MacBook Pro memory disappears; so sluggish it's useless

My MacBook Pro has 2 GB of memory. On start-up I'll have 1.4 to 1.6 GB of free memory. Shortly after starting up, all my free memory drops to 20 or 30 MB, wired will be 180 to 220 MB, active 200 to 500 MB, and inactive about 1.4 GB, or I may have 700-900 MB of Active an Inactive. Typical open apps would be Finder, Safari, TextEdit, Activity Monitor, MenuCalClock, and Default Folder.
I have a Boot Camp partiton, and I occasionally run Vista Ultimate using VMWare Fusion. Both Leopard and Vista are often so sluggish they are useless.
Sometimes a restart will restore over a gig of free memory and the computer is pretty snappy, even if I start Vista, and it may be okay for hours.
Why should so much memory be allocated to active and inactive? After an initial data entry involving Numbers, the computer is idle for 30 to 60 minutes. It is set to never sleep. Display doesn't sleep for one hour; screen saver is running. Yet upon attempting to use it, it is almost totally unresponsive. The inactive memory seems totally unreasonable. No recently closed applications. Whatever is stored there is not facilitating responsiveness..
Daru

Are you using Time Machine? Have you excluded your Fusion Virtual Machines-folder?
Oscar, thank you for this. I've suddenly got a problem with Time Machine backups,and maybe that is because I didn't exclude them.(Oops! Just discovered I can't exclude them. When I select the Boot Camp partition to exclude, the Exclude button is grayed out.) MacBook Pro's BU failed, can't enter Time Machine (backing up to Time Capsule), couldn't repair backup or sparse bundle, so I'm deleting it and starting again. (But just now my iMac's Time Machine BU failed also; told to choose a new disk, Time Capsule is "read only". But Get Info says it is read and write...)
But regarding the MacBook Pro: A month or so ago I had a bad battery get so hot it burned out my hard disk and Apple had to replace it. I'm wondering if I have some leftover problems... Trouble is, it's a hundred mile roundtrip to the nearest Authorized Service Provider...
I've allocated 512 MB to Vista; I'm going to increase it to see if it makes a difference with Vista, but discovering what mires down Leopard is essential.
External storage is Time Capsule; all three computers back up to it. I can't reproduce the sluggishness, so it is difficult the isolate the cause. I'm not sure if it continues when all apps are closed and only the finder is active. I'll check that next time it happens.
No third party modifications that I can recall... I've used MacPilot to dump some caches and repair preference files...
Hard disk is partitioned: 80 GB Leopard, 32 GB Vista. I have 38 GB free for Leopard,11 GB free for Vista.
I've run Disk Utility, TechTool Pro, and Disk Warrior. Doing so seems to improve the situation for a short while. But sometimes just restarting fixes it...
I'll check up on your other questions (new user account, spotlight, finder only, as I get a chance to do so, today or tomorrow. (I'm writing this from my iMac, which is always perky...)
Daru

Similar Messages

HT4689 My daughters Macbook Pro memory appears to be full. When she puts it on it only stays on the "purple" screen how can I get on it to create memory?

My daughters Macbook Pro memory appears to be full. When she switches it on it stays on the "purple" screen. How do I get to go further to clear some memory?
Thanks
Marlene

Try these tips.
1. Start up in Safe Mode.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11212
2. Empty Trash.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10677
3. Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Hold the option key down and click "Go" menu in the Finder menu bar.
    Select "Library" from the dropdown.
    Library > Mail > V2 > Mailboxes
    Delete "Recovered Messages", if any.
    Empty Trash. Restart.
4. Repair Disk
    Steps 1 through 7
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836

Help my MacBook Pro memory is full. What options do I have?

