How can I speed up my Macbook?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How can I speed up my Macbook?

Posted: 1/18/2015 3:42:43 PM EDT

It's only a couple of years old but the last two months it's been really dragging. Had to dump Chrome because Chromehelper was taking up 90% of my ram. Firefox is currently sucking 2.5GB of memory with just a few tabs open. I've got flash content blocked. Kernal task and login window are taking another .75GB.

I run AVG cleaner and antivirus regularly.

2.8Ghz Intel I7
4GB memory
Yosemite OS

Posted: 1/18/2015 3:43:55 PM EDT

[#1]

Upgrade memory? or install windows

? wipe it and reinstall OSX?

Posted: 1/18/2015 3:47:02 PM EDT

[#2]

4GB might be max for this one. I'll look into that.

Rebooting helps for a little bit. Not interested in Windows. Have 8 at work and hate it.

Posted: 1/18/2015 3:48:26 PM EDT

[#3]

Run Disk Utility under applications. Verify Disk and Verify permissions. Chances are, your HD is corrupt. It happens to my wife's Macbook pro 13" (Mid 2010, I think) about every 6 months.

THIS is on sale at amazon. Ironically, I JUST ordered it and 8 gig of ram from crucial. Hopefully, a minor investment will keep me from having to buy her a new mac air....

Posted: 1/18/2015 4:25:25 PM EDT

[#4]

Disk utility didn't turn anything up. I think I can upgrade to 8GB of ram so I'll start there.

Posted: 1/18/2015 4:28:50 PM EDT

[#5]

If you can, install and SSD. It'll speed things up a ton. You have almost a gig of free ram, I think an SSD would help even more than extra ram. More ram would be my second option.

Posted: 1/18/2015 4:30:30 PM EDT

[#6]

Activity monitor has me maxed out at 3.99 out of 4GB.

Posted: 1/18/2015 4:48:03 PM EDT

[#7]

First of all, it's a mac, so chances are, all the unneeded antivirus software is what is eating up all your memory.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features/security/3418367/do-apple-macs-need-antivirus-os-x-security-explained/

If you do feel completed to run antivirus software on the mac, then you need another 4 gigs of ram (8 gigs), since the antivirus software is going to eat up at least 2.5gigs or more to run.

Posted: 1/18/2015 5:01:37 PM EDT

[#8]

AVG doesn't seem to use very much memory. I'm not running it now and I'm at 3.99GB.

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:29:06 PM EDT

[#9]

How fully is e hard drive? That's about the only thing that will cause time based performance issues.

Also, create a test user account and see if it's faster in the new user. If so clear our your cache

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:31:33 PM EDT

[#10]

HD is at 40%. I'll try the other user test.

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:34:34 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:

HD is at 40%. I'll try the other user test.

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At 40% this is not your issue.

What exactly is running slow or where have you noticed the biggest performance hit?

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:37:37 PM EDT

[#12]

Simple things get bogged down like clicking on a link or opening an app. It may freeze up the computer for 30 seconds. Opening MS Word, Excel or iTunes can take 60-90 seconds. I see the spiny rainbow thing all the time.

Firefox is using up the bulk of my ram with just a few tabs open.

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:41:45 PM EDT

[#13]

Ccleaner and ditch avg

And upgrade to an ssd

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:43:18 PM EDT

[#14]

Quote History

Quoted:

Simple things get bogged down like clicking on a link or opening an app. It may freeze up the computer for 30 seconds. Opening MS Word, Excel or iTunes can take 60-90 seconds. I see the spiny rainbow thing all the time.

Firefox is using up the bulk of my ram with just a few tabs open.

View Quote

Browsers in general, Firefox in specific are memory hogs. .

MS Office apps take a long time to open, due to loading their "special" font menus.

With iTunes, how many songs you got in your library?

Noticing anything when switching apps? What about start up?

The way OS X assigns memory, I wouldn't worry about what activity monitor shows. Your not reaching optimum usage until all the available ram is used and there is some memory compression going on. This is what "memory pressure" shows in activity monitor.

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:46:10 PM EDT

[#15]

Discussion on how mac uses cpu and memory

mac memory

I put a 500gb ssd in my 2010 mac book pro. The issue is getting trim enabled in yosemite. There is an article and software via cindori.

Any macbook within a couple years old should support up to 16gb ram. The crucial website can help you sort out how much memory your machine can support and the right memory specs.

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:48:05 PM EDT

[#16]

How many apps do you have on your computer? How many "things" are you trying to run at the same time?

I've usually found that when I'm "getting slow" it's due to having too many things open at the same time.

Posted: 1/18/2015 6:57:40 PM EDT

[#17]

I don't have a lot open at the same time. Firefox and mail are open all the time. Itunes is open when I am adding to the library or shifting movies/music around on other devices. Word/Excel are open as needed.

