Why is my iMac so slow?

Question

Level 1

1 points

Why is my iMac so slow?

Why is my iMac so slow? It wasn't like this when I first got it. Now it's worst than a Windows computer!!!

160GB Hard Drive
35.78GB Free
(Last month I had 100GB free of the Hard Drive, and it was as slow as it is today)

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM51.0090.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.8f2
Serial Number (system): W87043CYVUX
Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-0017F2CF3582

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Jul 31, 2010 5:27 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 31, 2010 6:53 PM in response to helpineed

Hi! I think you should upgrade your RAM to 2gb minimum or go for 4gb for best performance.

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Answer 2

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

Jul 31, 2010 7:05 PM in response to helpineed

help --

1. What's taking up all the room?
Videos? Music? What?

2. Have you turned on Activity Monitor to check what's using up the CPU?

3. Have you downloaded WhatSize to check out what's taking up room on your HD?

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,274 points

Jul 31, 2010 7:06 PM in response to helpineed

There can be any number of reasons why a Mac slows down. An article from MacLife talking about 25 ways to speed up your Mac. Here is the link:

25 Ways to Speed up Your Mac

Regards,

Roger

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Answer 4

helpineed Author

Level 1

1 points

Jul 31, 2010 7:32 PM in response to TildeBee

This is my Activity Monitor:

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Answer 5

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

Jul 31, 2010 7:55 PM in response to helpineed

Hey Help --
Now, up in the right hand corner, instead of "MY Processes" choose "All Processes."
That will give you lots more information.
And click in the "% of CPU" area to sort. (Largest to smallest)
Alphabetical doesn't really tell you anything.

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Answer 6

helpineed Author

Level 1

1 points

Jul 31, 2010 7:58 PM in response to TildeBee

Ok, now what?

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Answer 7

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

Jul 31, 2010 8:08 PM in response to helpineed

SnapNDrag is using up a bunch of CPU.

Have you downloaded WhatSize to tell what had increased your Space Used so much in the past month?

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Answer 8

den.thed

Level 9

76,912 points

Jul 31, 2010 8:25 PM in response to helpineed

Your running a lot of stuff on 1GB of RAM.

Switch from the "CPU" tab to the "System Memory" tab and see how much Inactive Memory you have, because it's unlikely that you have any Free. > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1342

Likewise, if your HD is getting full then there is little or no space for Virtual Memory to work in.

Or worse, switch to the "Disk Activity" tab if your HD is getting tired then your VM swapping will get even slower.

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