My 250gb hard drive is full on my MacBook Pro and I don't understand what is taking up all of my memory. I have gone threw and moved everything I want to keep to an external hard drive so here is my question. Can I factory restore my MacBook and just click and drag all my files over on the new system from the hard drive? Or what would your best suggestions be for me? My computer just started Running really sluggish as of late. My MacBook was bought January 2010 and I'm running Lion operating system other than that I don't know a lot about my system.
Thanks for the help.

You could buy and install a larger capacity hard drive. Also buy an enlcosure for your 'old' drive and use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your old drive to your new. See https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4122.
250GB should really be 'enough' room, but if you're running into problems with that capacity, it's just time to set up to a larger drive. I would recommend visiting OWC for both your drive and an enclosure.
Good luck,
Clinton

My MacBook Pro appears to run sluggish when connecting to a Thunderbolt Display

Here are my specs
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:          MacBookPro8,2
Processor Name:          Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:          2.2 GHz
Number of Processors:          1
Total Number of Cores:          4
L2 Cache (per Core):          256 KB
L3 Cache:          6 MB
Memory:          16 GB
Boot ROM Version:          MBP81.0047.B27
SMC Version (system):          1.69f3
Serial Number (system):          [REMOVED]
Hardware UUID:          [REMOVED]
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State:          Enabled
AMD Radeon HD 6750M:
Chipset Model:          AMD Radeon HD 6750M
Type:          GPU
Bus:          PCIe
PCIe Lane Width:          x8
VRAM (Total):          1024 MB
Vendor:          ATI (0x1002)
Device ID:          0x6741
Revision ID:          0x0000
ROM Revision:          113-C0170L-573
gMux Version:          1.9.23
EFI Driver Version:          01.00.573
Displays:
Thunderbolt Display:
Display Type:          LCD
Resolution:          2560 x 1440
Pixel Depth:          32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number:          [REMOVED]
Main Display:          Yes
Mirror:          Off
Online:          Yes
Rotation:          Supported
Connection Type:          DisplayPort
When I play games like StarCraft 2 on my MacBook Pro (without my Thunderbolt Display connected), the game runs GREAT
When I play games like StarCraft 2 on my MacBook Pro (with my Thunderbolt Display connected), you notice the mouse responding slower (I even lowered the graphics settings to it's lowest and still get the same results)
When I play games like Safari on my MacBook Pro (without my Thunderbolt Display connected), the game runs GREAT
When I play games like Safari on my MacBook Pro (with my Thunderbolt Display connected), you notice the mouse responding slower
The above happens with any application. This even occurs after a fresh reboot. i unplugged all my periphals from my MacBook Pro and Thunderbolt Display
I updated my OS and applications.
I monitor Activity Monitor and notice nothing unsual about runaway processes.
Just so everyone knows. This is a 2011 MacBook Pro.

I have the same exact model as you, as well as an Apple Thunderbolt Display. I don't play any games, so I wouldn't notice any degradation there but I do run a lot of GPU/CPU/RAM intensive apps and have experienced no problems with the TB display connected.
We have the same configuration, OS, everything. We may just be running different apps. I do have 16GB of RAM and a SSD so that may mean that I'm just not able to notice any slowdown at all.
I'm not sure what your problem might be - I would suggest contacting AppleCare to see if they've documented problems such as the one you're having.
Clinton

My Western Digital external hard drive suddenly stopped showing up on my Macbook Pro and disappeared from Disk Utility. It works on a PC.

My Western Digital external hard drive suddenly stopped showing up on my macbook pro and it disappeared from disk utility. I have tried making invisible files visible but nothing has worked and my hard drive shows up on a PC but not my Mac anymore.

What is the manufacturer of the external and how old is it? Does it have its own AC power supply or is it USB bus powered?

After upgrading my MacBook Pro memory to 8GB it no longer boots to an operating system.

It is a MacBook Pro, mid June 2009 model and 13".
I've followed the installation videos adequately and the orginal 2 x 2GB have been removed with the new 2 x 4GB successfully slotted in.
It turns on and goes past the first Apple logo and the "ding", then lands on a light grey screen.
A black arrow is active but there is no menu bar, icons or anything showing.
After a while the iTunes screen saver activates and I also noticed an alert from BusySync appear!
Looking for an Apple genius to help me sort this one out!

