"sticky" response

I use Speed Tools Utilities to defrag my Mac. My HD is 75 GB and I have 24 GB available - which is not a lot, but adequate. I also have a 465 GB external backup drive with 384 GB available.

This problem is driving me nuts. It's almost as though the computer is busy doing something else and can't keep up with my keystrokes .... but as I say, the response is only slow in my browser.

Sorry I've taken so long to respond. Instead of using AppleJack, I repaired permissions using Disk Utility. Problem appears to be resolved, at least for the time being.

Thank you very much - AGAIN!

Repairing permissions worked for a day or two, I am now back to sluggish response in Safari. So I downloaded Applejack, but I can't figure it out. First of all, I can't find the application. All there is on my desktop is the Installer Package and a Read-Me file. I know that sometimes you have to move the program from the Disk Image to the Applications folder, but I can't do this when I don't know where it is.

Sorry, I am not a Luddite but relatively new to Mac. Is Applejack going to be complicated to run?

Successfully installed and run. Things seem better, time will tell.

Many thanks for your wonderful help!

I thought it was too good to be true. Applejack appeared to help, but this morning I have the same problem. I will try to describe it again as thoroughly as I can.

Safari pages load quickly, that is not the problem. The slow response occurs when I use my mouse to highlight text - or use the backspace or delete key to remove text. When I try to select, I can rarely "grab" all the text at once. Sometimes a few letters are selected, sometimes nothing and I have to try a second or third time. When I try to delete with the backspace key, one letter at a time disappears with a full second delay after each letter. There is nothing wrong with my wired mouse. It's quite new.

When I repaired permissions for the very first time, it resolved the problem instantly. Everything was lightning fast - for about 24 hours. Afterwards I did not download anything but I did upload up quite a lot of my CD's into iTunes. That is the only unusual thing I did but I can't see how this would have any effect. This "sticky" problem has been plaguing me intermittently for months. I can't find anything about it on the internet.

I have a 75 GB HD with about 22 GB available.

I thought you would be interested to know that I have at least determined (for sure) what the problem is! A while back you suggested using Activity Monitor to test what resources were being used. Safari is using 95 - 100% of my CPU usage! I have figured out that one of the sites I have open every day contains frames that have animated ads. These are responsible for draining my resources. I closed the site to see if it made a difference, and my usage immediately plummetted to 5%.

Apparently I have two options: install Pith Helmet - or switch my browser to Firefox which has Adblock Plus which not only stops ads, but removes frames. Which would you recommend (bearing in mind I only have 22 GB left on my 65 KG HD.

thanks in advance