Using AppleWorks 6.2.9 on a computer running OSX 10.6.8

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Level 1

4 points

Using AppleWorks 6.2.9 on a computer running OSX 10.6.8

I know it's really out of date, but I'm needing and wanting to use the (discontinued) AppleWorks program (ver: 6.2.9). For this purpose I keep an older iMac, running OSX 10.6.8, which I believe is the latest system which still supports AppleWorks.

Trouble is that when I use it (only the AppleWorks program !) the computer is dreadfully slow - and almost seems to be getting slower. About every 10 seconds or so it stops and regenerates (or "thinks" for about a further 10 seconds (or more !). I've tried installing more memory (now have 8GB installed) but that didn't seem to help. The computer is running 2.66GHz Intel Core Duo.

Can anyone help me to get the program working normally again ?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 22, 2022 6:49 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Peggy

Level 8

41,987 points

Aug 23, 2022 8:04 AM in response to Glenbach

I occasionally run AppleWorks 6.2.9 on a 2010 Mac mini with 8 GB of RAM & don't see this issue. That's not to say that this is just your imagination. I agree that the problem is real.

Some thoughts:

What type of AppleWorks file?
Is it only one file? There could be some corruption in the file. Try copying & pasting the content into a new document. If it's a word processing or spreadsheet, export the file to Word or Excel & then import the resulting file back into AppleWorks.
How big is the file? The additional RAM should have helped with this.

Some basic computer maintenance may be in order.

Restart the Mac. Although since you say you added RAM, you had to have restarted.
Run OnyX 2.4.0 for Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6, scroll down to download. Use OnyX to clear caches. Don't use other "cleaning apps" you may find on the internet.
Reinstall AppleWorks from the original CD/DVD. I keep a .dmg file created with Disk Utility of the original disc to use for installing. It's faster & I don't have to worry about losing the disc or it being damaged.

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Answer 2

Peggy

Level 8

41,987 points

Aug 24, 2022 7:46 AM in response to Glenbach

After all of that, which are still good ideas, my brain seems to be working better this morning, even before coffee! It could very well be a dying hard drive even though the start up drive is reported as OK. A good test would be to boot from an external drive & see if there is any improvement. Running from an external can be slower, but it may not be if the problem is a dying drive. I hope you have a backup system in place for that iMac. You should have a backup on external media for any Mac. I use both Time Machine & clones for my Macs.

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Answer 3

Peggy

Level 8

41,987 points

Aug 27, 2022 7:26 AM in response to Glenbach

Since everything else is working as it should I wonder if it's just that that file is on a bad sector on the hard drive. I cannot remember what we did to map disks & then exclude bad sectors. Probably wouldn't work on a modern Mac anyway. Even though your iMac is older it's still modern compared to the age of the software I'm thinking of.

Booting from an external should answer that question. If that works you might consider erasing & reformatting the internal drive & then cloning the external back to it.

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Answer 4

Glenbach Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 23, 2022 3:36 PM in response to Peggy

Thanks Peggy for your detailed reply !

The files I use are mostly Drawing files
No, I have the problem with all of my AppleWorks files - I have over a hundred of them. (The delay problem happens with AppleWorks Word Processing files too - I'm not 100% sure if it's QUITE as bad there....?)
The files are generally between 90KB - 120KB (so they're not huge)

Computer maintenance:

I do restart fairly regularly (generally at least once a week - or more)

I have now (since receiving your advice) downloaded and run OnyX (and I don't, and haven't, used any other "cleaning apps"). I had a bit of difficulty finding how and how to clear caches, but think I have done this now

Startup Volume was checked and verified as OK.
Under "Maintenance" I executed to verify and repair system files permissions (and got a huge list of item repaired)
Under "Cleaning"/"System" - Delete the Cache, I executed delete for "Boot", "International Preferences", "Quick Time components", "Audio components" and "Other components"
Restarted computer (actually did all of this, including restart, twice.

Now, things seem just a BIT better, but the problem still persists. It still stops and "thinks" every 10 seconds or so - for about 10 seconds. As you can imagine, it's very frustrating. Problem is, it's difficult-to-impossible to save the drawings into any other program (apart from .jpg or .pdf) where I can work on them at all. And yet, I cannot find another program to do this drawing work anywhere near as effectively as AppleWorks ! What can I do ?

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Answer 5

Glenbach Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 26, 2022 7:03 PM in response to Peggy

I've been busy with other things, so haven't replied a few days. Thanks so much for your input. Yes, I kind of does seem a bit like a problem with the boot hard drive. Crazy thing is that everything else on that computer works just fine. In fact, pretty much EVERYTHING works better and faster and easier on that old computer than on my newer one (emails & browsing, as well as Word, Excel, Photos and Preview/.jpg/.pdf). I haven't had time yet to try booting from an external hard drive. Puzzling, because this problem has been with me now for a considerable time (a year or more !) without collapsing or particularly changing. I think it's been an issue ever since I "upgraded" to OSX 10.6.8 (Which I think is also when I bought and started using the newer computer, running current OS software)

Backup.... Yes, I do have everything backed up - kind of - but would really not like it much if the computer died on me (which, of course, it IS going to do one day....!)

Thanks again for your help. I'll report back how I got on with the external reboot.

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Using AppleWorks 6.2.9 on a computer running OSX 10.6.8

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