User profile for user: axelsen
axelsen Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

Cleaning up Hard drive

My computer has been stalling - even during a downloaed movie (which it never used to do...I have that widget that shows CPU memory etc etc


on the recommendation oof a friend I have downloaded Onyx. I ran it and the CPU and memory displays showed a significant change, but now the memorty is at about 2/3 used....(I have no sense of whether that is good or not...). He also said I need to clear out my mail storage. He showed me on his alptop, but I guess the configuration is different...so I got nowhere: can't seem to find wihere the memory display is (I am sure I have seen it before...) and can't find where the mail backup is...


Also I cannot find where you can set the Back up to occur in the middle of the night instead of when you are watching a moovie!


Thanks for any input.

Posted on Aug 10, 2013 4:09 AM

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8 replies
User profile for user: CMCSK
CMCSK
User level: Level 6
11,452 points

Aug 11, 2013 4:52 PM in response to axelsen

axelsen wrote:


Thanks -


OS 10.6.8


capacity 947GB

available 474GB


but not sure how this helps me to clean it up....


A number of things can cause stalling. One of them is not enough hard drive space, not enough memory, hundreds of files on the desktop. These are just a few.


According to your post, it appears you have more than enough hard drive space. You did not list how much ram (memory) you have. It's best to max it out.


If you have any peripherals connected to your computer, make sure they are all updated.



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.



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.













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User profile for user: axelsen
axelsen Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

Aug 14, 2013 4:12 AM in response to CMCSK

Thanks - all very helpful "action" driven suggestions and so clearly written - satisfies my result driven personality 😀 :


"You did not list how much ram (memory) you have. It's best to max it out." - need a bit more help there pls...

Memory: 4 GB


No peripherals (other than occasionally the boys' iPod Shuffles (2)


Icons on Desktop - none other than 9 thunbnails of funny images my son got off the net - we like a clean desktop (unless you unclude the dock..?)


Finder Calculations - thanks - checked that it was unchecked


Internet related: ran the test - thanks: down 3.41Mbps up 0.62Mbps


Cache - thanks - emptied Safari Cashe (did not say how much was locked up in that), and also checked firfox - nothing


Activity Monitor - Safari is at top - by far: about 3.0 - 10 with s few spikes of 21, 33 etc


RAM - again I am not clear on what it means to "max out your ram."


I have not done the last part just now although I sort have done that...and as noted I ran onyx....


I have NOT booted from "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." as I was afraid that would erase everything 🙂....please explain - thanks




(I got 3 wheels of doom while writing this message, but none since the line starting Activity monitor...)


Many thanks...

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User profile for user: CMCSK
CMCSK
User level: Level 6
11,452 points

Aug 14, 2013 1:31 PM in response to axelsen

RAM - again I am not clear on what it means to "max out your ram.

RAM=memory - Random-access memory

Depending on which model iMac you have you can max it out more than what Apple recommends. Download Mactracker which will tell you the max amount your model can take.

How to identify your iMac





I was afraid that would erase everything 🙂....please explain


If you follow my instructions you should not lose any files. You should have backups!!!




(I got 3 wheels of doom while writing this message, but none since the line starting Activity monitor...)


Troubleshoot the spinning beach ball












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Cleaning up Hard drive

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