[kill bill]

what exactly happens that makes a computer slow down over time, i never really understood that. it seems like the components become less and less integrated or something. ive had mainly pc's b4 the mac im getting in a week, but i did have a mac desktop a long time ago. they all did the same thing, after about a year or two, the speed of the comp started to totally tank. what is that and what can i do about it?

[budster101]

Sell it.

Edit: See below.

[iBorg]

Originally Posted by budster101

Sell it.

Budster, I guess it's that type of helpful insight and time-consuming forethought that allows you almost 5,000 posts in a brief 8 months? Thanks, on behalf of a newcomer (with 5 posts) here with a serious question, for the waste of electrons.

Kill Bill, there are alot of things that cause slowdown, in addition to the obvious comparative slowness of an older system compared to newer ones. I can't answer about PC slowdown, but for Macs:

1. An older system will run newer programs more slowly, since programmers code them for faster, more modern computers. The old system isn't really running more slowly than before, in this case, it just seems so because it's abilities are overtaxed by that newer program.

2. You may need to add more RAM, again to make up for lack of processor speed.

3. If your hard drive is filling, everything slows down - rule of thumb is that you need AT LEAST 10% of hard drive space available to prevent stalls/slowdowns/"spinning beachball of death." (I sure noticed that before replacing my 80GB drive on my TiBook with a 120GB drive, even though drive speed was the same - I was down to 4GB free space, due to iPhoto and iTunes!)

4. In OS X, repairing permissions, and running utilities such as Onyx and Cocktail can regain some efficiencies.

5. Running DiskWarrior to rebuild the directory can solve many problems, and enhance the general speed of your system.

6. If your hard drive is slower, replace it with a faster drive (e.g. 5400 or 7200rpm laptop drive).

These are a few simple things that come to mind - I'm sure others have some ideas for how to made your older system run a little faster!



iBorg

[budster101]

Hey great for you. You are diminishing all of my posts wiht one sweeping generalization?
How pompus of you. I've helped many in these forums with technical advice... You are free to ignore my comment and post your advice...

I've had my PB 17" for over 2 years with zero slowdown. I avoid 3rd party crap, and Onyx / Cocktail are not recommended for a newbie... use disk utilities, repair permissions etc. If he has questions, I would suggest he speaks to an Apple Genius if he is near an Apple Store. My guess is, he is. In New York...



BTW: Some of your advice was ill advised IMHO.

[siflippant]

Originally Posted by budster101

BTW: Some of your advice was ill advised IMHO.

Which part of the advice was ill advised? (I thought Mr iBorg was spot on)

But hey, that's me...

Just an average, run of the mill poster (not made 200 yet! LOL!) - I have learnt a lot at MacNN and the people here are friendly (with the odd exception of course, but that applies to most situations in life, right?)

I read more than I talk or "post" - maybe give it another 12 years and I might reach 1000 posts...

[budster101]

I never put someone down because of a lack of post count. That's just childish. So, I suspect the opposite to be true too.

So, I was a bit snarky in my comment. So what?

I will explain my reasoning behind my (Ill advised comment) and you two can tell me if I am off base and why after.

I wouldn't suggest using Onyx or Cocktail to just any user you don't really know his skills to. I'd rather see them learn to use the "Disk Utility" to manage things such as permissions.

Why would one have to run Disk Warrior? Again, I've had my machine for 2 years plus, and no need for Disk Warrior, or Onyx, or Cocktail. I've used them, but soon after trashed them. Not necessary. That is a personal taste issue with me of course, not much of an issue with your suggestion being ill advised, but it could fall under that heading. Remember this is mostly a Windows user whom has had to constantly defrag his Hard Drive, and run regedit maybe, and any other number of 3rd party packages to beyond most comfort levels and just may overdue this in his new Mac. IMHO.

What I am not liking here is your advice to swap out the hard drive. He's getting a new 15" powerbook. Do they even make one at 7,200 rpm? How would you suggest he swap it out? Himself? You never went into that. If he did it himself, he is voiding his warranty. Crack the box, break your warranty. Put some sort of disclaimer on that type of advice. ( I'm thinking now that I should have made mention of this earlier on before you had a quesion about my assertion.)

How about some good news?

Bump the RAM always for a cheap push in power over processor. It's great for memory sucking applications like Adobe CS, Macromedia Studio MX/2004 (Studio 8), and Final Cut Pro, Studio Pro, etc.

I would also suggest an external Firewire 800 drive, compact. 100gb over messing with your internal, which is probably going to be 80 or 100 anyway.

Finally, I read more than I post too. Never make assumptions about a person you have never met, or by just reading a few of his posts. Unless we have a history, and I just forgot about it?

[siflippant]

Originally Posted by budster101

Finally, I read more than I post too. Never make assumptions about a person you have never met, or by just reading a few of his posts.

Mmmmmm, but I never did...

[Randman]

Ignore Budster.Many do.

You would have to give your computer specs to be specific but not having enough ram will bog down the system if you use it for a length of time.

Do you do maintenance such as clearing caches, repairing permissions, running cron jobs, etc? Over time, these type of things can slow a system down.

Think of it as a desk. The more you work on it and don't tidy up, the more cluttered it gets which makes it harder to find the things you need because there's too much detritus on the desktop.

If things get too slow and you have enough ram, consider creating a new user and migrating your stuff to that profile. Or backup and do a clean install (I'd suggest an Archive & Install then delete the Previous System Folder) after a week or so if all is running smoothly.

[budster101]

Nm.

[budster101]

Originally Posted by siflippant

Mmmmmm, but I never did...

Get off the chronic... you can't even read posts in this thread properly.

[budster101]

Originally Posted by Randman

Ignore Budster.Many do.

Out of line.

You would have to give your computer specs to be specific but not having enough ram will bog down the system if you use it for a length of time.

What? You sure of that?

Do you do maintenance such as clearing caches, repairing permissions, running cron jobs, etc? Over time, these type of things can slow a system down.

No kidding, and my earlier post went over your head I suppose?

Think of it as a desk. The more you work on it and don't tidy up, the more cluttered it gets which makes it harder to find the things you need because there's too much detritus on the desktop.

If things get too slow and you have enough ram, consider creating a new user and migrating your stuff to that profile. Or backup and do a clean install (I'd suggest an Archive & Install then delete the Previous System Folder) after a week or so if all is running smoothly.

You are recommending some advanced things here for a novice to maybe intermediate users. Do you think that wise?

[Ω]

Still trying to give up smoking budster?

[budster101]

yep.

[matpop]

This link (Apple discussion forum) maybe help you:

http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]

I didn't try yet, but i will.
Bye

[Ω]

Originally Posted by budster101

yep.

Hang in there.

Originally I thought it was because you changed your sig. New look new attitude.

[siflippant]

Originally Posted by budster101

Get off the chronic... you can't even read posts in this thread properly.

lol, k...