Run Combo Updater or El Capitan Installer?

[Dreambird]

I think I've done the best I can for cleaning up the machine... there are still empty folders and such hanging around as it seems Apple has changed or other apps have changed the location of where some things are stored, notably Application Support... it's just impossible to root them all out without some way of finding them all and verifying they aren't useful anymore. I've found that most available "cleaning" apps don't find the things one wants... you usually end up removing something you maybe wanted to keep...

And on that note... I've noticed that some of the broken aliases I have, I believe anyway, pointed to originals that are indeed no longer there and though I've not noticed an issue as yet I'm wondering what might be a good way to put back things that perhaps should be there on my machine.

If a person ran the El Capitan installer over the current installation would it replace things that are missing and essentially just "repair" any issues on the system w/o messing up 3rd party apps like PhotoShop etc? Or would the Combo Updater for 10.11.6 in my case be better? Or try it at all?

I have noticed that at least my Finder is not screwing up in ways it was anymore... I ran DiskWarrior on my internal SSD after all the cleaning and a new Finder.plist was created. I had to reset my preferences upon rebooting just for Finder. But it seems to have been a good thing.

About the only cleaning tool I trust is OnyX and I've noticed that the 2 permissions it could not fix show up exactly the same way from the command line:

Diane-******-Computer:~ ******$ sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs --volume /
Password:
   Permissions differ on "Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Resources/Safari.help/Contents/Resources/index.html", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are -rw-r--r-- .
   Unable to set owner & group on "Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Resources/Safari.help/Contents/Resources/index.html". Error 1: Operation not permitted
   Unable to set permissions on "Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Resources/Safari.help/Contents/Resources/index.html". Error 1: Operation not permitted
   Warning: SUID file 'System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent' has been modified and will not be repaired.
   User differs on "private/var/db/displaypolicyd", should be 0, user is 244.
   Group differs on "private/var/db/displaypolicyd", should be 0, group is 244.
   Repaired "private/var/db/displaypolicyd".
   Permissions differ on "private/var/db/lockdown", should be drwxrwxrwx , they are drwx------ .
   Repaired "private/var/db/lockdown".

The same thing shown by OnyX... so... just I noticed it.... nothing other than before otherwise.

Now I'd just like to freshen up 10.11.6 if it doesn't mess up anything else. I'm not sure about running the reinstall OS X from booting into recovery mode... the machine came new with Lion and was soon updated with a "free" version of Mountain Lion... wouldn't running that install the wrong OS as to what I run now? I'm not sure how that works... if it's a refresher or a "messer upper"

Thanks... you've all been a great help to me with all this... just by listening to my rambling as I do when under stress and with the great input I've gotten, major thanks to Paddy and Jon and yeah you too Jim... 

[jchuzi]

My 2¢:

Before doing anything drastic, like reinstalling the whole system (the nuclear option), run the Combo Updater. That ought to fix any wonky things that are still hanging around. This only affects the OS, not your third-party apps. You can always reinstall later, if necessary. And, if things are working OK, why bother doing anything?

Ignore those permissions "errors". There is nothing wrong and don't try to fix it!

[Dreambird]

I'm not worried about the permissions anymore... it was just kinda a double check on OnyX that I decided to run repair permissions from the command line which is really what OnyX does anyway.

All I want to do is see if perhaps some broken aliases are fixable because they point to originals that should be there but aren't. I have been dumb enough to run a couple of those uninstaller apps before so who knows what got deleted sometime. They are OS X files. I've found out long ago that something like EasyFind and the slow painstaking manual way is the only way to delete something. I HAD hoped that there was an uninstaller app that had "grown up" by now, but not so much!

There are still some permissions issues somewhere I believe... I get asked for my admin password for everything... in Finder... just to move a file or folder or make an alias or trash something. "Finder wants to make changes" "Password?" Duh! It shouldn't... I am supposed to be Admin. I understand for opening 3rd party software and such... it does help protect one from "stuff" but I think I'm good to manage my Finder.