Reboots just fine. That usually helps with the slowness for a day.

Posted: 1/18/2015 7:03:10 PM EDT

[#18]

Clicking on browse to upload this screenshot got me the rainbow thing for 30 seconds before pulling up locations to browse.

Posted: 1/18/2015 7:05:18 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
It's only a couple of years old but the last two months it's been really dragging. Had to dump Chrome because Chromehelper was taking up 90% of my ram. Firefox is currently sucking 2.5GB of memory with just a few tabs open. I've got flash content blocked. Kernal task and login window are taking another .75GB.

I run AVG cleaner and antivirus regularly.

2.8Ghz Intel I7
4GB memory
Yosemite OS

View Quote

I have 8GB on my ooooold ass macbook, it's user expandable.

Posted: 1/18/2015 7:05:22 PM EDT

[#20]

Does safari behave the same way?

Posted: 1/18/2015 7:06:59 PM EDT

[#21]

Your memory pressure is green, so not a problem. I'd bet all the AVG stuff is screening everything and slowing your system way down.

Posted: 1/18/2015 7:07:49 PM EDT

[#22]

Quote History

Quoted:
Does safari behave the same way?

View Quote

Don't use safari often, it doesn't play well with most of my work applications.

Posted: 1/18/2015 7:12:54 PM EDT

[#23]

Well, tried to delete AVG. Can't because it's running. Not listed so I can force quit.

Posted: 1/18/2015 7:16:17 PM EDT

[#24]

Quote History

Quoted:
Don't use safari often, it doesn't play well with most of my work applications.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:

Does safari behave the same way?

Don't use safari often, it doesn't play well with most of my work applications.

Try it and see. I'd be curious too know.

Posted: 1/18/2015 8:18:56 PM EDT

[#25]

I think the crucial 8 gb set is still $70 ish on amazon...

Posted: 1/18/2015 8:40:19 PM EDT

[#26]

Retina or non-Retina Macbook?

How long have you been on Yosemite? Did you upgrade or do a fresh reinstall? Problem seem to start occurring after the upgrade (if applicable)? I have noticed Yosemite itself is a huge RAM hog compared to previous versions. Upgrades seem to cause more quirky issues like yours than a reinstall from scratch.

Posted: 1/18/2015 8:47:15 PM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:
Simple things get bogged down like clicking on a link or opening an app. It may freeze up the computer for 30 seconds. Opening MS Word, Excel or iTunes can take 60-90 seconds. I see the spiny rainbow thing all the time.

Firefox is using up the bulk of my ram with just a few tabs open.

View Quote

Mine started acting this way after installing yosemite.

Posted: 1/18/2015 8:53:36 PM EDT

[#28]

Quote History

Quoted:

Mine started acting this way after installing yosemite.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
Simple things get bogged down like clicking on a link or opening an app. It may freeze up the computer for 30 seconds. Opening MS Word, Excel or iTunes can take 60-90 seconds. I see the spiny rainbow thing all the time.

Firefox is using up the bulk of my ram with just a few tabs open.

Mine started acting this way after installing yosemite.

Been noticed by others, too.

Posted: 1/18/2015 9:10:51 PM EDT

[#29]

I'm running a 2010-ish MacBook- went to buy a newer one and decided against it. With an 8GB upgrade and SSD- it's damn quick. I'm not using it for anything that requires massive processor use, but it's damn quick for porn, legit web surfing, email and streaming video etc. I stopped using my iPad because the macbook now boots so damned fast.

Posted: 1/18/2015 9:48:55 PM EDT

[#30]

I did an upgrade to Yosemite.

I deleted AVG so hopefully that helps. I'll also pick up so more ram. Looks like I can go up to 16GB.

Posted: 1/18/2015 10:06:05 PM EDT

[#31]

my mac mini has 4gb of ram and runs like a dream.

it also says pretty much the same as your memory settings.

if you look at your programs using memory. firefox (as usual) is eating up ALL your memory

Posted: 1/18/2015 10:42:24 PM EDT

[#32]

If you want IM me your email address, I have a way we can take a closer look at the system as a whole.

Posted: 1/19/2015 7:50:02 PM EDT

[#33]

Quote History

Quoted:
I did an upgrade to Yosemite.

I deleted AVG so hopefully that helps. I'll also pick up so more ram. Looks like I can go up to 16GB.

View Quote

Which model MBP do you have? Just make sure before you buy any more RAM your Mac is user upgrade-able. Newer ones aren't.

Posted: 1/19/2015 8:53:18 PM EDT

[#34]

Dumping AVG has made a huge difference.

It's a late 2011 Macbook 13" with an Intel 2.8.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How can I speed up my Macbook?

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