Question iMac 27 inch all-in-one Defrag

[William Thomas 1]

I took my iMac into a shop to have it checked out as it is getting old (5.5 years) and has been kinda flakey at times.

They ran diagnostics and found a bad HD fan. They also suggested a "defrag" on my system.

I was kinda shocked as I understood most Mac's do not need defragging as it is optimized in the OS. Also, as I have never had the capacity of the drive over 35% and do little deleting I was wondering why I would need a defrag.

$120 to defrag it and $160 for parts and labor on the fan. I was a bit floored.

I read where Disk Permissions can emulated what PC's users would associated with defrag issues, so I have reset my permissions and it has seemed to help a lot.

How hard is my all in one going to be to get into to repair the Hard Drive. If it was a PC (laptop or desktop), I would have no Qualms, but with this one I am not sure how to even begin.

Thoughts?

William1

 

[itmoba]

$120 to defrag? They're flat-out ripping you off. See here: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4032

Use Onyx to fix and find typical errors in permissions and other settings.

 

[McHenryB]

iFixit have a lot of guides on Mac repair. Here is their guide to replacing the hard disk, which should give you some idea of what is involved: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1634 .

With the amount of work involved I'd say the quoted price to replace the fan is not unreasonable. But the "defrag" suggestion is just a rip off. That would make me doubt whether I could trust these people with my Mac.

 

[itmoba]

iFixit have a lot of guides on Mac repair. Here is their guide to replacing the hard disk, which should give you some idea of what is involved: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1634 .

With the amount of work involved I'd say the quoted price to replace the fan is not unreasonable. But the "defrag" suggestion is just a rip off. That would make me doubt whether I could trust these people with my Mac.

Agreed, 100%.

 

[JustSomeJoe]

An Apple (with a Hard Drive) does benifit form the occasional Defrag, it only needs it every year (or two) depending on use; to (safely) Defrag isn't simple/cheap, using Defrag utilities should only be done after a (full) backup and with a suitable UPS connected, the alternative is to backup, clean and restore (with a UPS), both methods are time consuming; if the $120 is guaranteed then it's not too bad (considering the risk), if it isn't guaranteed then it's a rip.