[sharktale]

Hello members!

Facing a peculiar issue. The "Other" portion of my 2016 MacBook Air (running BigSur) is keeping around 37GB of data neither of which I have any clue nor can I access to ascertain the files behind it.
Even the queries on the internet feel vague and some suggested a full re-installation, something I am really skeptical to perform.

To be honest, I did face an issue 6 months back (during lockdown) with a Catalina update gone wrong, which had corrupted my sleepimage file and had to reinstall OSX on the Mac following the Apple Support.

Are the issues connected? Looking forward to insight on this from you'll..

[Anjadekar]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Hello members!

Facing a peculiar issue. The "Other" portion of my 2016 MacBook Air (running BigSur) is keeping around 37GB of data neither of which I have any clue nor can I access to ascertain the files behind it.

It could be data for your next/recent Time Machine backup or also cache of an online backup/sync service like Backblaze/Dropbox/Google Drive File Stream etc. The excellent DaisyDisk app may be able to help.

[basuk]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Hello members!

Facing a peculiar issue. The "Other" portion of my 2016 MacBook Air (running BigSur) is keeping around 37GB of data neither of which I have any clue nor can I access to ascertain the files behind it.

This "Other" type is typically application logs, system logs, cache and other system info that OS stores. /var/log and other directories would be also contributing to these.

Necessarily, you may not be able to do much about it manually as these files are not very big in size and it is not possible to find each of them one by one.

In "App Store", please search with 'Disk Utilities' and you will get a few good ones, paid and free, which might do your work.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by basuk

maybe there was something pending for you, so restarting settled everything.

I think so too. Something was definitely cooking / pending in the background. With the same windows & programs open, the RAM usage dropped from 18 GB - 12 GB after the restart.

[drive_angry]

This might seem like an obvious question but I am gonna put it out there anyway :-)

It's been six months I have moved from MBA to iMac and while the experience is great for me, the only hiccup here is the boot time taken for iMac, While my MBA was ready to use whenever I open its lid but iMac takes a good amount of 20-30 seconds to boot and furthermore to start the common apps like safari, mail, etc.

I shut down iMac at the end of the day and in the morning when I boot up, the boot time is very daunting and takes away the sheer pleasure of using iMac. My question is:

Can I leave iMac on at all times? and automate the setting to put it to sleep when not in use. I can just press the power button to wake it up and be readily available for me. What would be the possible repercussions?

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by sharktale

Hello members!

Facing a peculiar issue. The "Other" portion of my 2016 MacBook Air (running BigSur) is keeping around 37GB of data neither of which I have any clue nor can I access to ascertain the files behind it.
Even the queries on the internet feel vague and some suggested a full re-installation, something I am really skeptical to perform.

Easiest thing to do is take an encrypted timemachine back up and then do a full format of the harddisk and reinstall the OS. Then restore the machine as it is from backup. This will clear the space as well as fix any issues you are facing and definitely make it more peppy.

I sold my early 2011 Macbook Pro 13" last week, had updated it to 500 GB SSD and 8 GB memory and surprised that it fetched me 24,000 INR. I think I paid under 60,000 when I bough it new from USA. Amazing the value that these machines hold! Sold it coz I was not using it and OS upgrade had stopped, so decided to part with it and avoid further depreciation. Maybe next year sometime I will get next gen M series chipset MBP when the current air reaches about 4 years.

Now have a ifixit replacement battery (which i never used) that I have put for sale

[tilt]

Originally Posted by drive_angry

This might seem like an obvious question but I am gonna put it out there anyway :-)

It's been six months I have moved from MBA to iMac and while the experience is great for me, the only hiccup here is the boot time taken for iMac, While my MBA was ready to use whenever I open its lid but iMac takes a good amount of 20-30 seconds to boot and furthermore to start the common apps like safari, mail, etc.

I shut down iMac at the end of the day and in the morning when I boot up, the boot time is very daunting and takes away the sheer pleasure of using iMac. My question is:

Can I leave iMac on at all times? and automate the setting to put it to sleep when not in use. I can just press the power button to wake it up and be readily available for me. What would be the possible repercussions?

When I started reading your post I was thinking "Hmm... why is he even shutting his iMac down instead of just walking away from it once he's done?"

Yes, you can leave your machine on permanently for ever. The default settings will put your machine to sleep when not in use and will also get back into the password window when idle for a while. OS updates will involve restarts, and that is enough.

