Getting your Mac back

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Macs are very resilient and long lived machines; but after months of constant use and abuse, they become less and less reliable. What was once nimble and effective is now chugging along. Marshall IT is sharing some tips to get your MacBook firing on all cylinders again. Contact IT for assistance with any of these concepts.

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Preventive maintenance:Clean your desktop!Did you know that all the programs and files that you save on your desktop leach away processing power? Folder your documents and move them, or delete them toget your ooomph back!

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Preventive maintenance:Empty the Downloads Folder

Every-time you get a file, a picture, or program off line it saves to your downloads folder! For most people, we use files once - open your Downloads folder and get clean! Select items with your mouse and use Option + Delete to quickly cut it down to size!

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Preventive Maintenance:Clean up your internets, pt 1.Don't install internet browser toolbars! They don't provide a useful service, just bloat and advertising software. All modern browsers allow you to search in the address bar and create bookmarks! Uninstall and get your speed back.

Preventive Maintenance:Clean up your internets, pt. 2!Did you know that every visit to a website generates a tiny bit of data that is saved on your hard drive? Or that images are saved for later use and recall? Or that you can accumulate cookies, packets and marginalia from each place you visit? This gums up the works and leads to slow down, but you can clean thisup by clearing browsing history.

Preventive Maintenance:Close Programs, pt. 1Take a look at your Dock - notice the white dots underneath icons?

That little light means your program is still running, even if you hit the Red dot to close the Window. To shut down your Mac's programs, you can Click and hold on the Icon onthe dock > Wait for the gray menu to open, then click QUIT. Or try the shortcut Command + Shift + Q.

Preventive Maintenance:Close Programs, pt. 2Clicking and holding not fast enough for you? Try hit Command + Option + ESC.

Here you can see a list of all programs that are open, and therefore Force them to close.

Preventive Maintenance:Give it a restEveryone deserves a break, even your MacBook. Shut it completely off over the weekend or evening. This closes all the programs and stops you from opening program after program after program after program which will bog down the system and reduce performance.

This applies to the MacBook Carts as well! Let them take a break and not run.

When all else fails:Patience...Don't panic if thisspinning globe of angst appears on your screen. Sometimes it simplymeans that your program is gatheringresources or thinking things through. Give it 20 seconds and see if it resolves itself.

Hold down ESC + COMMAND+ OPTION to bringup the ForceQuit menu

Holding downESC + COMMAND + OPTION + Shift for 3 secs will auto close

When all else fails...Locked Up?

When all else fails...Still Locked Up

Sometimes you will experience a complete lock up of the System. If this happens,hold down the power button for 10 seconds. This will cut power to the computer.Restart from scratch.

When all else fails...Don't be afraid to restart

IT's favorite troubleshooting step = Turning it off and on again. Don't be afraid to try this step before; a majority of the time this fixes the issue.

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Last Resort: Format + Reload

● We work with faculty to back up presentations, files, assignments and materials.

● We cannot back up personal files such as music and movies.

● Reloading takes about 4 hours.

If all else fails and problems continue Marshall IT will format the hard-drive and reload programs.