Question....How do I speed up my macbook

I am having trouble with my macbook it is running very slow since I installed Lion into it....any suggestions? Since I have done all of this my songs in itunes cut off at the last 30 sec of the songs. I do have everything backed up on an external drive but it looks like there are 4 of every song on my external help this is driving me crazy

If you have the Lion minimum of 2GB of memory, that would most likely be your problem. A number of people have found that Lion in 2GB generally doesn't perform well, which is fixed by going to 4GB.
This FAQ will have additional ideas: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/performance.html
And reset your SMC: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

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I was getting support for my Office 2008 for Mac, and the support tech said my OS was very slow. I have latest update for Snow10.6.7. Question how can I speed up my Macbook?

I was getting support for my Office 2008 for Mac, and the support tech said my OS was very slow. I have latest update for Snow10.6.7. Question; How can I speed up my Macbook?

Hi
In the first instance, I'd use Onyx and run through its sequence of maintenance and tune up tools:
Verify, Maintenance, Cleaning.
I'd also reset the SMC and PRAM (Google them)
If that doesn't help then I'd look at System Preferences.. > Accounts > Login Items tab (not Login Options). Check what processes get started at login and decide which ones you don't want.
After that I'd use Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor to see if any processes are using a lot of computer power or if anything else nasty might be happening.
If none of this helped then my final step would be to reinstall OS X.
Bob

How can I speed up my MacBook Pro 5,1

I have a late 2008 MacBook Pro 5, 1
Processor:   Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:   2.4GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
Memory 4 GB
SAT 320 Hard Drive
How can I speed this up.   I've updated to Maverick
I've read about adding an SSD - will this work?    Can a novice install???
Thanks, Linda

A model 5.1 MBP, late 15" 2008 can accommodate 8 GB RAM. That will help since you are using Mavericks. The best sources for Mac compatible RAM are OWC and Crucial.
linda66 wrote:
I've updated to Maverick
Snow Leopard is still the most efficient OSX from Apple. I use it on my 2010 MBP.
I've read about adding an SSD - will this work?    Can a novice install???
A SSD will enhance performance significantly in boot, shutdown and resource intensive applications. In all other aspects, performance will remain the same (such as e-mail, text edit, Internet browsing).
Installation is easy. Look at this video from OWC:
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_15_unibody_hd/
Understand that SSDs are still expensive. Consider a hybrid drive, which I use. For a small premium in price compared to a conventional HDD you do get faster boot and shutoff times. The same in all other respects.
Ciao.

How can I speed up my MacBook Air?

Hi folks,
My MacBook Air has gotten painfully slow over time but I can't afford to buy a new one right now. It freezes for a few seconds at a time, all the time, especially when I am using Chrome.* Any ideas for how to speed it up?
Specs are:
Model: 13-inch, Late 2010
Processor: 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Software: Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63b)
Graphics: Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB
Storage: The Mac partition is 75 GB, of which 44 GB are free (there is also a 45GB Bootcamp partition).
I was running out of disk space, which I thought was causing the problem by cramping the space available for the swapfiles, which in turn was requiring extra disk activity (you can see that discussion here). There is a clear correlation b/w disk activity and CPU Usage (the two screenshots were taken back to back last night; the dock icon for Activity Monitor is showing CPU history):
However repartitioning to add another 35GB of free space to the Mac partition didn't do anything. In fact, the swapfile sizes are exactly the same as they were two weeks ago when I posted the other question (this is from just now):
I was thinking about buying an aftermarket SSD to increase the storage size, but if increasing the partition size didn't help it doesn't seem that will either.
Thanks much!
* The big memory and CPU hog is Chrome, and in particular gmail, but my workflow is pretty dependent on working in the cloud. I use Firefox and Safari from time to time, but my experience with those is that they run all tabs in a signel process, so to free up memory you have to close the entire browser, and if one tab crashes the whole browser does, whereas with chrome you can kill individual tabs if they freeze and/or to free up their memory.

