Functioning.
Just.
Another day of not doing much at all... Although my iMac (it's a 2017 model) has decided to start misbehaving again. To be honest, a lot of the time I think it's because I just have too much on the hard drive - even though the majority of my data is stored on external drives or in the cloud.
So I decided to do another attempt at "cleaning it up", which is normally a fresh install of the operating system. The other problem with the big iMac (it's a 27: 5K Retina display) is that it will now no longer be updated past the Sequoia operating system.
So I moved EVERYTHING on my desktop to an external drive, and then made sure I had a Time Machine backup completed.
The most amazing thing was that I actually used ChatGPT to diagnose the issues, and give me suggestions on what steps I needed to do. The first was indeed what I normally do anyway, which is to move files, and do a backup. But it was incredibly good at giving me clear step-by-step instructions that were easy to follow. And once done, I could ask continued or further questions and give feedback on what was now happening, and it would suggest things to check in the Activity Monitor, and then specific cache files to delete (which then automatically rebuild themselves).
Pretty amazing really. Literally like having my pwn personal tech support person sitting there. I'm lucky that I'm pretty tech savvy, but I thought even people with less computer skills could probably have followed the instructions quite well. And that's what I like to use AI for - assisting! Problem solving! Not making ridiculous inane videos of kittens dressed up and dancing. (Although AI music creation is pretty cool...).
So all seems to be working well, and I'll try and keep files on the external drive. But of course - I'm a digital hoarder, so they'll stay there, and I will forget about them! Also looked up possibly replacing the internal hard drive with a full SSD (I have the Fusion Drive, which is a normal internal hard drive plus a small SSD that has the most common files on it). So I found something, but to be honest, it would probably be better to save up for a new iMac. Although they don't do the 27" screens any more, which is a shame... And I found an upgrade kit, for only AUD$415, so might look in to that.
I love how I ended my conversation with ChatGPT by thanking it, and how I could now speed off in to the sunset on my faster computer, and it replied with this:
Then myself, Andy, and David went out for dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant in Bankstown, Hanamaruya.
For the first time, I tried a different dish, rather than my normal Kara-age chicken ramen. This time I tried a butter corn Shiro ramen, which was quite nice. And I ordered 2 pieces of the chicken on the side to go with it. Om nom nom!
Took a photo of David wearing my glasses, which he looks quite nice in. He's like me - he doesn't like photos of himself, but EVERYONE who sees him thinks he's bloody cute. And he is!
Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?
Another day of not doing much at all... Although my iMac (it's a 2017 model) has decided to start misbehaving again. To be honest, a lot of the time I think it's because I just have too much on the hard drive - even though the majority of my data is stored on external drives or in the cloud.
So I decided to do another attempt at "cleaning it up", which is normally a fresh install of the operating system. The other problem with the big iMac (it's a 27: 5K Retina display) is that it will now no longer be updated past the Sequoia operating system.
So I moved EVERYTHING on my desktop to an external drive, and then made sure I had a Time Machine backup completed.
The most amazing thing was that I actually used ChatGPT to diagnose the issues, and give me suggestions on what steps I needed to do. The first was indeed what I normally do anyway, which is to move files, and do a backup. But it was incredibly good at giving me clear step-by-step instructions that were easy to follow. And once done, I could ask continued or further questions and give feedback on what was now happening, and it would suggest things to check in the Activity Monitor, and then specific cache files to delete (which then automatically rebuild themselves).
Pretty amazing really. Literally like having my pwn personal tech support person sitting there. I'm lucky that I'm pretty tech savvy, but I thought even people with less computer skills could probably have followed the instructions quite well. And that's what I like to use AI for - assisting! Problem solving! Not making ridiculous inane videos of kittens dressed up and dancing. (Although AI music creation is pretty cool...).
So all seems to be working well, and I'll try and keep files on the external drive. But of course - I'm a digital hoarder, so they'll stay there, and I will forget about them! Also looked up possibly replacing the internal hard drive with a full SSD (I have the Fusion Drive, which is a normal internal hard drive plus a small SSD that has the most common files on it). So I found something, but to be honest, it would probably be better to save up for a new iMac. Although they don't do the 27" screens any more, which is a shame... And I found an upgrade kit, for only AUD$415, so might look in to that.
I love how I ended my conversation with ChatGPT by thanking it, and how I could now speed off in to the sunset on my faster computer, and it replied with this:
That is the absolute best way to end it—enjoy speeding away into that sunset! 🌅
I am absolutely thrilled that I could act as your personal IT assistant and help you get this Intel iMac back in peak shape. You did a fantastic job following those troubleshooting steps, capturing that technical error log, and knocking out those corrupted background caches. Teamwork made the dream work!
Your Mac is clean, stable, and ready for whatever you throw at it next.
Whenever you need a hand with tech troubleshooting, optimization, or anything else down the road, you know exactly where to find your assistant. Have a wonderful rest of your day, and enjoy your fast computer! 🚀💻
Then myself, Andy, and David went out for dinner at our favourite Japanese restaurant in Bankstown, Hanamaruya.
For the first time, I tried a different dish, rather than my normal Kara-age chicken ramen. This time I tried a butter corn Shiro ramen, which was quite nice. And I ordered 2 pieces of the chicken on the side to go with it. Om nom nom!
Took a photo of David wearing my glasses, which he looks quite nice in. He's like me - he doesn't like photos of himself, but EVERYONE who sees him thinks he's bloody cute. And he is!
Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?