MacBook running in slow motion when fan comes on

Question

Level 1

8 points

MacBook running in slow motion when fan comes on

Whenever my laptop fan comes on, my MacBook goes into slow motion. If I swipe the cursor across the program icons on the desk top, they pop up slowly in a delayed reaction. If I scroll down a page, it does so in a jerky, slow process. Everything I try to do while this is going on is in very slow motion. I can type a long sentence and then sit back and watch the letters appear long after I hit the keyboard. Usually, I close everything and restart. All goes well until the next episode which is bound to be very soon.
I've tried deleting all programs I don't use, all photos, etc. Still happens on a regular basis. My hard drive looks to be quite full, but I'm not sure with what. I have not added very many programs.
Can anyone help me???

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 74.21 GB, 15.66 GB available

Posted on May 16, 2009 8:56 AM

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Answer 1

dabasan Author

Level 1

8 points

May 16, 2009 9:46 AM in response to stedman1

I'll check it again as soon as it happens again. My disk capacity is 74.21 GB and there is 15.66 GB available. I don't know what is taking up so much of the disk. I have not added a lot of programs and I deleted most of the photos I had on the computer.

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Answer 2

stedman1

Level 10

267,018 points

May 16, 2009 9:08 AM in response to dabasan

Hi dabasan: If your hard drive is quite full that could definitely cause problems. One other thing to check is Activity Monitor. Go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor, when the program is running select "All Processes" from the top drop down box. Click on the CPU tab at the bottom and the CPU column at the top to sort. Is there an activity there using a high percentage of the CPU?

Hope this helps
Stedman

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Answer 3

dabasan Author

Level 1

8 points

May 16, 2009 9:24 AM in response to stedman1

Thanks for your quick reply. I did as you suggested and Firefox was the biggest user at 17-18%, which didn't seem like much.
Is that a high usage?
There was little or no usage by the other programs.
Any other things I might do? Thanks again!

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Answer 4

stedman1

Level 10

267,018 points

May 16, 2009 9:30 AM in response to dabasan

Hi dabasan: If your issue is intermittent, it is possible that the "culprit" isn't shown at the time you checked Activity Monitor. You may have to check again when the problem reappears. Also, how much free Hard Drive space do you have? You need at least 10-15% for the OS to operate effectively.

Stedman

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Answer 5

dabasan Author

Level 1

8 points

May 16, 2009 11:03 PM in response to dabasan

ok, the problem just happened again and I checked the Activity Monitor. All activity went to almost nothing. I was using Safari when the problem started and the Activity Monitor showed it as 107, but then dropped (along with all other programs) to between 2-7. As soon as the problem stopped, all activity went back up to normal levels. Any ideas? Thanks for taking the time to work with me on this!

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Answer 6

Lyssa

Level 8

41,475 points

May 16, 2009 11:24 PM in response to dabasan

Which version of Safari are you using? Is it up-to-date?

I've read that Safari 4 beta has some CPU issues.

~Lyssa

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Answer 7

dabasan Author

Level 1

8 points

May 16, 2009 11:34 PM in response to Lyssa

Hi, I'm using Safari 3.2.1. The problem occurs at random and doesn't seem to be related to my being on the internet or to using Safari.
thanks for your help, any more ideas???

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Answer 8

Lyssa

Level 8

41,475 points

May 16, 2009 11:47 PM in response to dabasan

Hmm. Were you viewing Flash video (youtube or other streaming sites) at the time?

Resetting the SMC can't hurt. This won't remove any of your data.

1) Shut down the computer.
2) disconnect the battery and remove the MagSafe adapter
3) hold down the power button for at least 5 seconds
4) reconnect battery and MagSafe adapter & start the computer

~Lyssa

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Answer 9

dabasan Author

Level 1

8 points

May 17, 2009 12:41 AM in response to Lyssa

no, I wasn't viewing flash video or anything and the problem occurs just as often when I'm not on the internet. I'll try resetting the SMC as you suggested. thanks

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Answer 10

Lyssa

Level 8

41,475 points

May 17, 2009 12:59 AM in response to dabasan

If it doesn't seem to be related to any one program, another thing to try is to create a new user account, log out of the old and into the new one and see if the issue persists when logged into the new account.

~Lyssa

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