What I find interesting is this:
A black arrow is active but there is no menu bar, icons or anything showing.
After a while the iTunes screen saver activates and I also noticed an alert from BusySync appear!
That suggesting that the computer is booting up - no other way to see the cursor screen saver. It would be strange to see this occur with bad memory but when returning the original RAM led to the same thing...
I think it would be a good idea (start with whatever RAM you have installed now) to do a safe boot. Restart the computer holding the shift key until the grey Apple screen appears. Among other things this will force the system to perform a disk test and will erase cache files that sometimes cause problems. If the computer boots normally into Safe Mode you can then try booting normally again.

MacBook and MacBook Pro memory

I have a (Early 2006) 17" MacBook Pro and a (Early 2008) 13" MacBook, both with Core 2 Duos and 2Gb of RAM. Looking through Apple support pages Ifound that my MacBook Pro will only support 3Gb of RAM, while the MacBook will support 4Gb. I'm pretty sure both have open slots, Could I plunk in a 1Gb card in the MacBook Pro? I'm not even seeing any cards smaller than 2Gb - I guess the extra Gb would be wasted, but would it cause problems? Or would I be better off chucking my existing memory and putting in 4Gb card (as I also don't see 3Gb cards available)? For the MacBook, plunk in another 2Gb card or replace existing with a 4Gb? Would going with faster memory (both have 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM) help, or hurt?
Thanks.

Yes they will.
-Bmer
Mac Owners Support Group - Join us @ MacOSG.com
  Mac611 Mobile Mac Support - about.Mac611.com
   iTunes:MacOSG Podcast | YouTube.MacOSG.com
                   An Apple User Group 
Have an iPhone or iPod touch? Enter Mac611.com in Safari on it for 'mobile Mac support.'

Late 2008 17" MacBook Pro Memory Issues

When starting up my MacBook Pro the power LED in the front flashed 3x then paused and repeated. I did some research and learned it was an issue with my memory. I have 2 x 2GB memory maxing out my MacBook at 4GB RAM. So I did the following:
Removed the 2GB memory from the top slot and it booted with 2GB ... so I assumed the one I removed was the bad one
I had a 256 MB RAM that came out of my Mac Min when I upgraded it with the 2 x 1GB I took out of my MacBook when I upgraded to the current memory. I stuck this in the upper slot and the MacBook booted with 2.25GB memory as expected
So I ordered a new 2GB memory and installed it in the top slot and I received the same LED error message ... 3x flashes followed by a pause
So i took the new memory and installed it in the lower slot leaving the top one empty and it booted normally.
I then took the older memory that was booting from the lower slot and installed it at the top slot ... 3x flashes followed by a pause
I'm at a loss now on what to do next. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for your help.

No replies yet, but other people appear to have the same problem. I'm gonna give it a go as I've googled the problem more and there are a few guides out there. Worse comes to worse, I'll just solder the wires directly to the board.
EDIT: I'll post up a response once I've given it a try.

MacBook Pro Memory Problems

My MacBook Pro is telling me that I ran out of memory on it. I have had it for only a year and don't save much on it. I have downsized as much as possible, yet it still is decreasing in available memory. What can I do about this? My sister has the same computer and has even had hers longer, and she still has plenty of room. In fact, she has more on her computer than I have on mine. Why am I already out of room?

Visit
The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on the hard drive. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
Most likely your sister is more organized than you.
Memory - Computer memory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Refers to your RAM.
Storage -Disk storage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Refers to your hard drive.

Can i upgrade my macbook pro memory?

i would like to increase my macbook pro speed, i have 4 gb RAM, 500 Gb HD, 2.3 ghz, what should i upgrade?
HD to a SSD or RAM to 8 Gb???
whats the most important thing to increase speed? is it the processor the most important or its not at all?

