{"id":76405,"date":"2018-06-26T11:02:03","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T18:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/?p=76405"},"modified":"2019-08-14T17:35:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T00:35:00","slug":"how-to-verify-your-macs-software-is-running-smoothly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/how-to-verify-your-macs-software-is-running-smoothly\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Verify Your Mac’s Software Is Running Smoothly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/p>\n

Your computer consists of both hardware and software and a\u00a0number of things can go wrong. In this 2-part series, we’ll take a look at how to check your hardware and software to verify your system is in good shape or if certain components are failing. See part 1<\/a> to learn about all the way you can test your Mac’s hardware to verify whether it’s good to go or failing.<\/em><\/address>\n

Software is everything from the operating system you run to the apps you use every day. Every so often, it’s important to check and verify that your hardware is working properly, and indeed it’s equally important to verify your Mac’s software is running smoothly. The goal is to not only have a smooth running system when it’s\u00a0idle, but a smooth running system even when it is put\u00a0through the wringer.<\/p>\n

In this article, we’ll assume your Mac passed all the brutal hardware tests you threw at it, as outlined in part 1<\/a>. Without hardware, you’d have no place to run your software, and since you’ve checked and verified that your hardware is in good shape, you\u00a0are\u00a0half way to a (self) certified solid workstation. Now is the time to make sure your Mac’s software is in good shape!<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/span> Checking a system in most cases requires it to be put through the wringer. This can stress out and break components that may already be failing. Make sure you have one or more backups of all your data and proceed at your own risk!<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are\u00a0quite a few things to cover here, so without further ado, following are some Mac maintenance tips you can use to help verify your software is in tip-top shape.<\/p>\n

Fonts<\/h3>\n

Every application that displays text on your computer screen loads one or more fonts when it starts. Applications like\u00a0Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word load all the available fonts while other apps may load just a single system font. Either way, fonts are used in everything you do on your Mac. If your computer has\u00a0damaged or corrupted fonts, it can make your Mac slow, and applications may behave weird or even crash your Mac, so we need to make sure everything is good in the font department. (RELATED: How to Fix Performance Issues for a Slow Running Mac.)\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

To verify your fonts are good to go, navigate to your Applications<\/strong> folder and open Font Book<\/strong>. You’ll see\u00a0a window with three columns, and the center column will list all the fonts installed on your system.<\/p>\n

Highlight one of the fonts in that column and from the Edit menu<\/strong>, choose “Select All<\/strong>.” You should be looking at something similar to this:<\/p>\n

\"\"Now from the File menu<\/strong>, select “Validate Fonts<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Allow\u00a0Font Book a few minutes to check all the font for issues.<\/p>\n

The results window will display three categories: No Warnings or Errors (green<\/span> check mark), Warnings and Errors (yellow<\/span> X), and Errors (red<\/span> X).<\/p>\n

Most\u00a0of the time, warnings are simply duplicate fonts. While you can ignore duplicates, as applications know how to handle those, you can delete them to play it safe.<\/p>\n

Errors are issues that need to be resolved right away. Make a note of the fonts that are listed as having errors (in case there are fonts you want or need to reinstall), select the offenders and remove them.<\/p>\n

Note: An annoying bug since macOS 10.12 Sierra, which is still present in macOS 10.13 High Sierra, will cause Font Book to ask for an administrator password for each font that needs to be removed. In previous versions of OS X, the password was required only once. Therefore,\u00a0if there are 100 fonts with errors, get ready to type your password a 100 times.<\/p>\n

With the errors removed, run the font check again. The result should be nothing but green check marks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You may also still see\u00a0some yellow check marks, if you chose to ignore the duplicate fonts.\u00a0Additionally, the removed fonts may still be loaded into the memory of the macOS and applications, so restart your Mac to make sure the removed fonts are not loaded.\u00a0After the restart, empty your Mac’s trash to get rid of those damaged fonts.<\/p>\n

Software Updates<\/h3>\n

Bugs and vulnerabilities are discovered all the time, and Apple releases software updates to fix them as well as introduce new features to its operating system. To ensure your Mac has the latest software updates, go to the App Store<\/strong>, click the Updates tab<\/strong> and install what’s available. This will bring your macOS and Apple applications\u00a0up to the latest versions with the newest\u00a0features and, more importantly, address all known software bugs. Your third-party applications require software updates as well, so make sure to\u00a0check all software on your computer for available updates.<\/p>\n

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