I'm getting the rainbow wheel when I try tp pen in internet page (Safari). The page half loads then appears to freeze with the rianbow wheel. I get the same result when I try to stream a movie from NETFLIX. Freezes up rather than plays (after loading).

Question

I get the rainbow wheel when I try to open an internet page. It loads halfway, then freezes, with the rainbow wheel whirring around. Smae thing happens when I try to stream a movie on Netflix.  The movie loads, then the wheel shows up and the screen freezes.  Same thing when I try a DVD, it takes the disc, but won't play when I hit on PLAY.
I am repair permissions, and all that I can do, but I am a novice.  Any help would be greatly appreciated because I spend big bucks and drive 40 miles to get Apple help.
Sharon in the woods of Idaho

Answer 1

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.
If your profile info is up to date, you probably have a 2006 or 2007 MacBook with a CoreDuo or Core2Duo.
It probably came with 512MB or 1GB RAM memory and a 60, 80, or 120GB hard drive.
You're still running OS X Tiger, 10.4.
Your DVD drive may be dirty or wearing out.
For specifics about your computer, click on the  Apple Logo in the menu bar, then About This Mac, and More Info... to find details.)
You may be running short of hard disk space. You should have at least 10% free, or 10 to 15GB free for best performance. Less than that, and your hard disk is spending lots of time searching for places to store data.
Complex web pages and sites like Facebook and Twitter, and pages using Adobe Flash, and high-bandwidth applications like video streaming from NetFlix can all cause your computer to run slowly, and the fan to run at high speed, because the processor is working hard. Conversely, email is not terribly resource-intensive, and probably still works pretty well.
Several things can each provide a small performance increase (listed in no particular order):
Adding more RAM memory. Upgrade to 2Gb to give your programs a bit of 'breathing room', especially if you are running more than one program at a time.
Erasing the hard drive and reinstalling the current operating system and programs from scratch. This erases all your existing programs and data. Unless you have backups and program discs, you lose everything currently stored on it.
Installing a higher capacity, faster hard disk, say 250GB or 320GB will give your programs and data more space, and perhaps faster access if you replace the factory 5400rpm drive with a 7200 rpm drive. If your current hard disk is nearly full (less than 10% free space), the drive has to 'thrash' to free space to store information. 
Upgrading the operating system to OS X 10.5 Leopard or OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Both are discontinued OS X versions, still available to order directly from Apple, but not likely found on a store shelf any longer. An upgrade to OS X 10.7 Lion might not be possible for your MacBook (details here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/how-to-buy/), and Lion would likely cause a further slowdown, because honestly, Lion is optimized for newer, faster dual-core or quad-core computers with fast video chipsets and 4GB or more of RAM.
A faster internet connection, for example: I switched internet providers to get a 3.0Mb DSL connection (up from a 512Mb connection) for an extra $10 per month, and saw downloads and internet browsing speeds increase dramatically.  With the slower connection, it was not possible to watch video.
Will all of these upgrades together get you close to the performance of the latest MacBook Air or MacBook Pros? NO!
Ultimately, you have a 4- or 5-year-old computer, and spending up to several hundred dollars for upgrades might not be a worthwhile investment for you, versus applying that much money toward the cost of a new(er) Mac, and perhaps passing your MacBook on to a friend, child, or grandchild who needs mainly email capability.
If a brand new Apple is not in the budget, consider a refurbished Mac from the Apple Store online. These are reliable computers from 'last year's models' and have the same 1-year Applecare warranty as a brand new model, and often sell at a discount of 10 to 30 percent of the price when the model was introduced.
I'm using a mid-2007 MacBook, purchased as a refurb from Apple in late 2007. It came with 1GB RAM, a 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive, and OS X 10.4 Tiger. Over the years, I've upgraded it twice. Firs to 2GB, then to 4GB RAM, to a 320GB drive, then to a 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, and to OS X 10.5 Leopard, and then to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Rather than one more round of upgrades to OS X 10.7 Lion, I'm saving for a newer MacBook Pro or MacBook Air at some time in the future.