Possible to make an Old Macbook Pro 2009 faster?

If the software fixes don't make much of a difference installing and SSD will make your laptop much faster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnksSnLAibc

If you do enable TRIM

http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/29/use-trimforce-trim-ssd-mac-os-x/

Ways to help make a slow Mac faster

17 Reasons Why Your Mac Runs Slower Than it Should

Slow Mac Performance? This Article Solves It!

Fix slow start-ups in OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews

How to fix slow shutdown and startup times. | MacTip.net

6 Easy Tips to Speed Up OS X Yosemite on Your Mac

Avoid using any third-party software that claims to clean up your computer. Usually this software does more bad than good. Furthermore, you don't need it. Note that all computers will become slower over time even under normal use. Experienced users typically erase the hard drive and do a clean install from scratch at least once a year or whenever installing a major OS upgrade. Of course doing so also means you must maintain regular and multiple backups.

Add more RAM or cut back on the number of concurrently running applications and utilities. Remove unnecessary software such as anti-malware and software that promises to clean your Mac. Check for runaway processes: Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan acti… Also see:

Pre-Mavericks

Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

Mavericks and later

Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the View menu. Click on the CPU tab in the toolbar. Click twice on the %CPU column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of %CPU, then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

The Ultimate Fix

Backup everything, erase the drive, reinstall OS X, and restore your data from the backup. Reinstall third-party software from original media/scratch.

Not sure how many RAM you installed, though installing more RAM is also make faster.

The RAM that you have installed does not have the specifications that the 2009 MBP calls for: 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM. That may be a problem.

Ciao.

An SSD will definitely help. I added a 128GB SSD plus a total of 4GB of RAM to a friend's 2009 MBP running OS X Snow Leopard. His system was like night and day afterwards. He had a 320GB HDD and 2GB of RAM running OS X Leopard.

Even though your MBP may only clock at 1066MHz for your RAM, the 1333MHz you have in there is fine. It just won't clock at 1333MHz speed. Instead it will clock down to 1066MHz.

Install the maximum Ram for the machine (8GB) and an SSD.

I have not found that 1333mhz RAM will reclock if fitted to a Mac with a 1066Mhz bus.

A SSD can help but is not always ideal. They are more expensive per GB so if you have a large drive in your computer now and are using most of it an equivalent SSD may cost several hundred dollars. If you look at your hard drive specifications it may be a 5400 rpm model. I recently replaced the 5400 rpm drive in my 2008 MacBook with a faster 7200 rpm model. It cost under $100 doing it myself.

I suspect in most cases where people complain about a computer getting slower this is not the case, it is just they are demanding more of it as newer software is designed for faster machines and they are trying to keep up. Use an editor such as Bean with the stock fonts and it will move like lighting.