Ballew begins by helping you to determine whether your Mac is really gunked up. Next, the author introduces a proven 12step program to degunking successa program that can really and truly get your Mac performing like new again. Then, she explains how to get rid of or degunking files that shouldn`t be in your Mac. The author continues by showing you how to locate and get rid of unwanted applications, including beta applications, unnecessary programs and unnecessary Mac OS X applications. In addition, the author next covers Tiger`s new Spotlight feature, including how you can use it to organize data and create Smart folders. She also focuses on getting you working more efficiently by personalizing what you access every day. The author next shows you how to degunk the Dashboard. Next, the author shows you how to degunk new features, so that they don`t drive you crazy. Then, she shows you how to manage or eliminate your font gunk. Ballew continues with a discussion of how to degunk your iPod. Next, the author shows you how to prevent spam first, keep what you do get under control, and formulate a plan for reducing or eliminating spam altogether. Then, she covers email housecleaning in more detail, and how to clean up and organize your legitimate mail with spam that gets through your defenses. In addition, Ballew continues by discussing how you can degunk the startup process and optimize the hard drive, so that your Mac runs as efficiently as possible. Next, she explores Software Update. as well as, available software upgrades. Then, she introduces you to the different types of hardware you can acquire to beef up your system. The author then shows you what tools are available to help you maintain your Mac and what tools can be used to search for, find, and fix errors with hard disks, permissions, and similar issues. She then shows you how important it is to secure your Mac and what builtin and thirdparty utilities and software are available to you. Next, she covers how to back up data, with emphasis on creating a backup strategy and sticking to it. Finally, she shows you how to get started with Automator.
