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Speed up your OS... turn Autosave & Versions off globally

If you're experiencing slow opening apps or windows since upgrading to Mountain Lion... as I have... and you don't want your OS to automatically save your TextEdit files, etc. then simply disable Autosave and Versions via Terminal.


Open Terminal and enter this command which will turn off Autosave & Versions globally:


defaults write -g ApplePersistence -bool no


Now reboot.


Voila!


I experienced a very noticeable speed increase when opening apps and even opening some previously slow opening Dock folders after doing the above.


If for some reason in the future you want to turn Autosave and Versions back on just change 'no' to 'yes'


Feel the speed!

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion, 27" iMac 32" secondary monitor

Posted on Jul 30, 2012 8:17 AM

Reply
70 replies

Jul 30, 2012 9:22 AM in response to softwater

It's not that kind of change. No permissions are modified. No folders Autosave or Versions relies on are moved or removed. It's a simple preference change. All you're doing is telling the OS not to use Autosave/Versions.


The file altered is hidden because it starts with a period. The modification is added to the file .GlobalPreferences.plist in the current user account. So the only user affected by the change is the currently logged in account. Any other accounts will still have Autosave/Versions enabled. Very nice actually since each user can then decide how they want the OS to work.

Jul 30, 2012 9:56 AM in response to RonL

Haha, no Ron, 'suspect' was just me being polite. 😉


This terminal command has been around for a while, at least since 10.7.3 as I recall. The only thing I don't know is exactly why it runs up against this error. My suspicion is that when Autosave and/or Versions tries to save (and they're not the same thing, BTW — Versions saves to /.DocumentRevisions-V100; Autosave saves to ~/Library/Saved Application State), that global default setting is conflicting with another CoreServices app or process.


Regarding permissions, the problem with this is well-known and quite widespread, as another poster has already found out.





User uploaded file

Jul 30, 2012 10:02 AM in response to softwater

Phil... "Haha"...?


So what have you done to your system?


Is this your error message or is this a screenshot of an error someone else experienced?


Have you hacked your OS in any way?


Have you locked files that are in the "Saved Application State" folder?


Some people did this as a kludge in the past and may have forgotten to unlock the files.


I'm not experiencing that.

Jul 30, 2012 10:01 AM in response to RonL

Ron, I kinda know my way around my OS, of which I have many versions, clean, dirty, hacked and quite virginal. 😊


As I already said, if it works for you, fine. Don't get on a high horse demanding that anyone who doesn't agree with you must be doing something "wrong". I'm not the first nor the last who's observed this error.


All I'm sayin is I wouldn't recommend it to others because I've seen it cause problems. Let readers decide for themselves whether they're going to take that on board or not.

Jul 30, 2012 10:09 AM in response to softwater

What saddens me is here we are again, trying to find a work around for something that Apple could have given us a simple check box on/off option for. It feels so Microsoft. I recently read the Steve Jobs autobiography and another book about his simplicity philosophy, and this situation is so NOT Steve Jobs.


Thanks to you all for trying to find a solution and warning us less knowledgeable users about the risks. I hope Apple provides their own solution to the problem that they have created.

Jul 30, 2012 10:11 AM in response to softwater

Phil...


Now I remember why I don't post here more often.


I was trying to offer a tip that some had perhaps not seen before that in fact works for many people.


"High horse?"... "demanding?" ... you have quite the imagination. Unbelievable...


The command is easily reversible if someone were to have problems.


And if it does work... as it does for many... it makes things run noticably more quickly.

Speed up your OS... turn Autosave & Versions off globally

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