1) Reboot the
Computer. - Simple, I know... but it will fix so many
"issues" without the need for any other steps to be taken.
2) Clean Your Caches - There are several tools that will do
this for you, Onyx, MainMenu, Quicksilver...etc. Even if
you don't have one of those you can still do it manually.
Just delete everything in the folders Library/Caches and in
Users/*Your User Name*/Library/Caches. When finished
reboot.
3) Delete the .plist file - If it is a particular program
that is giving you problems delete its preferences (.plist)
in 'Your User Name'/Library/Preferences
4) Repair Disk Permissions - Go to
Applications|Utilities|Disk Utility and select repair disk
permissions on your OS X drive
5) Run Disk Repair - Boot from your restore/install disc
and run a Volume/Disk repair on your startup disk.
6) Resetting the PRAM: When booting, hold down
Command-Option-P-R and wait for the triple startup chimes.
7) File System Check - When booting up your computer hold
down the Apple Key & the S key and it will boot into
single user mode. When the text is done loading on the
screen type in /sbin/fsck -f and hit enter. When that is
done if it fixed things then do the check again to make
sure it is cleared. When finished with that type in exit
and it will start the computer in normal mode
8) Reset Nonvolatile Firmware - When booting, hold down
Command-Option-O-F and wait for the command prompt. Type
"reset-nvram" and hit enter.
9) Reinstall your OS: Insert the OSX disk and reboot
holding down the "C" key. Install and archive your OS. You
will not lose any of your settings or documents. Once the
new install is complete test your Mac to see if the problem
is gone. If the problem is gone than start adding the
updates to OSX one by one. Make sure you check you Mac
after each update to ensure it is working smoothly. Once
you have reinstalled all updates and OSX use your mac for
awhile and make sure it is operating like you would expect.
After a while you can go into your folders and delete your
old archived OS which does nothing but take up space.
10) If the problem persists than you need to do a erase and
clean install. This will delete all you files, programs and
settings so you need to back up these files. I also suggest
that you back up your iLife files (iTunes, iPhoto, iWeb)
files as well as your Application support folder in your
Library folder. You might also want to save and export your
bookmarks from you browser. This is a last measure because
it is time consuming and resets your Mac to the way you
received it but I do this at least once a year to clean out
all the garbage that is left behind that can screw up your
system. When you do this you want to be real careful about
adding back third party software. I have found that as nice
as some third party apps sound they are tested very well
and often can play havoc with OSX, especially when Apple
issues an update.