You need more RAM if that's possible in your model. I think you can go up to 4 GBs. You will use more swap space as memory availability declines.
About OS X Memory Management and Usage
Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory & determine how much RAM is used
Memory Management in Mac OS X
Performance Guidelines- Memory Management in Mac OS X
A detailed look at memory usage in OS X
Memory Usage Performance Guidelines- About the Virtual Memory System
Understanding top output in the Terminal
The amount of available RAM for applications is the sum of Free RAM and Inactive RAM. This will change as applications are opened and closed or change from active to inactive status. The Swap figure represents an estimate of the total amount of swap space required for VM if used, but does not necessarily indicate the actual size of the existing swap file. If you are really in need of more RAM that would be indicated by how frequently the system uses VM. If you open the Terminal and run the top command at the prompt you will find information reported on Pageins () and Pageouts (). Pageouts () is the important figure. If the value in the parentheses is 0 (zero) then OS X is not making instantaneous use of VM which means you have adequate physical RAM for the system with the applications you have loaded. If the figure in parentheses is running positive and your hard drive is constantly being used (thrashing) then you need more physical RAM.
Adding RAM only makes it possible to run more programs concurrently. It doesn't speed up the computer nor make games run faster. What it can do is prevent the system from having to use disk-based VM when it runs out of RAM because you are trying to run too many applications concurrently or using applications that are extremely RAM dependent. It will improve the performance of applications that run mostly in RAM or when loading programs.
Kappy's Personal Suggestions About OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utility is: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption. Drive Genius provides additional tools not found in Disk Warrior for defragmentation of older drives, disk repair, disk scans, formatting, partitioning, disk copy, and benchmarking.
Four outstanding sources of information on Mac maintenance are:
1. OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney.
2. Mac maintenance Quick Assist
3. Maintaining Mac OS X
4. Mac Maintenance Guide
Periodic Maintenance
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) See Mac OS X- About background maintenance tasks. If you are running Leopard or later these tasks are run automatically, so there is no need to use any third-party software to force running these tasks.
If you are using a pre-Leopard version of OS X, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced after Tiger. (These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion and should not be installed.)
Defragmentation
OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive except when trying to install Boot Camp on a fragmented drive. But you don't need to buy third-party software. All you need is a spare external hard drive and Carbon Copy Cloner.
Cheap and Easy Defragmentation
You will have to backup your OS X partition to an external drive, boot from the external drive, use Disk Utility to repartition and reformat your hard drive back to a single volume, then restore your backup to the internal hard drive. You will use Carbon Copy Cloner to create the backup and to restore it.
1. Get an empty external hard drive and clone your internal drive to the
       external one.
2. Boot from the external hard drive.
3. Erase the internal hard drive.
4. Restore the external clone to the internal hard drive.
Clone the internal drive to the external drive
1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Select the Source volume from the left side dropdown menu.
3. Select the Destination volume from the left side dropdown menu.
4. Be sure the Block Copy button is not depressed or is ghosted.
5. Click on the Clone button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive and click on the upward pointing arrow button.
After startup do the following:
Erase internal hard drive
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your internal hard drive (this is the entry with the
       mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the
       drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is
       failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be
       reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the
       DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the
       drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended
       (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to
       GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait
       until the process has completed.
Restore the clone to the internal hard drive
1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Select the Source volume from the left side dropdown menu.
3. Select the Destination volume from the left side dropdown menu.
4. Be sure the Block Copy button is not selected or is ghosted.
5. Click on the Clone button.
Destination means the internal hard drive. Source means the external startup drive.
Note that the Source and Destination drives are swapped for this last procedure.
Malware Protection
As for malware protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. Starting with Lion Apple has included built-in malware protection that is automatically updated as necessary.
Helpful Links Regarding Malware Protection:
1. Mac Malware Guide.
2. Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware
3. Macintosh Virus Guide
For general anti-virus protection I recommend only using ClamXav, but it is not necessary if you are keeping your computer's operating system software up to date. You should avoid any other third-party software advertised as providing anti-malware/virus protection. They are not required and could cause the performance of your computer to drop.
Cache Clearing
I recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX 2.4.3, or Cocktail 5.1.1 that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc. Corrupted cache files can cause slowness, kernel panics, and other issues. Although this is not a frequent nor a recurring problem, when it does happen there are tools such as those above to fix the problem.
For emergency cleaning install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. (AppleJack works with Snow Leopard or earlier.)
Installing System Updates or Upgrades
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Backup and Restore
Having a backup and restore strategy is one of the most important things you can do to maintain your computer. Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Deja Vu
3. SuperDuper!
4. Synk Pro
5. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance and backup and restore.
Always have a current backup before performing any system updates or upgrades.
Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity or 20 GBs, whichever is greater, as free space. Avoid installing utilities that rely on Haxies, SIMBL, or that alter the OS appearance, add features you will rarely if ever need, etc. The more extras you install the greater the probability of having problems. If you install software be sure you know how to uninstall it. Avoid installing multiple new software at the same time. Install one at a time and use it for a while to be sure it's compatible.
Additional suggestions will be found in:
1. Mac OS X speed FAQ
2. Speeding up Macs
3. Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
4. Essential Mac Maintenance: Get set up
5. Essential Mac Maintenance: Rev up your routines
6. Five Mac maintenance myths
7. How to Speed up Macs
8. Myths of required versus not required maintenance for Mac OS X
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.

