Mac Support for Dummies

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Level 1

8 points

Mac Support for Dummies

Hello Guys!

This is my first MacBook I've ever owned and I must say I've been SO pleased with the experience. Just a side note here, I bought this in mid-2011. MacBook Pro 13" 2.3GHz Intel i5 with 4gig ram. Pretty speedy out of the box!

Lets fast forward to today. I've never taken the time to really learn about my Mac. I'm so used to PC's that I sort of treat it as such, with an anti-virus (Kaspersky 2012 for Mac), etc. I realized that I know close to nothing as far as how the operating system works and how to do minor repairs should any software go bad. Which brings me to my concern: It seems the processing power has substantially deteriorated over the 1 year I have owned it. And I have NO idea how. I have a Widget that shows the CPU/RAM speeds (and i've taken a peek at Activity Monitor too). It seems to be running slow, however the CPU monitors indicate only 1% CPU usage. Now the ram is a little confusing to me, I'll admit. What is the difference between Wired, Active, Inactive, and Free RAM? I'd think they are self-explanitory, but I cannot be sure. Either way the computer has slowed down a TON in a year. Also, just how virus-proof are Mac's? I only ask this because I am a guy, and the dirty sites come natural. Is it possible that my Mac has come down with something?

Also, if one could take the time to explain what Disk Utility does and explain the what the permissions and all that is, that would be awesome too. There has to be a Mac for Dummies website out there somewhere!!! 😀

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 2.3 GHz ; 4GB RAM

Posted on Jan 31, 2013 10:57 PM

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Answer 1

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mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jan 31, 2013 11:04 PM in response to Mike Provi

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities

First, uninstall Kaspersky. You don't need an antivirus on OS X because OS X has got its own security systems. See > http://www.reedcorner.net/mmg

Probably the antivirus is the cause of the slowness (I wouldn't be surpriesd because of that), so see if there's an improvement after uninstalling Kaspersky.

For more information about the RAM and the differences between each category, see > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1342

Disk Utility is an application that allows you to modify your drives and see information about the disk. See > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU.html

For more information about permissions, see > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1452

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Answer 2

Jan 31, 2013 11:10 PM in response to Mike Provi

Mike Provi wrote:

There has to be a Mac for Dummies website out there somewhere!!! 😀

As requested: Mac for Dummies

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Answer 3

Mike Provi Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2013 10:19 AM in response to mende1

Thanks a lot! That reedcorner website was very informative. However, as a side note I feel I should add that I installed the AV AFTER I noticed a decline in performance, as a test. I just uninstalled my AV and the internet is WAY faster ( probably the AV's fault to begin with), but it is still computing slow. Does OSX have a defrag? I was told they run it automatically in the background or when you restart they do a mini-defrag... Is this true?

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Answer 4

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Feb 1, 2013 10:22 AM in response to Mike Provi

Mike Provi wrote:

I was told they run it automatically in the background or when you restart they do a mini-defrag... Is this true?

If you have your computer turned on or in sleep mode during night, OS X will run some maintenance scripts in the very early morning (from 3.15 to 5.00 am), but you can use your Mac without running them. See > http://pondini.org/OSX/Scripts.html

Respecting to the slowness of your computer, there are a lot of reasons for that, and you can see them > https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3521

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Answer 5

ds store

Level 7

30,705 points

Feb 1, 2013 10:32 AM in response to Mike Provi

Mike Provi wrote:

It seems the processing power has substantially deteriorated over the 1 year I have owned it. And I have NO idea how.

The anti-virus running in the background is a chief cause, uninstall it.

Also see this.

Why is my computer slow?

What is the difference between Wired, Active, Inactive, and Free RAM?

Wired is system level needs

Active is memory your using currently (open apps and files)

InActive is memory that has something in it in case you need it again so it doesn't have to load it from the slower drive, but can be used for something else if you run out of Free memory.

Free memory is nothing in it at all.

Either way the computer has slowed down a TON in a year. Also, just how virus-proof are Mac's? I only ask this because I am a guy, and the dirty sites come natural. Is it possible that my Mac has come down with something?

Yes it is possible. Why to surf those sites one should use a virtual machine program and a free operating system like Linux, then save "snapshots" to revert the OS to what it was before you began surfing adult content sites.

Virtualbox + Linux Mint 64bit would be ideal and free. As Linux isn't attacked that much due to it's small market share.

However Ciso just relased data saying that your 180 times more likely to get malware from advertising on regular websites than on adult content websites.

https://www.securityweek.com/easier-get-infected-malware-good-sites-shady-sites- cisco-says

To clean up your Mac first, follow these Steps

..Step by Step to fix your Mac

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