how can i improve the speed of my mac?

erica:

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

We will be able to better help you if you put information about your computer system in your profile. Please include what computer you have, iBook, iMac etc., the processor speed, the amount of RAM installed, your HDD total capacity and how much is used; also what version of OS X you are using.

Meanwhile, Dr. Smoke's FAQ Tuning Mac OS X Performance may be helpful to you.

😉 cornelius

Again, it would be helpful to have the information Cornelius suggested. There's two ways to speed up a computer. One is to make sure its software and files are in optimal condition. The other is to put in better hardware. On the files and software line, this is discussed in the links below. I would hesitate, though, to go overboard with a maintenance tool unless you have specific evidence that something it does is clearly indicated as a problem on your computer. I would also back up the computer before using any of the tools.

[Mac OS X speed FAQ|http://www.macmaps.com/Macosxspeed.html] - general reference on performance in various Mac models

[Tips to optimize your Mac OS X experience|http://www.giantmike.com/speedX.html]

[Mac Tune-up: 34 Software Speedups|http://www.macworld.com/article/49489/2006/02/softwarespeed.html]

[52 Ways to Speed Up OS X|http://www.imafish.co.uk/articles/post/articles/130/52-ways-to-speed-up-os-x>

[Tuning Mac OS X Performance|http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/performance.html]

[11 Ways to Optimize Your Mac's Performance|http://lowendmac.com/eubanks/07/0312.html]

[The Top 7 Free Utilities To Maintain A Mac.|http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/the top_7_free_utilities_to_maintain_amac>

[Mac OS X: System maintenance|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=607640]

[Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance|http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html#Anchor-31774]

[Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8230024#8230024 ]

[a brody's Topic: Myths of required versus not required maintenance for Mac OS X|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1772235]

[Are the desktops cluttered with files and folders?|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7668937#7668937] and [related comment|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9168594#9168594]

[Problems from insufficient RAM and free hard disk space|http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/lackofram.html]

get a new Mac

LOL Glen... that won't speed up her Mac one bit! 😉

Sorry if that sounded not very helpful, but basically it comes down to that. Not much can improve the performance of machine of that vintage, to stand up to a current model, unless you spend almost as much on upgrades (some of which to consider are listed below).

Some thought should be given to the budget (money and time and effort) one is willing to spend. The G4 Digital Audio is possibly a good candidate for upgrading for someone who is interested in do-it-yourself computer stuff and bargain hunting for parts. It can even be a fun hobby. But even max-ing out all possible upgrades will still be lacking in performance compared to the current Mac models, I don't actually have any specific benchmarks, just my gut feel. And you may spend a good portion of the cost of a new machine on all those parts for the old machine.

Is this the 667MHz machine (G4 Digital Audio) in question?
http://www.lowendmac.com/ppc/digital-audio-power-mac-g4.html
http://eshop.macsales.com/Descriptions/specs/Framework.cfm?page=g4da.html&title= Power%20Macintosh%20G4%20Digital%20Audio
or is it some other model?

Here are some CPU upgrades, for example:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=162&type=Processor&T I=2420&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades
you can even get a small rebate for your original CPU
http://eshop.macsales.com/Service/rebate-program/

Any of those CPUs should double your processing speed, but you may also need more RAM...or the CPU will just be waiting for data to be read from the virtual memory on the hard drive.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/133SD512328/
you could max it out with a whopping 1.5 GB, with 3 of these.

and you may need a better video card...
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=162&type=Video&TI=29 34&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades

To add larger and faster hard drives than the original Ultra ATA/66 can handle you would need a PCI ATA133 or PCI SATA card...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ACARD/AEC6280MOB/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/TSATA/

And if you need to install OS X from a DVD, and want to burn your own DVD, you may need a new optical drive, if one hasn't been installed already, to replace the CD-RW:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?Model=162&Type=InternalOpticalDrives&sort=pop

Also, check out the Power Macintosh G4 forums if you have any questions about that particular model, (if I guessed correctly)
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=113

Even while I am trying to build a case to convince someone not to waste their money on this project, I am thinking to myself, where can I pick up one of these G4 towers to take on this project myself. Maybe a Quicksilver, no a FW400 MDD dual-boot for sure, I still have some OS 9 software. I did about all I can with my G3 Desktop, and spent more than my MacBook cost.

Oh, I certainly know where you're coming from Glen! 🙂

Glen:

Not much can improve the performance of machine of that vintage, to stand up to a current model, unless you spend almost as much on upgrades (some of which to consider are listed below).

We don't know that, yet, do we? Quite apart from hardware upgrades or enhancements there are software issues. The question is not how to get a speedy computer, but how to improve the speed of the computer the OP is currently using.

😉 cornelius

"get a new Mac"

Straight to the point!

Baby Boomer (USofA):

Straight to the point!

How would getting a new Mac speed up the performance of the Mac about which the OP posted, which I thought was the point?

😉 cornelius

PS: Your little bug crawling around there had me fooled, as I tried to brush the stupid ant from the display 🙂 Cool!