[hakant]

I got my first ever Apple computer (20" iMac-Intel) almost 3 months ago and I am very happy about it. I guess I was too excited during this 3 months and I downloaded a lot of softwares, widgets, etc, etc. Now, I feel like my iMac is cluttered, getting slower and freezes sometimes.

Question: What is your opinion about formatting( I have Tiger installation CDs and Leopard upgrade CD)?
What is the easiest way ( I am not very computer savvy person) ?
I use Time Machine. Would that be enough to get my pics, iTunes library and some documents after the re-formatting?

Questions might be very silly but some suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Hakan

[anselm]

I would recommend that you burn the most important data on DVD-R additionally to your time machine backup.

I would *strongly* recommend that you use brand name media for important data: Plextor (aka Taiyo Yuden) are the best DVD-Rs. Verbatim and Sony are also good but Verbatims are not long lasting.
Don`t burn them at 16x speed. You should get a good result (=a DVD-R that can be read without errors over 3-4 years) with a quality medium burned at half the speed that your drive offers. If you got a 16x burner, then use 8x.
If you use bad media then you have to be prepared that your DVD-R cannot be read either immediately or after a few weeks.
This recommendations are founded on quality tests of german CT Magazin ( heise online - german language only) who regularly send many DVD-Rs burned with various burners to a test lab in Scandinavia ( I think the name is Audiodev ).
More info on that on demand.

I personnally burn 2 copies of every optical disc on 2 discs from 2 different manufacturers.


In general if you`re not sure how important backing up is to you, then you might want to check out this site ; The Tao Of Backup


However, you may be able to get your Mac OS X going more fluent if you get rid of some of the software that you don t really need.
So formatting and re-installation is not inevitable. Backing up is recommended despite of that.

I think deleting fonts is one thing you could start with but I`m not a big expert, so you better wait for other users of this forum to give some tips.

Some Mac-magazines (print) also have special editions that focus on system maintenance and you may also find some articles on the web.

[hakant]

Anselm,
thanks for the suggestions.

[anselm]

A few things that came to mind after I posted my reply:

Your computer becomes slower if it has to use a lot of virtual memory, which means using your harddrive as a substitute for RAM.
Here is some info on that: Virtual memory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can probably see a significant speed increase if you upgrade your RAM.


The next thing is that JAVA based programs (probably used for widgets) typically consume a lot of CPU power.

You can use the Activity Monitor (Windows name: process monitor) or the terminal to see which application uses what percentage of RAM and CPU power.
That might be a good tool to find the apps that eat more resources that you would like them to.
Here`s a short tutorial:
Increasing performance by quitting remnant or unnecessary system processes - MacFixIt


I found a few more links at MacFixIt.com:
Maintenance: Keeping your Mac lean and mean and working on Macfixit.com:
Tutorials: instructional information of lasting value for troubleshooting and understanding your Mac or iPod - MacFixIt

These may be exactly what you might be looking for.

Here are the direct links:
Performance tip: Keep the Desktop clutter-free (empty, if possible) - MacFixIt
Increasing performance by quitting remnant or unnecessary system processes - MacFixIt
Tutorial: Ten ways to stay out of trouble - MacFixIt
Mini-Tutorial: The dreaded spinning pinwheel; Avoiding unresponsiveness/slow-downs in Mac OS X - MacFixIt
Tutorial: Resolving slow startup: Speeding up Mac OS X boot time - MacFixIt
Tutorial: Avoiding and eliminating Kernel panics - MacFixIt
Mini-Tutorial: Minimizing System-Wide Freezes where "Force Quit" will not work - MacFixIt
Tutorial: Troubleshooting Spotlight - MacFixIt
Mini-Tutorial: Deleting old copies of applications (documents opening with the wrong version, program) - MacFixIt

MacFixIt also got a forum.


Other resources you might find usefull:

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
By Randy B. Singer
OS X Maintenance And Troubleshooting
...a long article. quickly scrolling through I spotted many topics that I know from one of the printed Mac magazine specials with tips for maintenance. I haven`t fully read it but it looks usefull. Make sure to back up everything important before defragmenting, which this article seems to recommend.)

If you want a shorter article:
General Steps in OS X Troubleshooting : OSXFAQ :: View topic - General Steps in OS X Troubleshooting

macosxhints.com - OS X tips and tricks!

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

OnyX 1.9 - MacUpdate // Onyx is a software to speed up some maintenance jobs that you could also do manually with the terminal or console

Mac Tip of the Day- MacLife

Running Mac OS X Maintenance Scripts

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally Posted by anselm 

Your computer becomes slower if it has to use a lot of virtual memory, which means using your harddrive as a substitute for RAM.
Here is some info on that: Virtual memory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can probably see a significant speed increase if you upgrade your RAM.

Agreed. How much RAM do you have? The more the merrier, and with prices the way they are right now, it's a good time to upgrade.

[hakant]

Anselm,
thanks a lot for all the links.Wow, it is a lot of info for me to read, I appreciate.

Mr. Anderson,
I have 1G memory.I am planning to get 2g more (total will be 3G). there are a lot of different models and with very different prices. I have no idea what the differences are ..

[Mr. Anderson]

there are a lot of different models and with very different prices. I have no idea what the differences are ..

Have a look at Crucial.com. Even if you don't end up buying from there, they have a very good website for determining what type of RAM you need for your computer.

[bbales]

Originally Posted by hakant 

Anselm,
thanks a lot for all the links.Wow, it is a lot of info for me to read, I appreciate.

Mr. Anderson,
I have 1G memory.I am planning to get 2g more (total will be 3G). there are a lot of different models and with very different prices. I have no idea what the differences are ..

As I posted yesterday, I FINALLY installed another 2 GB of RAM in my 24-inch iMac. (I had 1 GB and the additional RAM arrived 2 days after the computer and has sat there ever since; months now.) You will see a world of difference with extra RAM. I purchased mine from Other World Computing, and I think the prices now are much, much lower than back in August. Crucial, as noted above, gets high marks from people, too. I believe Kingston does as well.

Get more RAM, install carefully (I got the directions straight from the Apple support site) and your machine will seem brand-new. Really 0-- order today.

[hakant]

Yesssssss, I've just received my 2 GB RAM today and I installed right away. it makes huge difference, especially converting movies,etc. Thanks for all the sugggestions.
cheers