Updating 2006 macbook

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Updating 2006 macbook

Hello everyone,

My first post here. I have an old macbook (A1181). Recently revived it with a new battery. It is running on 4GB RAM, and OSX Lion 10.7.5.

I won't use it for any complex task, but my goal is to make this mac run a little faster / smoother (freezes too often for a few seconds while opening apps, etc.) for basic use. I thought about upgrading the OS, but I was told by Apple that the software I am running on is the latest I can put on this machine due to processor requirements. Now, I am OK to stay with Lion, but I want to know if you have any ideas to make this thing run better? I can't locate the DVD for the OS, but if a format is going to make it much better, I can buy that. Otherwise, I am more interested to hear some advice on how to clean up this machine. I am OK to loose all the data in it, so if there is a way I can almost factory restore without a need for a DVD, I am all ears. Finally, if you know any tools that clears up the clutter (a program, etc.) I am interested in that too.

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7.5), null

Posted on Feb 9, 2016 6:49 PM

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Answer 1

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Limnos

Level 10

411,223 points

Feb 9, 2016 8:15 PM in response to aragorn007

Realize it is a 10 year old computer which makes it about 100 people years old. RAM you have done. You can try a reinstall (Lion was a download unless you have a rare USB stick version) but frankly my opinion is that is what you do when you need to speed up a PC running that other famous OS, not a Mac. I have Tiger running on my 2002 G4 with no cleanup since year 2007 and it runs fine. It seems slower but not because it is slower but because everything else is faster/more-demanding. If I start Word on it it takes no longer to start than it did 9 years ago. If I browse the Internet it seems slow because people like Apple.com have added features with time which I have definitely noticed take longer to process. 😝

Unless you can trace it back to an actual issue about the only other thing to suggest is make sure you have at least 9GB hard drive space at all times. The OS needs to write to the drive frequently and you don't want to make it hunt for room.

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Answer 2

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Feb 9, 2016 7:22 PM in response to aragorn007

My first post here. I have an old macbook (A1181). Recently revived it with a new battery. It is running on 4GB RAM, and OSX Lion 10.7.5.

And it's in the wrong forum area. This one is for the 12" Retina MacBook Early 2015.

I'll request that your issue be moved to the correct forum area for the 13" MacBook (2006-2010).

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Answer 3

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Feb 9, 2016 7:28 PM in response to aragorn007

IMHO: The best things that you can do to improve performance would be to replace the original 5400 rpm hard drive with a SSD, increase the RAM to the maxinmum 6 Gigs, and revert back to Snow Leopard.

You should have a full backup on an external drive, preferably a cloned backup.

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Answer 4

aragorn007 Author

Level 1

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Feb 9, 2016 8:23 PM in response to Limnos

thanks, this makes sense. I have 60GB plus space in my drive (basically I removed almost everything, it is just the OS and some essential programs there). I won't bother upgrading any other hardware, as this will just be for home entertainment use.

I did find a tool named "Onyx" though, and trying it now. It ran a diagnostic for "SMART" for hard disk. Anyways, the drive apparently didn't pass that test, and Onyx recommend I do a "command R and repair disk". Do you know if I can do this command R thing without a leopard dvd at hand?

Thanks,

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