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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Processor Speed
SUBLIMINALHITz - Sep 12, 2005 - 3:44 pm
After installing iLife programs through firewire transfer from one computer to mine, (mine being the external HD) I have found that my computer runs slower, when openeing aplications and pressing the power button to shutdown, it takes a few minutes to the "restart, sleep, shutdown" menu to appear. I have 512mb SDRAM and 40G HD space left. What can I do to optimize the performance of my G4 PowerBook, bringing it back to the speed it was before the transfer. Also, is there a way to search for outdated software, such as iTunes for example, and delete it after software update? Thank you much.
TheBatman - Sep 13, 2005 - 6:23 am
Benjamin,
As to the first part of your question, many things could be causing the slow down.... some serious, some not. First I would check the Activity Monitor to see what processes are running. Could be as simple at Spotlight indexing your drive. When idle nothing should have more than 5% to 10% of your CPU.
When it is running slow does the cursor 'beachball' or does the hard drive churn like it is trying to access something?
When you installed the new iLife programs did you use the installer or just copy the application from one machine to the other? If you just copied them then that may be your problem. You should always use the installer program as it will put things in the right places and remove any old software not required. Also it is a very good idea to leave all applications in the 'applications' folder, otherwise weird issues can crop up, especially when installers are updating software.
The installer program for each application will remove any old items not required by it so long as applications are kept in the applications folder. OS versions newer that 10.2 MAY have addressed this issue, regardless I still think it is best to just leave them in the applications folder and not tempt fate.
Also it is a good idea to repair permissions (in apple disk utility) both before and after any software install. Some think this is overkill, and it may be; however, it only takes an extra minute or two and is the safest way.
Lastly, if you are using Tiger (10.4) you can ignore the following as it schedules these routines automatically and performs them in the background when you first login. If you are using 10.3 or older you should use a script management utility such as Mac Janitor (available for free, vers. 1.3 is the latest). Many other programs will also do this such as Cocktail, OnyX, etc. but MacJanitor is the simplest. Without getting too in depth, basically it runs the daily, weekly and monthly scripts that 'tidy up' the system logs/files which keeps things running smooth.
I hope this helps.
As to the first part of your question, many things could be causing the slow down.... some serious, some not. First I would check the Activity Monitor to see what processes are running. Could be as simple at Spotlight indexing your drive. When idle nothing should have more than 5% to 10% of your CPU.
When it is running slow does the cursor 'beachball' or does the hard drive churn like it is trying to access something?
When you installed the new iLife programs did you use the installer or just copy the application from one machine to the other? If you just copied them then that may be your problem. You should always use the installer program as it will put things in the right places and remove any old software not required. Also it is a very good idea to leave all applications in the 'applications' folder, otherwise weird issues can crop up, especially when installers are updating software.
The installer program for each application will remove any old items not required by it so long as applications are kept in the applications folder. OS versions newer that 10.2 MAY have addressed this issue, regardless I still think it is best to just leave them in the applications folder and not tempt fate.
Also it is a good idea to repair permissions (in apple disk utility) both before and after any software install. Some think this is overkill, and it may be; however, it only takes an extra minute or two and is the safest way.
Lastly, if you are using Tiger (10.4) you can ignore the following as it schedules these routines automatically and performs them in the background when you first login. If you are using 10.3 or older you should use a script management utility such as Mac Janitor (available for free, vers. 1.3 is the latest). Many other programs will also do this such as Cocktail, OnyX, etc. but MacJanitor is the simplest. Without getting too in depth, basically it runs the daily, weekly and monthly scripts that 'tidy up' the system logs/files which keeps things running smooth.
I hope this helps.
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