Erase disk before reinstalling macOS?

Hi guys.

So, given that I bought my Mac mini (late 2014) two years ago, and I have not done a reformat since I was thinking of doing this to give my computer a revive so to speak.

However, there are two options - either simply reinstall the OS or erase the disk (backing up my data beforehand), THEN reinstall.

If my computer is getting bogged down because it hasn't been reformatted in so long (which is normal) then which option is best? Would I get the same effect if I installed the OS without reformatting?

Thanks!

Parkie95 wrote:

If my computer is getting bogged down because it hasn't been reformatted in so long (which is normal) then which option is best? Would I get the same effect if I installed the OS without reformatting?

Thanks!

Mac's do not get bogged down like PC's from not reformatting them.

(I have a 2010 and 2 2012 Mac Mini's that are running just fine after many years of Software Upgrades)

However, they can become slow or feel for several reasons. So before you do any reformatting or upgrading, I would encourage you to run EtreCheck and report back here with the results for closer scrutiny.

see > https://etrecheck.com/

Thanks dude. I take it that this is an Apple approved app?

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2017-10-18 01:47:23

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 3:32

Performance: Good

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Clean up] link to delete unused files.

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Sometimes there is a little bit of a lag when opening applications, for example even System Preferences takes a few moments to load when I click on an option and so I was just wondering if my Mac needed a revamp with a reformat or whatever.

Hardware Information: ⓘ

Mac mini (Late 2014)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

Mac mini - model: Macmini7,1

1 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4260U) CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 5000 - VRAM: 1536 MB

SONY TV 1360 x 768 @ 60 Hz

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD HTS545050A7E362 disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

(disk0s1) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 499.25 GB

(disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

USB Information: ⓘ

XHCI Root Hub SS Simulation

XHCI Root Hub USB 2.0 Simulation

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple, Inc. IR Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 498.89 GB (408.40 GB free)

Physical disk: disk0s2 499.25 GB Online

System Software: ⓘ

OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F2511) - Time since boot: about one hour

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Clean up: ⓘ

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.lastpass.LastPassHelper.plist

~/Library/Application Support/LastPass/LastPassHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/LastPassHelper

Executable not found!

One orphan file found. [Clean up]

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.1.28) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.1.28) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.1.28) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.1.28) [Lookup]

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.getdropbox.dropbox.kext (1.5.1 - SDK 10.10) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 5 Apple tasks

[loaded] 145 Apple tasks

[running] 62 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 47 Apple tasks

[loaded] 135 Apple tasks

[running] 80 Apple tasks

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 36f2fce - installed 2017-10-12) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist (Shell Script 700b9385 - installed 2017-10-14) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-10-14) [Lookup]

[failed] com.lastpass.LastPassHelper.plist (? 66bea022 0 - installed 2015-01-12) [Lookup] - ~/Library/Application Support/LastPass/LastPassHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/LastPassHelper: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (? 4d64d81a 8fc3d577 - installed 2017-10-18) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (Oracle America, Inc. - installed 2017-10-14) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-10-14)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.170 (installed 2017-10-18) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-10-14)

Flash Player: 27.0.0.170 (installed 2017-10-18) [Lookup]

nplastpass: 3.1.61 (installed 2015-01-12) [Lookup]