Repairing permissions frequently - daily

Question

Can anyone shed light on this puzzle?: I have to repair permissions at least 2 or 3 times every day. I generally run only Mail 2.1.3, Safari 3.1.2, Filemaker Pro 5.5v2, Quickeys 3.2.3, and a small number of always-on gadgets (Sidenote, TypeIt4Me, Alarm Clock 2, NetBarrier - all current versions). I'm almost always running Safari and I do go through lots of tabs in a session (a minimum of about 500 each day), but I close excess tabs regularly (wish Safari would do that automatically!), and I relaunch Safari several times each day.
At least 2 or 3 times every day, Safari slows to a crawl and I use Oasis to repair permissions. It's almost always the same group of permissions that need repair. Here they are:
Started verify/repair permissions on disk disk0s3 Macintosh HD
Determining correct file permissions.
Group differs on ./Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/Resources/pmTool, should be 80, group is 0
Owner and group corrected on ./Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/Resources/pmTool
Permissions corrected on ./Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app/Contents/Resources/pmTool
Group differs on ./Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/kcproxy, should be 80, group is 0
Owner and group corrected on ./Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/kcproxy
Permissions corrected on ./Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access.app/Contents/Resources/kcproxy
Group differs on ./Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/iodbcadmintool, should be 80, group is 0
Owner and group corrected on ./Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/iodbcadmintool
Permissions corrected on ./Applications/Utilities/ODBC Administrator.app/Contents/Resources/iodbcadmintool
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Verify/repair finished permissions on disk disk0s3 Macintosh HD
Can anyone shed some light on why this happens so frequently, and what I might do about it? I've tried running Activity Monitor to see if that would tell me anything, but either it doesn't or I don't know what to look for.

Answer 1

If you were having any serious problems with your Mac you might as well complete the exercise by repairing your hard disk as well. You cannot do this from the same start-up disk. Reboot from your install disk (holding down the C key). Once it opens, select your language, and then go to Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Select your hard disk as before and click Repair.
Once that is complete reboot again from your usual start-up disk.
More useful reading here:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
Then try this:
(First, if yours is an Intel Mac, check that Safari is not running in Rosetta, which is enough to slow it to a crawl.)
Many, including me, have had success with adding DNS codes to their Network Settings, with good results in terms of speed-up:
Open System Preferences/Network. Double click on your connection type, or select it in the drop-down menu. Click on TCP/IP and in the box marked 'DNS Servers' enter the following two numbers:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
Click on Apply Now and close the window.
Restart Safari, and repair permissions.
If that didn't do it, then try this as well:
Empty Safari's cache (from the Safari menu), then close Safari.
Go to Home/Library/Safari and delete the following files:
form values
download.plist
Then go to Home/Library/Preferences and delete
com.apple.Safari.plist
Repair permissions (in Disk Utility).
Start up Safari again, and things should have improved.