iMac running on OSX 10.3.9
is getting sluggish. I was told to do general cleanup of HD.
Is there software that can do disk cleanup OSX 10.3.9?

(By the way I found some disk cleaner but it works only on OSX 10.4 and above, not for OSX 10.3.9)

Any help with clean up my HD will be appreciated1
Thanks
G.

What do you mean by "disk cleaner"? If you are referring to some general maintenance apps, there are several. One free app is OnyX 1.5.3. If you execute (OnyX's word, not mine!) the default tasks in its Automation tab, that might help. For rebuilding the directory, the best app available is probably Disk Warrior. It's not free but, IMHO, is one of the few "must-have" utilities.

How much RAM do you have? Which Mac are you using? What is the hard drive capacity and how much free space does it have? What, exactly, do you mean by "sluggish"?

Thanks jchuzi
this is an old imac 333mhz 256M HD is 6Gb (with free space 2,5 Gb) and I want to keep it, its is a good old friend :-)

Sluggish - I mean sometimes it just slows down and feels like it has no muscles to do normal tasks...
So, I was advised to run some software to do general swipe and clean it from old bits and pieces accumulated over time -I am not well educated in complex ways of keeping the computer in best overall condition, that's why i'm trying to find some software that may help with it.

I have permission repairer Macaroni - works good, will install Onyx too.
Will replace the backup RAM battery too and wonder if there is a need to reset the memory with some shortcut at start as it was possible with old OS 9?

By the way in Onyx there is an option to delete Hidden .DS_Store Files - is it safe? I know that some invisible files are not to be meddled with...
Any advise for any other tasks to refresh overall performance of this imac will be welcome!.

G

> By the way in Onyx there is an option to delete Hidden .DS_Store Files - is it safe? I know that some invisible files are not to be meddled with...

.DS_Store files store info about window size/positioning and icon placement (at the least); there's no point in messing with them unless you've got a specific issue that smells like it may be related.

> Any advise for any other tasks to refresh overall performance of this imac will be welcome!

I think you ought to run OnyX before shopping for more; it may be all your Mac needs.

Post back after running it, and let us know how you make out.

You're probably referring to resetting PRAM. The procedure is the same for all OS versions because it does not depend upon the installed software. It may or may not help but it shouldn't hurt.

Follow Artie's advice. Those things (and the things that I suggested) may not help because of the limitations of your iMac. For one thing, 256 MB RAM is bare minimum for running 10.3 and that, combined with having only 2.5 GB free space on the drive, contributes to the slowdown. For best results, you should maintain a minimum of 5 GB free space. This is not practical, considering the capacity of the hard drive (the OS itself takes up most of the space that is already occupied).

Good luck and keep us posted.

Gloria,

I forgot that it is possible to free up disk space without compromising the OS. This may help in your case because you need all the free space that you can get. One thing is to remove unwanted languages with Monolingual. If you use Adobe apps, be wary of this because some people have reported problems due to the removal of language support that some of those apps require. Another way to free up space (and this should be harmless) is to go to /Library/Printers and delete unwanted printer drivers. You may be able to save 1 GB or so; this is not inconsequential considering the size of your drive.

Take a look at Where Did My Disk Space Go? and see if any of the folders mentioned there have any unnecessary files in them.