MacBook Pro running insanely slow...

Question

MacBook Pro running insanely slow...

My MacBook Pro runs insanely slow especially when I'm uploading my site from iWeb to a folder on my computer. Other times sometimes the applications take forever to load or they stall when loading. I can never do more than two things at once with it.

What could be causing this problem, and do you think taking it to the Apple store that they'd be able to fix it?

MacBookPro, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Mar 4, 2008 4:31 PM

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Answer 1

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Mar 4, 2008 6:05 PM in response to B&amp;amp;amp;POtt

There could be many causes, both hardware and software. Are you under warranty? If so, Apple will fix whatever is wrong. Not under warranty? A visit to the Genius bar would still be helpful, as they could probably help you to diagnose the problem. Once that's done, then it will be more clear what needs to be done to fix it.

One possibility that comes to mind--is your hard drive getting too full? If so, freeing up some space by moving some files to an external drive would help. It's a good idea to keep 15%-20% of your hard drive free.

Good luck!

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Answer 2

Mar 6, 2008 8:45 PM in response to S.U.

Yeah I'm under a five year warranty and I haven't even had it for a year yet. At least by going in I can get some sort of help.

It does look like I have quite a bit on my hard drive. My husband tells me the Parallel program takes up a bunch of space, sadly I need that program or else I can't attend my online university. sighs

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Answer 3

S.U.

Level 6

9,601 points

Mar 7, 2008 7:26 PM in response to B&amp;amp;amp;POtt

There could easily be stuff on your drive that you don't need that is taking up space. Stuff like funny videos from you tube, logs, caches, demos, Garage band loops, games, music, printer drivers, extra languages--stuff like that. You may be able to reclaim some space by getting rid of some of these or moving some big files to an external hard drive.

There are a couple of utilities which can help you see what's taking up space:

WhatSize:

http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/

Disk Inventory X

http://www.derlien.com

Disk Inventory X is free. WhatSize used to be, but I understand there is a small charge for it now.

One caution. If you decide to remove something, be sure you know what it is. There are some programs that you don't use, but your computer does. But the big things will usually be media files of some sort like Garageband or iMovie or iPhoto. And sometimes there will appear a mysterious folder taking up space that was somehow generated. If in doubt, the genius at the Apple Store should be able to tell you what's what.

Good luck!

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