Hello Everybody! 
Whils't cruising the Net last nite, I happened across a particular page of MacWorld's website.
Apparently, the article in full was published in their February edition and contains the 8 Steps recommended to keep your Mac in good health, so with everybody's good health in mind (& your Macs too, of course!), whizz over to : this page and check it out.
Of course, if you have a copy of the February issue of this years MacWorld, then this will be 'old hat' to you, but, for those that don't, I think it makes a very good read..... 
my laptop has been getting slow as hell. I busted out my copy of Techtool Pro, and am defragging the HD. Out of the 95,749 Files on the system, about 90% if them are fragmented. So, i have had techtool running since 6PM last night. It is going slow, and it is 10:04 AM as of writing this, and it's still not done (if that tells you something :P. About 7% left to go too, so it should be done withing the next 2 hrs.
I did what was suggested in the article, and after reboot, I already noticed a speed increase in everything. Hopefully, my iBook will be back in tip-top shape when i get done.
I was thinking about your post, design8. Actually, I was thinking more about the title of your post, prevention is better than cure, and spent the better part of the day thinking about nothing else. Not that you really care, but that's how my mind works, I fixate on a particular thought and dwell on it till such time as my mind is satisfied that all possible avenues have been exhausted.
Anyway, on the subject of prevention, I feel that there is much to be considered. The time and effort exhausted in areas of prevention could easily outweigh that of the cure. It would make no sense to take steps to secure one's self from rattlsnake bite, for example, if one does not live in an area where rattlesnakes can be found. In this particular example, the prevention measures would not be offset by the remote potential risk.
Risk analysis is of vital importance. It would make no sense to hire an exterminator to rid an adobe shack of bugs, for instance. In this example, the prevention measures would be in vain and the probability of insect infestation is high, regardless of any effort to eliminate the possibility.
Anyway, thanks for the thoughts.