Post AXZ0GJoPZitrlucSMC by gregpak@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by gregpak@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AXYz9XKWojOziRqNmq by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-10T21:07:22Z
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My 2019 Mac is glitchy. The hard drive isn't too full, and I've run CleanMyMac.So I'm thinking about taking it back to factory settings and starting fresh to see if that helps.I have TimeMachine backups and Backblaze backups.I'm thinking about restoring everything from TimeMachine first, and if that doesn't work, wiping it and reinstalling all the programs and just restoring files.Does anyone have any advice or warnings before I proceed?
(DIR) Post #AXYzFWPf8kx0bo6DnU by phillycodehound@masto.ai
2023-07-10T21:08:28Z
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@grammargirl I think that's the best option. Just format.
(DIR) Post #AXYzSM1l44naAB2N3A by royal@theres.life
2023-07-10T21:10:47Z
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@grammargirl What kind of glitchy?
(DIR) Post #AXYzavXgu8qwcz3s2q by donniecash818@masto.ai
2023-07-10T21:12:16Z
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@grammargirl I'd try to create a new user profile first (that's what my software guy told me once and it worked đ¤ˇââď¸)
(DIR) Post #AXYztt8s3Ll2gYUecy by alexhall@mastodon.social
2023-07-10T21:15:44Z
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@grammargirl Have you run any malware scans? The problem is less likely to be malware on a Mac than on Windows, but you never know. You might also want to make sure your internal drive is okay. Apart from that, your plan sounds solid. I applaud your backup scheme, by the way--it's exactly what us IT people love to see. A local backup (Time Machine) and a remote one (Backblaze) just in case.
(DIR) Post #AXZ0GJoPZitrlucSMC by gregpak@mastodon.social
2023-07-10T21:19:49Z
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@grammargirl Sending good vibes! My one suggestion, for what it's worth, is that before erasing & restoring the internal hard drive, I'd recommend creating a new installation/restoration (or bootable clone) of that drive on an EXTERNAL SSD drive. First, so you have a bootable backup. And second, so you can test the system from there to see if that takes care of whatever glitchy problems you've been having with the iMac.
(DIR) Post #AXZ0QTfJnNxfE9D5eK by drahardja@sfba.social
2023-07-10T21:21:40Z
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@grammargirl If you bring back all your apps and settings, youâre probably gonna bring back all your glitches, right?The suggestion of creating a new user account, and copying over your documents (and nothing else) is pretty good advice.
(DIR) Post #AXZ0UBtRoVvRGZacbY by Dsilverman@journa.host
2023-07-10T21:22:15Z
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@grammargirl You said âhard drive,â but do you have a literal hard drive, or a solid state drive (most newer Macs do)? Have you tried running the Disk Utility to check for issues?Iâd do that before anything else, then if youâre still having issues, a wipe/reinstall of macOS, then manually rebuilt your app collection.
(DIR) Post #AXZ0bhRCvkE17vxeHg by Joeyeah_right@mstdn.social
2023-07-10T21:23:41Z
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@grammargirl https://www.macworld.com/article/224955/how-to-reset-a-macs-nvram-pram-and-smc.html
(DIR) Post #AXZ0jOTVJmUGdBhiaW by remember_to_log_off@mastodo.neoliber.al
2023-07-10T21:25:03Z
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@grammargirl what kind of glitches btw?
(DIR) Post #AXZ0ts489gPRIipdHU by mlanger@mastodon.world
2023-07-10T21:26:52Z
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@grammargirl Make a second backup of all of your documents.
(DIR) Post #AXZ14QewOKRvUH5GSG by paddyburton@mas.to
2023-07-10T21:28:54Z
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@grammargirl as long as you've backed up everything you need...what have you to lose?
(DIR) Post #AXZ23ilNhDUjIfK448 by wordsmith@writing.exchange
2023-07-10T21:39:59Z
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@grammargirl Verify the backup before resetting anything. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh26840/macBackBlaze should have instructions on validating your data there.You might want to check the storage drive is in good health before trying to restore, too.https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/disk-utility/dskutl1040/macMake sure you have updated all of your Apple ID identity data, like email address, phone number, Recovery Keys etc.
(DIR) Post #AXZ2uNVfRjvmjQ57Mu by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-10T21:49:29Z
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@royal It's really slow to start up (like 6-7 minutes sometimes), and also just really slow in general (both web stuff and application stuff), even if I only have one or two things open. For a while I thought it was Chrome, but I switched to Safari, and that didn't help.I also don't keep a lot of tabs open (and I have a hard wired ethernet cable, not wifi).
(DIR) Post #AXZ2vw6WJKS2JW3u8e by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-10T21:49:48Z
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@donniecash818 Interesting! That sounds like an easier thing to try first.
(DIR) Post #AXZ36y8d5YYjo8JFOC by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-10T21:51:46Z
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@gregpak Thanks! I'll do that.
(DIR) Post #AXZ3BZ9XPXczlTvUsC by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-10T21:52:38Z
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@drahardja That's what I'm worried about with restoring it straight from TimeMachine.