Twenty-thirty seconds to boot is not slow, it is super-fast. The difference from your Air is that you never shut down the Air, you just slam the door and walk away. Shut down the Air and then see how long that takes to boot and compare it with the iMac.

I presume the iMac is a brand new one with an SSD and not Fusion Drive or a hard drive.

Cheers

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by drive_angry

Can I leave iMac on at all times?

I dont know whether its the same for MBA and desktop but if it was so I would say no. My girlfriend's sister had this habit of not shutting down her MacBook for longer periods. This led to the motherboard going bust twice - in 2 different MacBooks; that too within 2 years. In total, we have had 3 motherboard busts in the last 2 years.

I could be wrong but after this I just ensure I shut down my MBA everyday. Would not take a chance with any Apple computer.

[Maibaa]

Originally Posted by drive_angry

Can I leave iMac on at all times?

I have had a 2005 MacBook Pro and it was going strong until last year when the display started bleeding colors. Have never shut it down ever unless when a restart is required due to update.

Moved to a never 2017 MacBook Pro and since 3 years never shut it down as well. Works like a charm.

[Anjadekar]

Originally Posted by Maibaa

I have had a 2005 MacBook Pro and it was going strong until last year when the display started bleeding colors. Have never shut it down ever unless when a restart is required due to update.

That. Is. Unbelievable! Am I reading this correctly. Did you actually mean 2005 and not 2015?! What OS were you running on it? Also, this would mean that it was a PowerPC Mac as the first Intel Macs started rolling out in 2006. Come to think of it, the first MacBook Pro didn’t exist till 2006 either. I’m quite confused but would love to know more!

[GTO]

Guys,

1. What anti-virus / malware scan to use? I know people say its not needed on a Mac, but I cannot afford to have my computer compromised, so would prefer that additional protection. Please suggest.

2. I backed her up to Time Machine today. 500 gigs got transferred by about 1530 hours. Since then, Time Machine is stuck on 'encrypting' the 4 TB hard drive. Is this normal? How long should encryption take AFTER the data has been transferred?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by GTO

1. What anti-virus / malware scan to use?

I have the basic version of this on my Mac.

https://www.sophos.com/en-us.aspx

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by GTO

1. What anti-virus / malware scan to use? Please suggest.

I use McAfee Total protection. 5 Devices 2 Year for 2399/-. There was some offer when I bought the package.

The firewall doesn't work after Big Sur upgrade. This will be enabled in a future update as per them. Using the in-built firewall for now.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by drive_angry

Can I leave iMac on at all times? and automate the setting to put it to sleep when not in use. I can just press the power button to wake it up and be readily available for me. What would be the possible repercussions?

My iMac is on 24x7 and even set to auto start on power failure. Mines a Mid 2011 21-inch which is always on most days. Been like that since years now.

For faster boot times, an SSD upgrade is recommended.

[Anjadekar]

Originally Posted by GTO

1. What anti-virus / malware scan to use? I know people say its not needed on a Mac, but I cannot afford to have my computer compromised, so would prefer that additional protection. Please suggest.

If you use basic, common sense practices then you don't need an antivirus on a Mac. It might slow things down and come in your way for no added benefit. HowToGeek has a good overview of this. Also see this insightful discussion on the excellent Mac Power Users forum.

Originally Posted by GTO

2. I backed her up to Time Machine today. 500 gigs got transferred by about 1530 hours. Since then, Time Machine is stuck on 'encrypting' the 4 TB hard drive. Is this normal? How long should encryption take AFTER the data has been transferred?

I ran into this same issue a while back when I reformatted my Mac! Here is a note I made for myself. I am copy-pasting it here for you. Just double-check on the Terminal commands, and as always proceed with caution with them, as I'm not sure if they work in the same way on Big Sur. Make sure you read the links fully before running the commands as they explain them in greater detail:

Time Machine encryption takes an excruciatingly long time, especially on a spinning hard disk, for the initial backup. This can be sped up significantly if the hard drive is encrypted to begin with. Encryption should then also be enabled in Time Machine (note - wasn’t prompted to set a password again when doing so.)

Used the following command to cancel the encryption process and format the hard drive using tips here:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/diskXXX bs=1048576

Also had to use the following commands to delete local snapshots as outlined here:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots