Shazam515

Q: The speed/performance of my mac mini (Mid 2010) is very slow. Need help consolidating files, software upgrades, etc. to help improve speed and performance.

The speed/performance of my mac mini (Mid 2010) is very slow - thinking this is a result of letting my kids do "whatever" on it for the past few years.  Need help consolidating files, software upgrades, etc. to help improve speed and performance.  Also need to get data off of old PowerBook G4.

 

<Subject Edited by Host>

Mac mini, Running OS X El Capitan v10.11.2

Posted on Apr 12, 2016 11:54 AM

Close

Q: The speed/performance of my mac mini (Mid 2010) is very slow. Need help consolidating files, software upgrades, etc. to help impro ... more

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Sparkleberry,Helpful

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry Apr 10, 2016 9:37 AM in response to Shazam515
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 10, 2016 9:37 AM in response to Shazam515

    We are users like yourself.  Search locally using something like Yelp or similar

    http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Apple+Repair&find_loc=Chicago,+IL&start=0&s ortby=rating

     

    or read some possibly relevant links on this board regarding slow mac minis

    http://bfy.tw/5C63

  • by Shazam515,

    Shazam515 Shazam515 Apr 10, 2016 9:39 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Old Hardware
    Apr 10, 2016 9:39 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    Really appreciate the guidance - fingers crossed I can get my Mac running like new (or at least like it did before my kids got their hands on it) 

  • by Sparkleberry,

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry Apr 10, 2016 9:46 AM in response to Shazam515
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 10, 2016 9:46 AM in response to Shazam515

    You are welcome, in an ideal world you would find a person who would 'fix' it all for a reasonable price and be done in two minutes.  That will probably not happen.   Regarding those links and reviews, I would trust but try to verify any reviews from Yelp or similar sites. 

     

    You could post some specific issues you are having on your mid-2010 here after you have perused some of those links I sent above. There are lots of experts here  (I am excluding myself).

     

    For instance, slowness might be an indication of insufficient memory on your machine. You could start off by listing what memory you do have. Go to about this Mac in upper left.

  • by Shazam515,

    Shazam515 Shazam515 Apr 10, 2016 10:21 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Old Hardware
    Apr 10, 2016 10:21 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    I only have the original 2gb of memory that came with the mini.

  • by Sparkleberry,Apple recommended

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry Apr 10, 2016 11:33 AM in response to Shazam515
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 10, 2016 11:33 AM in response to Shazam515

    And that could explain lot of slowness.

     

    Apple shows your model as 8 meg max

    Mac mini (Early 2009), Mac mini (Late 2009), and Mac mini (Mid 2010): Memory specifications and upgrades - Apple Suppor…

     

    But some other sites show it is possible to have more memory

    http://blog.macsales.com/16302-some-2010-mac-owners-can-get-more-ram-than-they-t hought

     

    If you find your model (click on this image to see how)

     

    http://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/nwt_battery/imgs/model_id_screen.gif

     

    you can check here to see if that is the case

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/

     

    (Note, this is just one source of RAM chips that a contributors here have used. There are others)

     

    Youtube has videos on how to do this if you are so inclined.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tvprIXkC0w

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5uvIBpTSaQ

     

    A competent computer person who specializes in Macs can help you with this as well as migrating files and so on.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Apr 10, 2016 12:19 PM in response to Shazam515
    Level 10 (189,795 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 10, 2016 12:19 PM in response to Shazam515

    More memory as well are replacing the slow rotating HD with an SSD will help. Also,

    Run this and post the results here so we know more about your configuration.  Yo may have apps that are making it slow and the report will help us find that out.

    EtreCheck

  • by K Shaffer,Apple recommended

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Apr 10, 2016 12:33 PM in response to Shazam515
    Level 6 (14,451 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 10, 2016 12:33 PM in response to Shazam515

    A visit to an authorized Apple service provider could be helpful, however you may need

    to plan on leaving it there; be sure to backup whatever you may wish to save to external

    storage drive or media (in addition to Time Machine device) should you need to restore.

     

    An Apple Store (official retail) could be helpful to determine causes of problems and offer

    suggestions; however your Mini is getting too old for much beyond that at Genius bar.

    You'd need to try & set an appointment ahead of a visit to a retail Apple Store for genius...

     

     

    Some of the services the computer may require at some point, may be to have a battery

    on the logic board replaced; could be the hard drive may be getting full of various content

    and some of that probably pre-dates the present OS X and may not work at all with it...

     

    Basic care and maintenance that you could perform may help the computer. Avoid the use of

    cleanmymac, mackeeper, or other third-party gimmicks that actually slow and damage OS X.

     

    • Tech Guides - the Safe Mac - (malware, adware, performance)

    http://www.thesafemac.com/tech-guides/

     

    If you do not have a backup system in place (a means to create/save backups of the Mac)

    that would be worth the investment. And this is something you'd have to keep track of if kids

    are going to be running the computer. An 'Admin account' is not recommended for daily users.

     

    • Apple OS X and Time Machine Tips:

    http://www.pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

     

    In some cases, a user could learn how to perform most upkeep and backups, restores, etc

    and avoid issues; at some point the hardware may need attention since parts do wear out.

     

    And as indicated, the memory chip RAM capacity can be upgraded by replacement of those

    original memory chips with a matched set of higher capacity RAM chips. And the hard disk

    drive may be getting too full of saved content; plus any older OS X version software or bits

    that are left over from previous systems or software may not be compatible in OS X 10.11.

     

    The use of an Etrecheck report may be helpful (you'd create the report and post it in a reply)

    to help tell what the bottleneck or performance, etc issues may be caused by in the Mini.

    About Etrecheck, with info & download: http://etrecheck.com/#about

     

    Anyway, some of steps you may pay a technician to perform, could be ones you can learn

    and do at home. Some of the authorized service providers (independent Apple shops) may

    have an in-home service; expect to pay the going rate and perhaps some extra for travel.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!