It all depends on which MacBook Pro model you have - I have a late 2011 and have upgraded to 16GB of RAM and a SSD, shortly after I received my 'new' MBP in April. You'll notice great speed differences in memory-hungry apps if you upgrade your RAM but you'll really be amazed at the shear speed of an SSD.
You should consider what's really slowing you down before making any upgrade - I can't imagine running on 4 GB of RAM these days, but then I can't imagine running without my SSD either. If I were you, I would first make the least expensive upgrade - RAM - taking your MBP to it's maximum, and then look at SSD options.
Please let us know your model - by year is most helpful.
Clinton

Macbook Pro Memory (Once Again) & Other Problems

Been looking once again at memory for my Late 2011 Macbook Pro and altho i can upgrade to 16GB i have been told by an Autherised apple repairer and supplier that 16GB would be far too much for what i use my macbook pro for and that 8GB would be a good upgrade.
I have been told from "Kappy" on another post that i have the following problem
"your free memory is a little low, and you have PsgeOuts greater than zero which all means you are running low on memory for the number of concurrent applications running. Some disk swapping is occurring and that should start slowing down the computer. It will also lead to drive thrashing which can cause more heat from the drive and more slowing down along with the SBOD"
Now if i upgrade from my standard 4GB to 8GB would this help with the above comment that kappy has pointed out ?
I have also found this on ebay and im thinking thats its a good buy, Can someone confirm that this is the correct memory and thats its a cause of plug and play in my late 2011 macbok pro 13"
Ebay Link - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kingston-RAM-Memory-8GB-2x4GB-DDR3-PC3-10600-204-pin-i Mac-Macbook-Pro-Laptop-/121312913234?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_MemoryRA M_JN&hash=item1c3ed02752
Here is my macbook specs and things also.
I currently have the app iStat Menu's which gives me lots of information and details and one of them is teh Temp of my Macbook abd how how its getting.
Can someone tell me at what point my fans are ment to start up in teh default setting as the temp went all the way up too 76 Degrees and then i moved it to over to the custom setting and put the fans to 6200rpm to bring the heat back down.
Is there anyway that i can reset the fan or fan sensors ?

As im in the United Kingdom (GB) prices are rubbish but im lucky enough as my uncle is in LA just now so he is going to bring me back this -
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=MacBook%20Pro%20(13-inch%2C%20 Late%202011)&Cat=RAM
The price is $160.00 which is around £96GBP

Why does my brand new 15" Retina Macbook Pro have such a sluggish interface?

I just recieved my 15" Retina Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz 8GB RAM GT 650m 1024mb, and it is extremely sluggish when resizing windows, or even launching apps. Its bad enough that it will take 2 seconds some times to see the window move a little bit after attempting to resize it. I haven't installed anything on it so far, I've done all the automatic updates, including the SMC fix for retina displays, ran the Apple hardware scan, and nothing has given me any hints on what gives. I've read other reviews that people have had issues with the retina models being slow when it comes to the interface, and I'm tempted to send my retina model back, in place of the regular Macbook Pro. Any suggestions, or is my plan to replace it my only option if I want a well performing machine?

You have 14 days to return the computer w/no questions asked. Plus you have 90 days of FREE phone tech support on top of your standard 1 year warranty unless you also purchased AppleCare which gives you an additional 2 years of coverage plus FREE phone support.
Strongly suggest that you take FULL advantage of the above before it runs out. Let Apple deal w/the problems.

Why is my Macbook Pro so slow and sluggish?

I have done a system reset yet whenever I am doing anything - sending to print, word processing, etc, the processing symbol comes up and I have to wait at least 10 seconds or more for it to stop. This is happening all the time. What can I do?

