Question : Problem: My Mac has slowed down a lot lately.  How can I clean it?

I have a lot of experience with windows machines but I dont know that much about Macs.  I have an iMac that is about 2 years old and just recently it has started slowing down a lot.  I notice it most in Safari but all programs are running slower now.  Is there a way to remove old junk that may be confusing it?  Also, I am running time machine and It has been running for about 1 year.  Would that make a difference?  I am running OS 10.5.

Answer : Problem: My Mac has slowed down a lot lately.  How can I clean it?

Open Disk Utility (found in \applications\utities) . First check the S.M.A.R.T.Drive status and let us know what it says. Then run Verify Disk and let us know if it reports any problems. Finally, run Repair Permissions.