How Can I Speed Up My MacBook When Time Machine is running on Time Capsule

My Macbook starts to run really slow and I consistenly get the color wheel when trying to do other tasks when Time Machine is running in the background. I am connected to Time Machine on a Time Capsule. Given this runs every hour its really annoying.

Plus to pondini..
If possible you can use ethernet.. that speeds things up greatly.
If you are close to the TC make sure it is connecting via the 5ghz wireless.. Check the actual wireless link speed. And transfer rates.. if rates are too slow.. then look at relocating the wireless or putting in some sort of wireless extender.
I guess the other question is what is slow.. the disk on the computer, internet, just overall feel of the computer.. perhaps give a specific.. what is slow.

How do I speed up my MacBook Pro 3,1 (2007)

I have a MacBook Pro 3,1 (year: 2007) running on OS 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) and a 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It has a 1.5 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM with a bus speed of 800 MHz. It is still in good running condition and I am reluctant to let go of it. However, given the technology advancement, it is slowing down rapidly and I would very much like to revive its operating capabilities and give it a bit of a new life.
Does anyone have any advice as to what I could do to make it run faster? Given its age, I am not looking to spend massive amounts of money on it, perhaps changing its RAM capacity to increase it, or anything I could use to speed it up.

So would this be the 15":
http://lowendmac.com/2007/15-in-macbook-pro-mid-2007/
or the 17"?:
http://lowendmac.com/2007/17-in-macbook-pro-mid-2007/
"requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 Tiger or later
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopardcompatibility
Grand Central Dispatch is supported.
64-bit operation is supported.
OpenCL is supported.
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion compatibility"
AirPlay Mirroring is not supported.
AirDrop is not supported.
Power Nap is not supported."
In both instances Low End Mac says:
"RAM: 2 GB, expandable to 6 GB using PC2-5300 DDR2 RAM"
You could also do this:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_Sta te
That would speed it up considerably but at the 3 GB/s rate.
You should upgrade to Lion or Mountain Lion, they might be hard to find.

How come the speed of my Macbook Pro is still at 1.33 Ghz?

I was using my Macbook Pro without the battery for the past week because I was waiting for my new replacement battery and the speed went to 1 Ghz and now that I just recieved my new battery and installed it the speed just went to 1.5 Ghz and my normal speed is usually 2.16 Ghz. What is wrong with my computer? is it broken because I used it without the battery.

no I don't believe it's a problem.
there's a bug where the MB/MBP will only run at 1ghz without the battery. It shouldn't damage your notebook however.
Your processor idling at 1.5 ghz is normal. It speeds up depending on the load to save battery life and heat. If you run something intensive, your speed will rise again to 2.16 ghz. There is a way for you to test this. For some reason, in firefox, if you hold the mouse button down on the page, it brings your speed to max. So try that. just hold the mouse button down in the firefox page and see if your processor goes up to 2.16 ghz.

How can I speed up my Macbook Pro 13" ?

I have a 2009 (or 2010 I can't remember). Anyway it's getting slower. I went into activity monitor and saw it is using 1.81g of the 2GB memory it has. Basically just everything acts slow. The internet randomly slows down. Specific games slow down ridiculously. For example minecraft, I'm sure most of you are familiar with it. When I run it my computer slows down to the point where I can barely do anything besides the game, and even that is pretty slow and slightly laggy. What can I do to speed it up? Can I have the hardware updated? Should I take it into the apple store and ask them if they can increase the RAM memory?

If you've a mid-2009 or a mid-2010, you can upgrade to 8 GB of RAM. That ought to speed things up considerably. You can buy RAM from a company such as OWC or Crucial - as a matter of fact go to www.crucial.com and click on the System Scanner tab. It will profile your computer and let you know how much RAM it can handle and the type of RAM that you need.
Good luck,
Clinton

Question: how to change speed of smooth site scrolling?

