MBP 1,1-10,2 How to Reset Mac … Without Resetting Mac! (2014 MacBook Pro)

[Val3]

I have a 2014 MacBook Pro 16” that I configured to be top-of-the-line at the time I bought it (16GB RAM, 1 TB SSD). It’s no longer my daily driver, as I have a desktop M1 Max Mac Studio, but the laptop still works when I need it to (i.e., when traveling), though it seems the fans are always blowing.

I will be traveling for more than a month and would like to get some meaningful work done on this laptop. Ordinarily, I would just wipe this machine and reinstall everything from scratch. However, I’m not sure that I will be able to reinstall certain programs, certainly not without a lot of finagling. The OS is High Sierra, which I‘ve never upgraded, as I’m still running 32-bit programs on this machine.

tldr: How do I “reset” my Mac without actually resetting it?

 

[Amethyst1]

You can create a new user account and log in using that, i.e. beginning from scratch while leaving the OS and “Applications” folder intact.

 

[Val3]

You can create a new user account and log in using that, i.e. beginning from scratch while leaving the OS and “Applications” folder intact.

Before I do this, should I first remove those apps that I no longer need, by moving them to Trash? (I’m never sure if removing apps this way also deletes all related files…)

Also, I have Bootcamp/Windows/Parallels installed. Would the new user account still be able to access Bootcamp/Windows/Parallels?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Amethyst1]

Before I do this, should I first remove those apps that I no longer need, by moving them to Trash?

You can do this but it’s not mandatory.

I’m never sure if removing apps this way also deletes all related files…)

It doesn’t, unless the app only lives in the Applications folder. If there are also files in your user folder (/Users/YourUserName) those will be gone once your old user account is deleted. If the app has placed files in OS-related folders and doesn’t come with a thorough uninstaller those have to be removed manually.

Would the new user account still be able to access Bootcamp/Windows/Parallels?

Boot Camp itself has nothing to do with macOS' user accounts or Parallels. It’s a separate, native Windows installation on the SSD. Do you have one, or a Windows VM in Parallels that is stored within your user folder? If so, it'll be gone once the user account is gone.

 

[Val3]

Boot Camp itself has nothing to do with macOS' user accounts or Parallels. It’s a separate, native Windows installation on the SSD. Do you have one, or a Windows VM in Parallels that is stored within your user folder? If so, it'll be gone once the user account is gone.

I have Windows 7 installed via Boot Camp, and Parallels accesses that installation (so not a VM).

It sounds like I’ll just have to keep this user account, if I want to keep the Boot Camp/Windows installation?

It seem the only way to maybe lighten up the load on this machine is to start deleting apps… Are there other things I can also try?

Thanks again!

 

[Amethyst1]

It sounds like I’ll just have to keep this user account, if I want to keep the Boot Camp/Windows installation?

No, you have to recreate the Parallels VM that accesses it under the new user account.

Are there other things I can also try?

With regards to the permanently running fans: Check Activity Monitor if anything is running in the background you don’t need that consumes CPU cycles. You can also remove the bottom cover, clean the fans and apply new thermal paste to see if that results in lower temperatures and less fan activity.