how can i make my macbook run faster?
MacBook (13-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
1. Add more ram
2. Delete unwanted files and applications
3. Run Disk Utility and check for errors in the hard drive
4. (works for me) Run your mac off of ac power.
If you have a mechnicial hard drive, defragging the drive can gain back some performance. There's a common believe Macs don't need it. OS X does automatically defrags files up to 20 Mb, most modern systems have files far larger. They still fragment and over time affects performance and non continuous free space. The exeception being solid state drives, which don't benefit and some say can have negative effects.
I run a full defrag of mine once or twice a year. Afterwards it feels much more snapper, as it did with a fresh OS install.
Thank you so much for responding. I don't know how to defrag; I will google that and hopefully I'll see an improvement. I have deleted unwanted files and apps so already I gained a bit more space and my laptop is somewhat faster, but still slows when apps launch.
You can upgrade your mid-2007 MB will to 4 GB of RAM ($57) or 6 GB of RAM ($128) at OWC (macsales.com). Either would boost the speed considerably. More is better. Another trusted source of RAM is Crucial.
OWC is having a sale on the Seagate 1 TB hybrid SSHD disk drive that incudes an 8 GB SSD cache ($99 including a DIY installation kit). The SSHD drive is dramatically faster than standard drives.
FYI, See Upgrading Your MacBook Pro with a Solid State Drive: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4741
I recently upgraded a 2009 MacBook from 2 GB to 8 GB of RAM which cut the boot time in half and solved the problem of applications starting and running slowly. An SSD upgrade then cut the boot time by another factor of 5. The hybrid SSHD drive would provide similar high performance.
For installation videos see ifixit.com.
how to make my macbook run faster