Hi there,
where in the code can I reduce the speed of the smooth scrolling for single pages?
Thanks in advance,
bartl

You can use OSX Disk Utility to burn the image file created in DVDSP and choose there the burn speed. Take a look to this link aboutCreating Disc Image in DVDSP (from www.kenstone.net site)
Hope it helps!
Alberto

How can I speed up slow Maverick on MacBook Pro?

question or problem: How can I speed up slow Maverick on MacBook Pro?
answer or solution: Per Apple Genius in Palo Alto, CA
Maverick consumes almost my entire 4 GB of ram memory shown in Activity Monitor.
Found under Applications-->Utilities-->Activity Monitor
Will purchase two 4 GB banks and install myself using inexpensive tools.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

How can i increase download speed on my MacBook Pro?

How can I increase download speed on my macBook Pro?

Common strategies:
* Use ethernet instead of wireless.
* Get a better/upgraded ISP.
* Get a better/upgraded router.
* Get a newer mac.

I just created a slideshow dvd in imovie, and when I hit finalize it said that it would take 7 hours to finalize. I've only had my macbook pro for 6 months, and this is the first imovie I've done...is this normal? If not how can I speed up this process?

I just created a slideshow dvd in imovie, and when I hit finalize it said that it would take 7 hours to finalize. I've only had my macbook pro for 6 months, and this is the first imovie I've done...is this normal? If not how can I speed up this process? Thanks in advance for all of your help!

Hi
Time needed can depend on several things.
• less than 5 GB free space on Start-up (Mac OS) hard disk = Redicolous long times AND a DVD that most probably will not work OK
Medicine - I never go under 25GB free space
• Use of strange file formats into iDVD - can force it to de-code first then re-encode - this can take long long times
I use
Video - StreamingDV as from miniDV tape Cameras - or QuickTime Movies Converted to StreamingDV
Audio - .aiff 16-bit 48 kHz - (no .mp3, .wma etc)
• Use of old Mac - My G4 600MHz took about 24 hour per hour movie. my dG5 - about 2 hours per hour (I use Pro Quality encoding)
• Pro Quality encoding - takes about x2 to process a movie
Yours Bengt W

HT1338 how can I improve the speed of my Macbook? It's become incredibly slow...

how can I improve the speed of my Macbook? It's become incredibly slow...

Hi,
Troubleshooting Steps are... Restart... Reset... Restore from Backup... Restore as New...
Try a Reset of the Phone... You will Not Lose Any Data...
Turn the Phone Off...
Press and Hold the Sleep/Wake Button and the Home Button at the Same Time...
The Apple logo will Appear and then Disappear...
Usually takes about 10 - 15 Seconds...
Turn the Phone On...
If that does not help... See Here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414
iPhone User Guide
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iphone_user_guide.pdf
iPhone Syncing
http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/syncing/

Question:How do I connect my MacBook Air so my Epson Stylus Color 740i Ink Jet Printer will print?

Question:How do I connect my MacBook Air so my Epson Stylus Color 740i Ink Jet Printer will print?

First, the Epson Stylus Color 740 (which I assume is your printer) is listed in this article, which is good news:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669
So Apple can provide its driver software.
This article tells you how to set up your printer:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4670

My macbook Pro 15-Inch 2.4/2.2GHz Geheugen 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM is very slow how can i speed it up???

My macbook Pro 15-Inch 2.4/2.2GHz Geheugen 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM is very slow how can i speed it up???
Should i put new ram in????
and if yes what should i buy????
can anybody help me please
thx.

You're welcome, j. If not enough free space availabe is the issue, now is a good time to upgrade to a much larger HD, as prices have never been better. Clear, illustrated directions are available at ifixit.com, macsales.com, powerbookmedic.com, youtube and others. Macsales, amazon and newegg have a nice selection of HDs, while the latter two also have lots of user reviews.
Given that your MBP is 4-5 years old, and the average life-span of a HD is 3-5 years . . . .
Given that you have a 17" MBP, you can install any capacity HD currently available, just make sure it's 2.5", SATA, and 12.5mm high or less (there's at least one Seagate monster out there that's 14-15mm high). All other things being equal, a 5400RPM HD is going to use less battery power, run cooler, quieter, and with less vibration, and, of course, run a bit slower than a 7200. An SSD is also a possibility (a very expensive one), but you're not going to see anywhere near the speed bump as newer machines due to the SATA 1 (1.5Gbps) SATA/HD bus bottelneck.

Question....How do I speed up my macbook

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