Also when I ask for my id on Terminal it gives me:

Diane-******-Computer:~ deekay id
uid=501(deekay) gid=20(staff) groups=20(staff),12(everyone),61(localaccounts),79(_appserverusr),80(admin),81(_appserveradm),33(_appstore),
98(_lpadmin),100(_lpoperator),204(_developer),395(com.apple.access_ftp),398(com.apple.access_screensharing),
399(com.apple.access_ssh)

That's my home user name.... 501??? Although it lists a bunch of stuff. I checked because if I ask for a list of thing in / or my home directory it says 501 a lot. I'm not sure if that's an issue or not... when I sent the user up in the prefPane  that's how I set it up... the computer name and a user name.

I kinda thought maybe the Combo updater if anything... the whole OS makes me shutter a bit...

Sorry for the scroll bar... the terminal quote did that... I'll see if making it a quote helps. Nope it doesn't... sorry. It doesn't scroll on the post window.

[Xairbusdriver]

To fix horizontal scrolling, insert line breaks as needed to shorten lines. You can add spaces at the beginning of the broken parts to help note each actual new line. You can't use the "Preview" to see how it fits in a post because that box is much wider than the post space. You'll have to go ahead and post and see if it fits. Even after that work, different 'Themes' have different post widths, so some may still see horizontal scroll bars. And some people may use a rather narrow browser window and end up with scroll bars, no matter how short you make the lines!

Like you, I hate those kinds of scroll bars. I appreciate your attempts to avoid them. Many folks seem unconcerned about the inconvenience they cause.

[Dreambird]

Tanx, Jim... that worked...

So, I just ran another command:

groups $(whoami) | cut -d' ' -f1

which replied:

staff

... which I gather from research online is the correct answer for Mac OS X. The Users & Groups prefPane says User ID: 501
Group: staff

I think I've managed to figure out there's nothing wrong with my UserID or Group it's just that if you enter just the command

id

you get the verbose read out of ALL the groups you belong to.

I found that here:
https://superuser.com/questions/590683/how-do-i-find-my-user-id-and-group-in-mac-os-x
another good site for stuff like this is:
osxdaily.com

[Dreambird]

Just a thought... I would assume, I hope, that if one wanted to remove things in say the home Library directory if you were to zip the file you find in there... zip it, leave that archive there... one file it will have the file's name, easy to find. That should stop the OS from using it yes?

Something goes wrong... you can restore it, if nothing goes wrong after a reasonable amount of time... me I'd give it maybe up to 6 months to be sure... then you could browse the said Library folder and delete the archived files.

I'd go by the creation date and when it's been accessed last... if it's older than dirt or not been accessed for a couple of years as well, it's candidate for removal. Along the way if a new file is created it may solve some naggy issue... it's mainly .plist files.

*edit**
I decided to go ahead and try my theory in the Home Library directory... any .plist created between 2005 & 2010 and not "last accessed" since that year either gets zipped and the original deleted. So we'll see, if any get re-created then I know it's needed and it'll show by the dates if not after a time they're gone.
It's not really my intention to get MORE space back or whatever... I just detest older than dirt stuff sitting around... clear it out if it doesn't get used. Have gone through the house with that in mind too, and need to again... or one begins to look like a "hoarder"... 

[Xairbusdriver]

if one wanted to remove things in say the home Library directory if you were to zip the file... <CHOP> ...[t]hat should stop the OS from using it yes?

Yes. But unless you have several files to 'hide', you don't have to compress anthing, space savings will probably be minor, especially for plist files. Instead, simply add some text to the name and the OS will not touch/use it.I do this all the time when updating apps, even the main app itself. For example, 'SomeApps.plist' becomes 'SomeApps-old.plist'. Neither the OS nor 'SomeApp' will ever use that file again. If it's a System file, you should be asked to enter your computer password.

Then follow your method of using the updater and watching for improvements or problems. When you are satisfied all is well, trash the 'old' file(s) and then empty the Trash.

[Dreambird]

Either or... zip or rename will work. I think the .zip thing is a holdover from Windoze for me even if it's been years since I used a PC.

[Dreambird]

Jim,

Actually I remembered another reason I prefer .zip archives for files targeted for deletion... it's not JUST habit but it makes them easy as a zit on one's nose to spot when going back to check on the files before permanent deletion or if something complains. They get a custom icon...