[mg196]

I have an iMac G4 running 10.3.9. It has plenty of space (roughly 10GB). Even when I am running interent only or even just viewing pictures, it takes an agonizingly long time to load anything...AGHHHH!

I went to my lcoal Apple Store, but the guy said that my severely frag'd HD doesn't need to be defrag'd (that was the first time I heard that). Is there any software that will help me clean up this puppy?

[ibook_steve]

You might want to add more memory or perform a clean install of the OS. You could also try creating a new user account to test and see if the problem is just with your account.

Steve

[shining-nickel17]

There is software that will defrag your HD for you. iDefrag is a program that I've used and I found that it worked quite well. Defragging a Mac is a little more complicated than a PC though. You have to be booted off of another source...so a 2nd hard drive or a cd...and then run the program...at least this is how it has been for me. Hopefully that did something for you!

[hldan]

You do not need to defrag a Mac. This is not the same situation as a PC. Windows comes with defrag software in the programs manager for a good reason and Macs don't for a good reason.
If you are experiencing slow downs then first and formost make sure you have plenty of ram. Max out ram if you can. If you are running on 512MB or below that won't cut it with todays software. You should also run "Cocktail" to clean out your cached files. Most people find this overkill but I always perform a clean install twice a year to get rid of files I have installed that I don't use and may slow the system and this is the best method for cleaning the system. You can use Archive and install to protect your currently installed programs while installing a new system folder. You can get Cocktail at Mac, Palm, and Windows Software Updates and Downloads - VersionTracker