[gMan]

My iMac is slow - for example it takes over 3 and a half minutes to start up. It sure didn't take that long when I first got it. It's gotten to the point where what I really need to do is wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything (and if I had a CD burner to store all my junk i sure as hell would have by now!) But what I'd like to know is why is it necessary. What makes a computer gradually lose speed? I've defraged recently and it didn't seem to help much. I've only had my iMac for a year. It's definetly gotten a lot more unstable as well. Sure, installing OS 9 didn't help (definetly slowed it down somewhat), but this has been happening even before that.
It's a topic that interests me. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[wlonh]

there are any number of tips/solutions/suggestions for your situation, they are quite numerous... all of them can be found by searching the forums...

[ydnar1]

My suggestion is to simply do a restore of the software using the CD that came with the iMac OR do a clean install of the OS. It is necessary sometimes when things are not working to do these steps--that's all part of the maintenance of your machine. Perhaps you installed something unbeknownst to you at some time that is causing the problem. You could also use the Extensions Manager control panel and use it to set your machine to start up with JUST OS 9 extensions to see if the problem persists...good luck

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Check that the Startup control panel is set correctly. I've seen iMacs default to "Network Disk" as the startup volume, and this slows down startup times tenfold.

try zappint the PRAM(option+command+R+P), a nd clear the desktop(option+command), which have to be pressed before the mac startsup.try clearing the preferences, and use the extension manager to uncheck any extensions u may not be using. cleaar he free-disk space using "Burn 2.5". good luck.

[cebritt]

I had the exact same problem last week with a new iBook running System 9. It drove me nuts! Turned out that the problem was an AOL extension called AOL Scanner. I turned it off and the iBook booted up within 45 seconds. Hope this helps!

try holding down the command and option keys (apple and alt keys) when launching the memory control panel. look at the bottom of this control panel and you will see a new option 'memory testing' turning this off will speed up start up. Turn it back on occasionally and reboot just to let your Mac have a look at it's memory.
spiderand

Count how many extensions you have loading up, try to keep it to one row. Extensions are at the bottom of the screen during startup, the little icons.

Rebuild your desktop
Scan with disk firstaid
Remove the preference folder from the system folder. (if it speeds up then you have a bad prefernce)If nothing changes put it back.

Get Norton Utilities 5.0
Run Disk Doctor and Speed Disk. Install Disk doctor but not the extensions that go with it. I found them to be more problems installed then not having them. Norton always speeds things up and it is a must have for any one. If you do reformat your HD make sure you select HFS+, or you will loss alot of space.

Oh, check to see if your startup disk is your HD. If there is no startup disk or it is selected to network HD, the computer will take alot longer to boot, real long if the network HD is selected. To see if your HD is selected go to Control Panels and Startupdisk.

I hope this helps, really check to see the startup disk control panel.

Sorry If i have errors in my spelling, I havent had alot of sleep in a week.

[namannik]

If you don't need it, make sure AppleTalk is turned off. You can do this by selecting "Chooser" from the Apple menu, select AppleShare, and click on the "Inactive" button in the lower right-hand corner.

How much memory do you have and what OS are you using? What iMac do you have, bondi, 333mhz or the New Slot loading ones?

[Simon Kornblith]

It might make sense to run a virus check on your computer. My computer seemed to get slow, and I found I had nVIR B.

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Simon Kornblith
Computer Consultant
Programmer

[Kozmik]

gMan, This is probably a stupid question, but you have rebuilt the desktop, right? That speeds my Macs up sometimes.

[gMan]

Thanks for all your posts! I'll let you know how I go.

[cebritt]

I have my client's iBook again tonight due to AOL problems. I've concluded that AOL 4 is not compatible with System 9.0.2.

Anyway, no matter what extensions I disabled this new iBook took 2 minutes to boot. I must have rebooted twenty times. Finally, almost as an after thought, I went to Microsoft and downloaded their Combined Updater for Office 98 and installed it. Bingo, the iBook boots up in less than a minute. Hope this helps...

[gMan]

Thanks for all your suggestions!

After doing a conflict test with ConflictCatcher, it I discovered that Norton AntiVirus was causing the problem. After turning off it's "Scan files when opened" option, my mac now boots in half the time! (of course, i can further reduce startup time by removing some of my many extensions...)

This seems to have sped up the OS in general as well, which is great.

Once again, thanks.

[Rocke Woelk]

A cursory read of these post suggest none of you have proffered disabling memory checking at start up. I understand this significantly reduces startup time. Anyone have any experience with this or know of any hazards in doing so. I believe it's a simple matter of executing a key combination.

TIA

Rock

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[gMan]

I tried disabling memory checking, and found that it didn't have a significant affect on the startup time at all.

[wlonh]

like i said, search the forums... if you had you'd have found these by using the keyword 'startup' in your search:
http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/Forum1/HTML/000453.html
http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/Forum5/HTML/001827.html

there are many others...

in short:

try deleting the 'Servers' folder in your System Folder, delete the invisible file 'AppleShare PDS' if it is on your Mac, open the File Exchange control panel and uncheck "PC DISKS: Mount at Startup", open the memory control panel while holding down the 'option' and 'command' keys and turn off the 'Startup Memory Tests' in the Memory control panel, delete the Finder Preferences and restart.


and... search the forums!!!

[zac4mac]

disabling memory test will speed things up only if you have a BUNCH of RAM... I have 240 MB in my 8500 and it makes a BIG difference. Be careful, tho and re-enable if you add RAM...just had a big problem when I added bad RAM, it took a while to figure out with the test disabled

MANY times reloading the hard disk driver (using drive setup)can solve MANY problems. It is an often overlooked solution to problems!

[wlonh]

yes, updating the driver using Drive Setup can be very helpful (and is unlikely to cause any trouble though the remote possibility is there), as has been suggested elsewhere on the forums...

SEEK and ye shall find

Originally posted by gMan:
My iMac is slow - for example it takes over 3 and a half minutes to start up. It sure didn't take that long when I first got it. It's gotten to the point where what I really need to do is wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything (and if I had a CD burner to store all my junk i sure as hell would have by now!) But what I'd like to know is why is it necessary. What makes a computer gradually lose speed? I've defraged recently and it didn't seem to help much. I've only had my iMac for a year. It's definetly gotten a lot more unstable as well. Sure, installing OS 9 didn't help (definetly slowed it down somewhat), but this has been happening even before that.
It's a topic that interests me. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Your message did not indicate whether you have updated your "firmware" from the original version. Apple STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that every iMac A owner complete this update which will definitely speed up most aspects of the iMac experience. I have a first generation iMAc and my user group, Washington Apple Pi highly recommends going no higher than MacOS 8.6 on the first model iMac. It can be found pretty cheeply these days. Good Luck.

[gMan]

First of all I have a Rev B iMac and yes my firmware is up to date. And if you'd read my last post you'd notice that i've found the major source of my problem. There's no longer an issue, and it seems this thread is turning into an argument.

All computers will get slow over time, the
number of extensions will grow thus slowing
down the computer.

If the hard drive is getting full or the CPU
getting too hot, this may be another cause.

I recently instlled linux on my iMac for a
change, I will see how far I can go before
this starts to slow down or drive me crazy.

-carlos