MB Pro Has Slowed Down Lately

Question

Level 1

0 points

MB Pro Has Slowed Down Lately

Hi There,

I recently updated to 10.6.6 and my machine has been noticeably slower since. Opening system preferences takes at least 5 seconds, for example. Not an eternity, but it used to be near immediate. All stock and add-on software is slow to load and run as well.

Around the same time as the update, I added my entire music collection to itunes, so I don't know if there is some correlation there. My 250gb hard drive has 88gb free. My CPU percent idle hovers around 85% to 93% and my free memory is around 2.5 gigs (4gb total). All good numbers I would think.

I've done a permissions repair, run the hardware check (name?), and just ran maintenance with Onyx. The problem is still exists. If possible I'd like to resolve the issue before going back to 10.6.4, but am willing to do that and wait until Lion OS comes out.

I did try a time machine restoration back to 10.6.4 and re-ran the 10.6.6 combo update, but the problem persists.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. The OS was so quick before the 10.6.6 update that the new lag is driving me crazy. Thanks!

MacBook Pro 7.1 Mid 2010, Mac OS X (10.6.4), Dual Core Processor

Posted on Mar 23, 2011 7:58 PM

Reply

Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,376 points

Mar 23, 2011 9:10 PM in response to BrendanAlias

Have you ever done a SMC reset, PRAM reset or repaired Disk Permissions?

Roger

Reply

Answer 2

BrendanAlias Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 24, 2011 5:39 AM in response to rkaufmann87

I have repair permissions, but do not know what an SMC or PRAM reset is??

Reply

Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,376 points

Mar 24, 2011 6:58 AM in response to BrendanAlias

*MacBook Pro*

_SMC RESET_

• Shut down the computer.
• Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
• On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
• Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
• Press the power button to turn on the computer.

_PRAM RESET_

• Shut down the computer.
• Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step
• Turn on the computer.
• Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
• Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
• Release the keys.

Reply

Answer 4

BrendanAlias Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 24, 2011 9:30 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks for the info. I tried resetting the SMC and PRAM, but the system still lags. I am going to try the 10.6.7 update and cross my fingers.

If that doesn't work, can I revert to 10.6.4 with the OS X disc while keeping my current files and programs? It is my understanding that a restore from Time Machine will not fix the problem, but only replace the unknown problem with the same, newer copy of the problem, no? Thanks!

Reply

Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,376 points

Mar 24, 2011 9:42 AM in response to BrendanAlias

Sometimes resetting the SMC takes 2-3 times, try again.

You can also do a Safe Boot, this helps clear out some caches. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

And you can also create a new user account (call it Test Account) and leave it absolutely pristine and do not add any software. Then log into this account and check the performance. If the performance returns then you know it's a software issue with your user account. If it's still slow then you know it's a system wide issue.

You can revert back to 10.6.4 however because 10.6.6 is a stable version I suspect there is a problem with your setup.

Reply