(DIR) Post #AXZ3DcoMmOkRgt0Oe0 by Dsilverman@journa.host
2023-07-10T21:19:23Z
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@alexhall @grammargirl She mentioned running CleanMyMac X, which has a virus scan.
(DIR) Post #AXZ3DdUYFYUZnik5Oi by alexhall@mastodon.social
2023-07-10T21:22:07Z
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@Dsilverman @grammargirl Oh, good point. I'm not overly familiar with that program. In that case, I'd still suggest a disk check to make sure the disk is okay before doing any clean installs. https://www.macworld.com/article/350806/macos-disk-utility-how-to-verify-storage.html
(DIR) Post #AXZ3KLS7iXjJseo1Mu by gregpak@mastodon.social
2023-07-10T21:54:06Z
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@grammargirl I got a nice little feeling of relief when I got that thing done and working the last time I did big maintenance on my iMac. Sending the best!
(DIR) Post #AXZ3T4NCaUFJW3fEJ6 by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-10T21:55:46Z
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@Dsilverman Thanks! I actually can't remember if I've run the Disk Utility. Maybe. I've tried a lot of things. But I'll definitely try it again before doing the whole rigamarole now.
(DIR) Post #AXZ3ThR7LrYEfUnPKC by drahardja@sfba.social
2023-07-10T21:55:51Z
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@grammargirl Yeah, IMO setting up a new user right on your machine is a good way to see if that fixes your glitches, with an easy way to go back to your old account if needed.The system partition that contains the OS will be identical no matter what you do, so any glitch you have will either a. persist because itâs an Apple bug, or b. disappear, because itâs a user setting bug. With modern macOS itâs (virtually) not possible to have a corrupted system partition.The only wild card here is if you have any kernel extensions installed (unlikely but possible). Check in your System Settings under Extensions to see if you have any. I would remove those first to see if that makes your system more stable.
(DIR) Post #AXZ8CIqu08F1GnNecK by heroineinabook@mastodon.online
2023-07-10T22:48:46Z
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@grammargirl The issue with TimeMachine is that it takes a literal snapshot of your drive so even rolling back might not fix it as it may bring along the problem. When nothing worked, my last resort was to I move all documents/files to iCloud/Dropbox, made a list of apps I used, and did a clean reformat and install.
(DIR) Post #AXZ8WBzjCuvbnDzc3c by heroineinabook@mastodon.online
2023-07-10T22:52:21Z
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@grammargirl (This method is also helpful if an app has corrupted prefs and you would need to do a clean install of the app anyway.)
(DIR) Post #AXZBDoI8taP0vgX3Wy by royal@theres.life
2023-07-10T23:22:37Z
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@grammargirl Before you do that it might be worth starting in safe mode, and trying Apple diagnostics.https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/ways-to-start-up-your-mac-mh26785/mac
(DIR) Post #AXaNXcR33LPsur9c9o by heroineinabook@mastodon.online
2023-07-11T13:15:22Z
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@grammargirl The issue with TimeMachine is that it takes a literal snapshot of your drive so even rolling back might not fix it as it may bring along the problem. When nothing worked, my last resort was to I move all documents/files to iCloud/Dropbox, made a list of apps I used, and did a clean reformat and install.
(DIR) Post #AXaOOMIxkvvSEiWKXo by Raven67@zirk.us
2023-07-11T13:24:55Z
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@grammargirl I'd run Disk Utility FirstAid on all drives before wiping and restoring.
(DIR) Post #AXacBtghnwOxJR2JBA by davidhooper@podcastindex.social
2023-07-11T15:59:33Z
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@grammargirl Check out https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html for another option.
(DIR) Post #AXapFW0773VkPYAaNk by Raven67@zirk.us
2023-07-11T18:25:51Z
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@grammargirl It might. I usually have a fake user account that I never use except to see if some problem is system-wide or with my usual user account. (because I'm puckish I usually give it an alias like Finch, or Clark Kent, or Ziggy Stardust⌠đ )
(DIR) Post #AXcq3dsMUqgRd8MlEm by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-12T17:44:21Z
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For anyone following along, I created a new user account on the computer, and that seems to be working much better (although I haven't really stress tested it yet).But for now, I'm going to hold off on wiping the whole machine. Thanks to everyone who made the suggestion! It saved me a lot of work and stress.
(DIR) Post #AXcqQxL2IlDKeVtZ32 by Raven67@zirk.us
2023-07-12T17:48:31Z
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@grammargirl đđź
(DIR) Post #AXcqXQY0cCrGys35RQ by Ronnie@appdot.net
2023-07-12T17:49:44Z
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@grammargirl Iâm not saying to get a new Mac based on this but when youâre ready the new Apple silicon Macs are just amazing.
(DIR) Post #AXctQ17d328hxbrs8m by PeteZ@mastodonbooks.net
2023-07-12T18:21:57Z
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@grammargirl I havenât been following along. But if youâre experiencing computer problems, you should really back up your hard drive.