[vutenor]

Hey all.

I have had a powerbook g3 400 for about a year now and over the past 2 months, it's gotten really sluggish. (The most noticable thing is when I send and receive mail from outlook express....there's a 2-3 second pause before it kicks in. It's like that opening apps too.) Is there anything I can do to get it back to normal again?

[seanyepez]

Computers don't get old. Hardware-wise, they either work or don't work. They don't slow down over time.

Your problem is most likely related to software. Over time, people install harmless utilities that run background tasks (thus taking up CPU cycles) that slow down their machine. I think the most complete way to fix your problems is wiping the hard drive and starting out from scratch. Then again, this is usually not a viable solution because many of us don't have the hardware to back up our systems to before a reformat. You can reinstall just the operating system from the system restore disk, though you might lose some extensions in the process.

Have you installed any hardware over the past two months? I'm almost convinced it's related to software, but it could be a device sucking CPU cycles and slowing down the overall speed of the machine.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

thats what it was on my pismo 500. i had some programs i installed when i first began getting into macs and they were still there. take a deep look into your extensions folder, system folder and clean it out.

if you can't solve the problem, this is a great time to get a mac.

[Cellery]

My Lombard 400 was the same way, but a fresh install really sped things up. I ended up buying a Ti550 anyway though... ^^;; In Outlook Express, I compact the mail database every once in a while, and get a small speed boost from it. If you haven't tried it yet, hold down the Option key while launching OE and it'll give you a prompt. I'd imagine that cleaning out your drive is the best bet though. Good luck!

[seanyepez]

You will be able to solve a problem. With a machine as new as a Pismo/400, there's no need. Instead, restore the operating system, as aforementioned...

[cdhostage]

Here's what I do every few months because I install a whole lot of unneccessary shit and take it off again quickly.

Do a complete reinstall
1) Take the original install CD and restore the HD to its original condition
2) Upgrade the OS to the latest or wherever I want it to be (I use OS 9.1)
3) Install all my programs from CDs
4) Upgrade my programs wherever upgrades are available.
5) Run Norton Utilites SpeedDisk, Alsoft's DiskWarrior, and I'm done[/LIST][LIST]

[Surfer]

I fresh reformat of the harddisk is always good along with a fresh install of Apps and system.