How to reinstall Mac OS X

Temporarily turn off third-party extensions / control panels by restarting with your “Shift” key down (the Mac OS start-up screen will display “Extensions Off”). This allows you to verify the core system files. If this procedure passes muster:

(a) Toggle suspect items on and off in your “Extensions Manager” Control Panel, which can even be accessed at start-up by holding down the space bar. Use the preference file segregation method described above. You can permanently save extension “Sets” when you are finished. Different sets of extensions can optimize your Mac for games versus desktop publishing etc.

(b) When you have found the culprit, uninstall the problem application. If it doesn’t have an uninstall option, put it and any associated System files (Control Panels folder and / or Extensions Folder) in the trash and restart.

Rolevink also recommends regular use of a good maintenance utility like Norton Utilities, Alsoft Disk Warrior or Tech Tools.

“By putting this simple routine together, you should NEVER have to do a clean install in the first place!” Rolevink added.

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