[gangaspeed]

What would I be able to do to perform kind of a system tune-up on my PB G4 ?? Any ideas suggestions are appreciated.

[gangaspeed]

anyone?

[Sherman Homan]

First of all, sorry you had to bump your thread! Is your PowerBook misbehaving? Running Disk Utility, verify disk will give you a clue if there are any directory problems. Repair Disk Permissions is a good idea while you are in Disk Utility. What version of your OS are you running?

[romeosc]

Run Onyx, System Optimizer or Socks to fine tune OSX ...

Run Cron Jobs, etc!

[gangaspeed]

Just lately its been sluggish and this is my first Mac and not quite sure how to perform the cleanups and things that are neccessary, I am running 10.3 atm, will upgrade to leopard when it comes out.

I also don't know of any programs or utilities to dl to do clean up either, I have Mac Pilot but not quite sure how to go about using it.

[Macanoid]

May I suggest you get MainMenu - it lets you run all the relevant maintenance job in one go, followed by a restart (should you wish so). It's free and absolutely wonderful - check macupdate for a download!

[gangaspeed]

Originally Posted by Macanoid 

May I suggest you get MainMenu - it lets you run all the relevant maintenance job in one go, followed by a restart (should you wish so). It's free and absolutely wonderful - check macupdate for a download!

Assuming you use Mainmenu yourself, under where it says other tasks and has that listing there is there anything i should be worried about losing while cleaning those, mainly asking if i clean everything mainmenu will clean will i hurt something?

[Macanoid]

I do indeed use MainMenu myself, and have done for some time now. Normally I select all options in the preferences, let MainMenu run them end restart. never had a single problem with it.

With regards to your question, I have used all options myself except: Clean All Logs & Remove .DS, again all without any problems. The the other two isn't dangerous or anything, it's just I can't think of a reason I (you) should need it.

batch running the options in preferences will be enough 99% of the time really!

[jamito]

Try cocktail, I believe its free for panther users:

<http://www.macuser.com/software/grab_yourself_a_cocktail_on_th.php>

[amazing]

Main question of the PB G4: How much RAM and how much empty HD space?

[peeb]

Amazing is right - the PB is most likely doing all the maintenance it needs. Not enough RAM and not enough free space are the most likely culprits for slow-downs.

[gangaspeed]

i have 1 gb of ram and over and 23gb free space

[peeb]

23gb is most likely enough - you might want to run Activity Monitor and see if you are paging to disc excessively - you could probably benefit from more RAM.

[amazing]

peeb is right: sufficient HD space, pretty sufficient RAM. So: run Activity Monitor, set it to "All Processes" in the top right, click on the System Memory tab at the bottom, and check your page-outs. Once you start getting page-outs, do a restart.

Beyond that, only if it really bothers you: do an archive-and-install and discard the Previous System once you're done (and have verified stuff's OK.)

[gangaspeed]

When you say check page outs what do you mean?


and to do an archive and install I have to have the system restore disc correct? If not I will have to wait until Leopard comes out because I bought it used and didnt receive any disc but a system restore

[peeb]

Open activity monitor, select 'all processes', then, at the bottom, select 'Disk Activity'. Look at the numbers of Writes Out. The system install disc will let you do an archive and install.

[gangaspeed]

I know that much but when I am looking at the numbers what am I looking for?

[amazing]

You'll see a heading at the bottom that says Page In/Outs. Page-in means that the RAM is fielding all the load itself. After a restart, you'll have zero page-outs. Once the RAM is fully occupied (lots of stuff open) then the OS starts off-loading requests to the HD, hence the page-outs. Once you get page-outs, they'll just keep increasing, the HD starts getting busy, which means more heat, eventually more fan noise. HD access is also much slower than RAM--that's why people always say the more RAM, the merrier.

So, you do a restart more often, you take a break, get some coffee, etc. Also, you close applications that you're not using.

Since you've got a PB G4, are you using any software that needs Classic? That's a whole separate discussion. Post back if you do use OS 9 software, no need to go into that if you're not using it.

[gangaspeed]

I am not using os 9


i before had over 50000 outs now have zero

[amazing]

yep, 50,000 page outs will be thrashing the HD, slowing stuff down.

just do a restart when you going to refill the coffee cup.

[peeb]

Sounds like you would benefit from more RAM.

[gangaspeed]

Isnt 1gb the max a PBG4 can have? I thought I read that somewhere

[peeb]

No. Well, I don't know about your specific model, but my 1.67 has 2gb. It's possible if yours is very old it might have a lower limit.
Crucial.com has a lookup table by model that will tell you.

[amazing]

Thing is, you don't want to stick more money into an older laptop, unless it's absolutely necessary. One GB is adequate for just about everything, unless you're a pro...

Just do more frequent restarts. They'll free up the RAM and they certainly don't hurt anything.

[peeb]

I agree with Amazing. While more ram will likely speed up your machine, you need to weigh whether that is a good investment given the expected lifespan of the machine.

[gangaspeed]

Yea it shows that the PB G4 800Mhz can only have a gig

[peeb]

Well, then you have few options aside from Amazing's restart regime. It will help, but it won't turn it into a speed demon. You need to start planning to replace this machine if it is not meeting your speed needs. You can likely sell it for a reasonable amount still though.

[gangaspeed]

I hear ya, I suppose I will just wait until Leopard comes out and complete an archive and install, will moving alot of things over to an ext HD free up some things? LIke my over 20gb of music and 15 gb of movies?

[peeb]

Probably not much.

[gangaspeed]

I will just live with it then and stop dual running camino and firefox as well as some other things expecting too much out of it. Thanks for all the help guys!