Slow boot, getting slower

Question

Hi, I see this topic has featured in a number of posts, so my apologies in the event that I am duplicating questions that have already been answered.
My issue is that my MacBook has been getting slower and slower. It is a late model 2.26 ghz with 2 gbtes or ram and I have maintained all OS updates.
I have done the hardware tests, smart etc and all seems ok. It is taking longer to book than my three year old macbook pro that is running Tiger. It is a recent issue because the macbook was always faster in the past. Not sure why???
I would appreciate any advice

Answer 1

It's a popular topic
Repair Permissions: This should be done after all software installs and updates.
1. Navigate to Utilities/DiskUtility and launch Disk Utility.
2. Choose your volume (usually the second icon)
3. Choose "First Aid" tab
4. Click on "Repair Permissions"
Also run "verify" disk. If the disk needs repair:
Repair Disk:
Steps for using Disk Utility
1. Insert your Mac OS X Install DVD, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair.
If you repair errors run it until no errors found.
Test your startup, these steps alone may improve it.
Then, try starting up Safe Mode (It will take more time to startup in Safe Mode because it runs a directory check.)
Go to System Preferences >> Accounts >> Login Items, and remove them. Boot normally and test. If not go to/Users/yourname/Library/Contextual Menu Items and move whatever is there to the desktop. Then do the same with /Library/Contextual Menu Items. Lastly, try moving/Users/yourname/Library/Fonts to your desktop and restarting.
Log out/in or restart, if that sorts it start putting items back one at a time until you find the culprit.
If you still have problems then, you may be able to repair this with the The 10.6.4 Combo Update This is a fuller install, as opposed to an incremental "delta" update so it should overwrite any files that are damaged or missing. It does not matter if you have applied it before.
Remember to Verify Disk before update and repair permissions after update from /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.
-mj