My os system (Mac OS 10.4.9 - power pc) has suddenly slowed down considerably, the mouse pointer started to 'jump' and applications switch much slower than usual. Safari also responds much slower. I doubt it might be a virus or something came from Internet but I can't find the reason. I used the Disk Utility to repair permissions and the disk. Everything seems repaired and the verifications return no error but the problem remains. I haven't installed anything like an application or a plugin, it suddenly started to act weird.
Can anybody think of a specific reason? Is there an alternative application to fix this?
2007-08-06 12:47:27 · 2 answers · asked by inhan 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
Tech Tool Pro isn't a free download and fragmentation almost never affects Mac performance so I think you will waste your time on that. The most common reason for slow response is the hard drive is almost full which has eliminated the space needed for virtual memory. Try these steps:
Number 1: Empty the trash. Some people forget to do this for months at a stretch.
Number 2: If that is not the main cause of slowness, check the amount of empty space on the drive. Just click once on the drive icon and go to File > Get Info. The available space should be at least 2 GB for basic system use. It should be even more for mounting large disk images and other intense tasks. If the available space is quite small (say, 500 MB or less) you should find a way to backup some big files (music, photos, videos) and erase some of them. Then empty the trash. Remember, the trash is just a special type of folder and it doesn't really take any files off the drive until you empty it.
Number 3: If that still leaves the system crawling along, create a new admin user, logout and login as the new user. If the system suddenly gets supercharged, the old user account has some wacked out software installed. In that case, you may be able to get it back to normal. Login to the old user and drag the user's Library folder (NOT the main Library folder that is at the root level of the hard drive) out to the desktop and restart. If that solves the problem, you may have to reinstall some programs for them to work correctly. But don't reinstall any suspicious downloads. Those types are the ones likely to have gotten you into this mess.
2007-08-08 03:39:51 · answer #1 · answered by SilverTonguedDevil 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Download tech tool pro from apples web site. It has a defragmentation program in it. That is probably why it has slowed down
2007-08-06 13:39:52 · answer #2 · answered by Linda S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