (APFS or Mac OS Extended).
You received a message that your disk isn't readable by this computer.
You're trying to resolve a disk issue that Disk Utility can't repair.
The macOS installer doesn't see your disk or can't install on it. For example, the installer might say that your disk isn't formatted correctly, isn't using a GUID partition scheme, contains a newer version of the operating system, or can't be used to start up your computer.
The macOS installer says that you may not install to this volume because it is part of an Apple RAID.
About APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra or later can erase using either the newer APFS (Apple File System) format or the older Mac OS Extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you.
How to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility tries to detect the type of storage and show the appropriate format in the Format menu. If it can't, it chooses Mac OS Extended, which works with all versions of macOS. If you want to change the format, answer these questions:
Are you formatting the disk that came built into your Mac? If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, Disk Utility suggests APFS. Don't change it to Mac OS Extended.
Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later for the first time on the disk? If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFS—without erasing your files.
Are you preparing a Time Machine backup disk or bootable installer? Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for any disk that you plan to use as a Time Machine backup disk or as a bootable installer.
Will you be using the disk with another Mac? If the other Mac isn't using macOS High Sierra or later, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Earlier versions of macOS don't work with APFS-formatted volumes.
How to identify the format currently in use
If you want to know which format is currently in use, use any of these methods:
Select the volume in the Disk Utility sidebar, then check the information shown on the right. For more detail, choose File > Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.
Open System Information and select Storage in the sidebar. The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.
Select the volume in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info from the menu bar. The Get Info window shows the Format of that volume.
If your disk or volume doesn't appear, or the erase fails
Shut down your Mac, then unplug all nonessential devices from your Mac.
If you're erasing an external drive, make sure that it's connected directly to your Mac using a cable that you know is good. Then turn the drive off and back on.
If your disk or volume still doesn't appear in Disk Utility, or Disk Utility reports that the erase process failed, your disk or Mac might need service. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.
Learn more
If you can't start up from macOS Recovery, you can use a different startup disk instead.
If Disk Utility shows a Security Options button in the Erase window, you can click that button to choose between a faster (but less secure) erase and a slower (but more secure) erase. Some older versions of Disk Utility offer the option to zero all data instead. These secure-erase options aren't offered or needed for solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage.
Macs are sleek and slick computers that can run well for years after you take them out of the box. Like all other computers, though, your Mac is not immune to slowdowns, bugs, and other problems, and it’s up to you to keep your machine happy, healthy, and safe. Use the eight tips listed below to keep your Mac running like a well-oiled machine for years after first use.
Backup your data regularly
Even Macs can crash, run into hard drive problems, or contend with other issues that could put your data at risk. Making it a habit to backup your data every week or two can save you the heartbreak of having something go wrong and losing a slew of files that you can’t salvage from anywhere else. A full Time Machine backup is one option, and is probably the easiest way to clone your entire hard drive for easy restoring later on. You can also just drag and drop files and folders over to an external hard drive—a good idea for those who are also backing up files that no longer fit on their Mac—or use an online cloud-based service.
Cut down on utilities and services that run in the background
How many utilities or tasks do you have running in the background on your Mac right now? Printers, Bluetooth, home file sharing networks, cloud-based services, other applications that send data to the internet: all of these items will run in the background of your machine, more or less at all times, and can monopolize RAM and slow down your computer. To know which tasks are running in the background, look to the upper right corner of your screen and see how many icons are lined up in the top navigation bar alongside your battery and Wi-Fi icons. The more you have, the more likely that those utilities are the culprit behind your computer’s sluggishness.
Install anti-malware software
Mac Os X Iso
Every Mac user has heard the myth about Macs not being vulnerable to viruses and other types of malware. But it’s just that: a myth. The amount of malware that targets the OS X operating system is growing as Mac computers become more and more popular. Downloading some good anti-virus or anti-malware software—to scan your computer for infection and block future threats—can help you avoid becoming a victim of this growing scourge of malicious software.
Clean out your old files
This one is more or less just common sense, especially if you are using a smaller or slimmer Mac laptop without much hard drive space. Regularly cleaning out old files—photos, videos, mp3 files, word documents, etc.—can help to preserve hard drive space and keep your computer running smoothly. You should have a minimum of 10% of your disk space free at all times, and probably more if you can spare it. So, if you have a 500 gigabyte hard drive, you should leave 50GB free for best performance. For those with very full drives, a regular cleaning—and perhaps a backup of old files to an external hard drive—is essential. For everyone else, it’s just a good idea to keep your machine from becoming too cluttered.
Run Disk Utility
All Macs come with the Disk Utility program included. You can find it in your Utilities folder, which is itself stowed away in the Applications folder. Opening up the utility and running it four or five times a year is a good way to make sure that your hard disk is healthy and fully functional. The Disk Utility includes two basic functions. The first, used for repairing disk permissions, can be run right there in the app, once you open it from the Utilities folder. The second function, used for repairing the disk itself, can only be run in recovery mode, which you can access by holding down the Command and R keys as you boot up your computer. In recovery mode, you can boot into a recovery partition of your disk, from which you can run Disk Utility on your normal boot disk. This method is used to handle a corrupt hard disk or other errors, and is a must if you think there is an issue with your hard drive.
Keep your desktop clean
Mac Os X El Capitan
Some Mac users love keeping all of their most frequently used apps, folders, or documents on their desktop, but believe it or not, this habit can actually make your Mac slow and sluggish. The Mac needs to contribute RAM to display each icon on your desktop, so the more cluttered your desktop is, the less computing resources your machine has to use on other tasks. So keep your apps in your Applications folder, and file your other stuff away into folders. It’s okay to have a few folders on the desktop, but as a general rule, clutter should be avoided for the best performance.
Update software (but maybe not right away)
Apple, as well as the third-party developers behind your apps, updates software fairly frequently, and usually you will be alerted when there is an app or OS X update waiting to be installed on your machine. In order to keep your Mac best equipped to handle vulnerabilities and avoid bugs, updating your software frequently is a must. With that said, from time to time, Apple and other developers will release software updates that have huge unforeseen bugs or usability issues of their own, so you might want to wait a few days (and perhaps even read some articles or blog posts online) to learn whether or not the latest update to OS X or your favorite app is going to cause more headaches than it resolves. Luckily, most developers—Apple included—will usually rush to fix any issues with their latest software updates, so waiting a few days might help you avoid any issue altogether.
Shut down your apps when you aren’t using them
The dock is one of the coolest things about having a Mac, allowing you to see the programs you have open in an attractive and easily accessible way. Unfortunately, closing programs using the red X button will often not actually shut the program off. As a result, you might be running programs such as iTunes, Microsoft Word, or even your web browser when you aren’t using them—which can use up RAM and CPU, heat up your machine, and cause slowdowns elsewhere. To see which apps you have open, click the Apple menu at the top left corner of the screen and select “Force Quit.” From there, you can shut down apps you aren’t using and preserve the resources they’re hogging.
How To Install Os X
As you can see, there are many different ways to take care of your Mac and keep it running well as time goes on. The eight tips presented above are simply among the most universal fixes and maintenance techniques that can take a slow, sluggish, and thoroughly bogged down machine and restore it to the zippy computer you once knew.
Apple Mac Os X
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