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Whenever you introduce a new application or document to your hard drive, the Mac OS Desktop stores its associated icons in an invisible database called the Desktop file, which also lists the location of all your files, Get Info information, and file information about the application or document. Every time you move, copy, or rename a file, that information is stored in the Desktop database as well. When you delete a file, it is removed from the Finder, but the information pertaining to wait remains in the Desktop database. Over time, a lot of superfluous and invalid information tends to built up in the Desktop database, eating up hard drive space and slowing down Finder performance, because the Finder has to search through more data to find the correct file. Additionally, if you crash a lot, or make the poor habit of shutting off the Mac without selecting Shut Down from a Special menu, the Desktop database can become corrupted. Signs of a corrupted or overloaded Desktop database include: • General Finder performance slowdown - - i.e.: sluggish window opening; slow file loading; response lags • Icons change appearance, reverting to a generic application or document icons • Some icons may disappear altogether • The Finder begins taking an extraordinarily long time to appear at startup • The wrong application of document opens when you double click an icon Fortunately, the cure for these Desktop distempers is simple: rebuild the Desktop file, which sounds ambitious, but really amounts to resetting the Desktop database, purging it of superfluous file names and locations, and invalid or obsolete icon references, as well as getting information about new items at have been introduced since the last Desktop rebuild. To rebuild the Desktop (in the Classic Mac OS), simply ihold down the Command and Option keys at startup. A dialog box will appear asking whether you want to rebuild the Desktop. Click OK. A progress bar willtrack the progress of the rebuild. On Mac OS versions before OS 8, rebuilding the Desktop would erase any user comments in the Get Info Windows, but in OS 8.0 and subsequent versions, this information is automatically saved and restored. MicroMat’s free Tech Tool utility does an even more efficient job of rebuilding the Desktop than the Mac OS itself does, because it deletes the Desktop database files, forcing the Finder to completely rebuild them from scratch, thereby providing a more thorough cleanup that a standard Desktop rebuild. Tech Tool offers the option of saving and restoring Get Info comments, which would otherwise be lost when the Desktop files are deleted. Actually, you can delete the Desktop DB and DF files manually by getting Sherlock or Find File to show them (Custom + Advanced in Sherlock), and then dragging them to the Trash. However, this method will destroy your Get Info comments. OS X does not accumulate an invisible database of icons and file information pertaining to deleted files, so Desktop rebuilds are passé with the new OS, but not for Classic mode. However, the Classic Preference panel in OS X has a convenient “Rebuild Desktop” button that rebuilds the Classic Desktop file of applications and documents/application locations, and you don’t even need to have Classic started up to use it.
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