MBM12
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Everything about my macbook is lagging

the whole system lags at random times- especially when I'm typing, scrolling, searching, reloading and basic functions like clicking on an item and waiting a longer than usually time to see its preferences. It's the spinning wheel of death that occurs more often. Also, my itunes is lagging and my music skips a lot. This has been happening for a few weeks whereas before my computer was fine, so I don't think it's because of my location or internet providers.

 

The version I have is 10.6.8, processor is 2.4 Ghz and memory is 4 GB…and my disc usage tell me 62.7 GB are being utilized and 257.02 GB are free. I recently deleted files that I didn't need, but its still acting slow. Any suggestions on how I could fix this?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 27, 2013 10:25 AM

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MBM12

Q: Everything about my macbook is lagging

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  • Helpful answers

  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Apr 27, 2013 11:07 AM in response to MBM12
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Apr 27, 2013 11:07 AM in response to MBM12

    This FAQ on fixing the spinning wheel issues should have some pointers.

  • by pjdube,

    pjdube pjdube Apr 27, 2013 1:28 PM in response to MBM12
    Level 3 (830 points)
    Apr 27, 2013 1:28 PM in response to MBM12

    Download Onyx (free). Use that. Just make sure you do a backup first.

  • by MBM12,

    MBM12 MBM12 May 5, 2013 5:45 PM in response to pjdube
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 5, 2013 5:45 PM in response to pjdube

    I would rather not download anything and the % CPU that my computer is using is very low- always below 30%, and the SBBOD happens at any given time in any given program...the advice from the FAQ didn't seem to help the problem. When this problem happens, does the download option really work? Wouldn't downloading something else continue to slow my computer down?

     

    Also, why is my music on itunes stopping for a few seconds and then resuming when it's playing? Because of this, I have been avoiding using itunes on my computer.

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE May 5, 2013 5:50 PM in response to MBM12
    Level 9 (52,793 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 5, 2013 5:50 PM in response to MBM12

    Have you opened Disk Utility>First Aid and run Verify and Repair?  The User Tip may also give you some insights:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3521

     

    Ciao.

  • by CMCSK,

    CMCSK CMCSK May 5, 2013 6:01 PM in response to MBM12
    Level 6 (10,875 points)
    May 5, 2013 6:01 PM in response to MBM12

    Disconnect all peripherals from your computer.

     

    Boot from your install disc & run Repair Disk from the utility menu. To use the Install Mac OS X disc, insert the disc, and restart your computer while holding down the C key as it starts up.

    Select your language.

    Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.

    Select Disk Utility.

     

    Select the disk or volume in the list of disks and volumes, and then click First Aid.

    Click Repair Disk.

    Restart your computer when done.

     

    Repair permissions after you reach the desktop-http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2963 and restart your computer.

     

     


     

     

    Sluggish Finder - Bunch of icons on your desktop?  An overcrowded desktop slows down your Mac.

    Get rid of needless Finder calculations - Open a window in Finder/View/Show View Options:  ensure "Calculate All Sizes" option is unchecked.

     

    Internet related - It's likely that your broadband connection is the bottleneck.  You can check your speed on http://www.speedtest.net to see how fast your connection is.  If your web browser specifically performs slowly, quit and relaunch it.

       If browser remains sluggish, empty its cache.

    Safari/Empty Cache

    Firefox/Preferences - select the Network tab of the Advanced preferences and click the "Clear Now" button in the "Offline Storage" area.

     

    Application related - Launch "Activity Monitor" - Applications/Utilities - click the CPU heading and see what float to the top.  If an application takes up a large chunk of CPU and won't let it go, it could be dragging down your Mac's performance.  Quit it by clicking the Quit Process button at the top of the Activity Monitor window.

     

    Too little ram - max out your ram if your computer can take more than 4gb.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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