Dual 1.8 is running like a snail :(

Question

I was running panther and then installed tiger over top of it and a couple months later it was running really slow so I reformated it totally and it's still running really slow. I check the disk image at it said it was fine and I've run onyx and I have swept my RAM. I dunno what else to do. Any help PLEASE?

Answer 1

If you want a fast system this is what you do:
1: Buy a copy of Mac OS X Tiger, the upgrade version isn't as good. Also buy iLife '06 as it's not included on the Tiger disk.
2: Buy a bootable Firmtek SATA PCI card
3: Buy a 10,000 RPM 150GB 16MB cache Western Digital internal SATA drive.
4: Use present large drives for storage of files or buy whatever.
5: You'll need a 250GB external drive to clone the boot drive later.
A: Backup your files to a file drive, including the iTunes, User/Library/Mail & /Safari folders. Disconnect this drive from the machine and any others.
B: Install the Firmtek PCI card per instructions, you might need a SATA cable to connect the SATA port on the Raptor to the PCI card. The native SATA on the PowerMac can't properly handle the new drives. It might work, but it will give you problems.
Install the Raptor in the bottom slot (screws are near the drivebay) if it's operating temperture (apx 100ºF) is less than your file drive. The heat sensor is near the roof of the drivebay so a hotter drive should go on top.
C: C boot from the Tiger installer disk and select Disk Utility from the menu, Erase W/Zero format HFS+ the Raptor. Come back in a hour or so.
D: Install Tiger on the Raptor, reboot and go through the setup, using your same username as before. Ignore Migration Assistant totally.
E: Get online and Software update to 10.4.7+, install iLife and update.
F: Download a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner, Disk Utility Erase w/Zero option the 250GB external drive (hook up via firewire 800 for fastest results)
G: Repair permissions on the Raptor, enable "make bootable" in CCC prefs and clone the Raptor to the external 250GB drive. Don't run or do anything while the cloning process is going, disable all sleeps/screensavers beforehand. When it's done, repair permissions on both drives. Disconnect the clone.
H: Visit your drive makers sites for driver updates before hooking up any older drives. Now install Tiger compatible apps from fresh sources for best security and reliability. You might have to install your former boot drive to cherry pick off a few apps and things you've missed.
I: Once the Raptor is up to snuff, clone it to the external 250GB like before and disconnect.
J: What you want to do is keep your Raptor slim for speed, so keep your space hogging files that can be opened from any drive on a drive that's not the Raptor, place them in new folders, don't mess with your "home" folders.
K: For iTunes, replace the newer iTunes folder with the older one. Rename your Raptor boot drive the same as the older boot drive. This way you match up the pathnames in the iTunes.xml file. (else Find&Replace correct the pathname using TextEdit) Open iTunes and your playlists should be preserved.
L: For Mail and Safari just replace the folders.
M: If everything is peachy, go ahead and clone again. You can hold option to boot off the clone if you ever need to repair/recover /reverse clone you boot drive. So check your clone after your done, to make sure it's solid. you might need it someday.
You should see a remarkable improvement in your computers performance.
If you don't have enough RAM to cover all open apps and files, then get more.
If you don't have a decent video card, I highly suggest getting the X800 from ATI before they are all gone (AGP)