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)
Report generated 9 October 2014 22:28:36 BST
Hardware Information: ?
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) (Verified)
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores
4 GB RAM
Video Information: ?
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
Color LCD 1280 x 800
System Software: ?
OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Uptime: 8 days 15:29:53
Disk Information: ?
ST9500325ASG disk0 : (500.11 GB)
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (318.66 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8
USB Information: ?
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ?
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ?
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ?
[not loaded] com.smarttech.iokit.SMARTBoard (11 - SDK 10.7) Support
[not loaded] com.tectona.driver.PL2303 (1.3.0) Support
Problem System Launch Daemons: ?
[failed] com.apple.printtool.daemon.plist
[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist
Launch Daemons: ?
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support
[running] com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist Support
Launch Agents: ?
[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support
[running] com.smarttech.boardservice.plist Support
[running] com.smarttech.floatingtools.plist Support
[running] com.smarttech.ink.plist Support
[running] com.smarttech.SBWDKService.plist Support
[running] com.smarttech.smartnotification.plist Support
[running] com.smarttech.systemtrayicon.plist Support
[running] com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist Support
User Launch Agents: ?
[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support
[not loaded] com.amazon.cloud-player.plist Support
[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
User Login Items: ?
iTunesHelper
Dropbox
AdobeResourceSynchronizer
Sony Ericsson Bridge Helper
Internet Plug-ins: ?
AdobeExManDetect: Version: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 Support
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support
Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.9 Support
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.9 Support
CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL: Version: 3.1.0.2 Support
Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.4 - SDK 10.6 Support
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 67 Check version
Safari Extensions: ?
Searchme-2
Audio Plug-ins: ?
BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9
AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9
iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
iTunes Plug-ins: ?
Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9
User Internet Plug-ins ?
Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support
3rd Party Preference Panes: ?
Flash Player Support
Java Support
SMART Board Support
Trusteer Endpoint Protection Support
Time Machine: ?
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 168.18 GB
Destinations:
Seagate Expansion Drive [Local] (Last used)
Total size: 2 TB
Total number of backups: 1
Oldest backup: 2014-09-25 21:04:22 +0000
Last backup: 2014-09-25 21:04:22 +0000
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 464.96 GB X 3)
Time Machine details may not be accurate.
All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU: ?
      6% WindowServer
      2% Google Chrome
      1% DashboardClient
      1% SMARTBoardService
      1% launchservicesd
Top Processes by Memory: ?
102 MB Microsoft Word
96 MB Google Chrome Helper
78 MB Finder
78 MB Google Chrome
74 MB systemstats
Virtual Memory Information: ?
24 MB Free RAM
603 MB Active RAM
590 MB Inactive RAM
1.05 GB Wired RAM
79.62 GB Page-ins
499 MB Page-outs

New macbook pro memory

Hi,
I have a new macbook pro retina 8gb memory, I have transferred all of my pictures, documents, itunes media etc across, it's telling me my memory is full. Is there a reason for this? My old PC previous never suggested the memorg was full and that was only 4 GB. I'm a tad confused. Am I missing somethings here?

You are confusing memory with hard drive space. How large is the hard drive? And how much did you transfer to it?

Macbook Pro cursor disappears when connected to TV

I have a Macbook Pro, the cursor is going out and turning into a weird flashing slashed/dotted black line on my screen everytime I connect my Macbook to my TV with the mini display port adapter connected to a VGA cable. I use it to watch movies on my TV through my mac. I haven't had any problems at all with it, I was actually watching something today before it stopped working.
I've already made sure cables are plugged in properly, and displays are mirrored. The cursor is usable-- it can still click on things...I just can't see it.
Specs:
[] Macbook Pro 13" (2012)
[] Running Maverick
[] OS X 10.9.2 (13C64)
[] 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
[] 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Anyone have any ideas on what's going on?

Update OS X. Version 10.9.3 was released a month ago. Launch the App Store and install any Apple recommended updates.
Graphics support was a key part of that update, though not specifically for your model Mac.

MacBook Pro memory disappears; so sluggish it's useless

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for