Hardware quick-fire questions
What is NVRAM?
> Non-volatile RAM (or Parameter RAM on older Macs) stores the settings for screen resolution, speaker volume, startup disk, and some log files from recent kernel panics. To reset it, follow the instructions at apple.co/2kW0l9H.
Will running the maintenance scripts help?
> OS X should run its built-in maintenance scripts between 3:15am and 5:00am, every day, week and month, to clear out old log files and rebuild databases. If your Mac is asleep when the schedule rolls around, the scripts will run when the Mac next wakes up, but if your Mac is always turned off overnight, these scripts might never run. You can trigger them manually in Terminal by entering sudo periodic all. This took about 30 seconds off my Mac’s startup time.