Is my macbook slowing down?

jesso · Post by **jesso** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:42 pm

Recently ive been noticing the time that it takes to switch between programes getting longer.
Example.
Playing a tune in itunes. If I have ableton open behind it, I click on ableton.
It comes to the front, but seems to freeze for a couple of seconds.
I could be imagining things, but I seem to remember the switching between programes being snappier...
It takes long enough that its mildly annoying.
Am I delusional and should I stop forum surfing to get on with a bit of work?

Pantytec · Post by **Pantytec** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:04 pm

yes, time for a windows pc running xp.

Brainstormer · Post by **Brainstormer** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:19 pm

A few things you could try:

1. Repair Disk Permissions
Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your Macintosh HD and select Verify Disk Permissions. If needed you can then Repair Disk Permissions.

2. Clear out login items
Its good to check that unwanted programs are not starting up when you login to your Mac. This can be done from System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items.

3. Clear Desktop
Its been reported numerous times that having a clear desktop can increase the speed of your Mac. So either put your junk in folders or delete it!

4. Remove Unwanted Language Packs
OS X contains hundreds of languages that you most likely wont use. Monolingual is a free program that can root out these languages and remove them saving you some extra disk space. http://monolingual.sourceforge.net/

5. Download Onyx, and do a complete system optimisation. http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html

If you're still experiencing probs, let us know.

4ace · Post by **4ace** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:40 am

Brainstormer wrote:A few things you could try:

3. Clear Desktop
Its been reported numerous times that having a clear desktop can increase the speed of your Mac. So either put your junk in folders or delete it!

I've never heard of that before however,i keep my desktop empty and a buddy always keeps all kinds of crap on his and always complains his system is "slow".

May be some truth to that one.....Thanks for sharing

thelike5 · Post by **thelike5** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:08 am

4ace wrote:
Brainstormer wrote:A few things you could try:

3. Clear Desktop
Its been reported numerous times that having a clear desktop can increase the speed of your Mac. So either put your junk in folders or delete it!

I've never heard of that before however,i keep my desktop empty and a buddy always keeps all kinds of crap on his and always complains his system is "slow".

May be some truth to that one.....Thanks for sharing

I've also heard this before. The only thing on my desktop is my harddrive. Everyting else is stored away. Macbook runs great.

Silentmusic · Post by **Silentmusic** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:55 am

Don't know if this applies accross the board but I have always noticed a significant difference when I keep my OS drive more than 50% free (of disk space). Move unnecessary stuff to an external drive.
It seems that the more your drive fills up the harder it taxes it....

dataspore · Post by **dataspore** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:20 am

i've had that problem, but only iirc
with itunes and live, not safari/live, quicktime/live,
preview/live......

i deduce that itunes is the villain.
but also i'm on an g4 ibook.

something i do when things seem creaky
is open up terminal and type

sudo sh /etc/daily

you'll be prompted for your password,
and then a cleaning script will run.
using sudo commands can be risky,
(you need to be careful with your typing)
maybe look into terminal a bit first
if you haven't already...

i'm no expert by any means
but i find this script handy...

good luck