How to Make a Mac Run Faster

Everyone wants a faster computer, where applications launch snappier, start-up time is quicker and it doesn't feel as if your Mac is running on molasses. There are a number of steps you can take to make your Mac run faster and more efficient, without spending a lot of time and money.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac OS X Disk Utility

How to Make a Mac Run Faster

1. 
   Random Access Memory Module

   The best way to make your Mac run faster is to add more RAM (Random Access Memory) to your machine. Mac OS X needs a minimum of 2 gigabytes of RAM to run smoothly, with 3 gigabytes recommended. Mac OS X is a modern Unix based, graphic intensive operating system. Adding more RAM to your machine will instantly speed up every operation on your Mac.

2. 
   Remove Unnecessary Login Items to Reduce Start Time

   Remove unnecessary start-up applications from your Mac "Log In" Items. To find out what applications are in your start-up items; click on the "Apple Menu" and navigate to: Apple Menu > System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items. To remove unnecessary or old start-up items, click on the item name and then hit the "minus" button below the list. One word of warning, make sure you know what you're removing; or you may remove a critical system or application function.

3. 
   Remove Unnecessary Dashboard Widgets

   Remove any unnecessary "Dashboard Widgets," as they can consume both critical processor and RAM resources, even when you're not viewing them. Widgets that access the Internet to update information are especially RAM and resource hungry, as they are constantly preforming updates, even when Dashboard is not active. To remove them, launch the "Dashboard Widget" screen (F-12 on most Macs), and click the "+" button at the bottom-left of the screen. Click the "x" sign next to the Widget to make it inactive.

4. Freeing up space on your hard drive will help your Mac run faster. Your Mac uses a section of its hard drive as a "swap" or "virtual memory" partition for memory usage, especially when you are viewing large media and multimedia files. Keeping at least one-third of your hard drive free will dramatically improve your Mac's speed. Back-up your large files on an external USB or Firewire drive and empty your trash often to see your Mac's speed improve.

5. 
   Repair Your Permissions

   Check and fix your Mac's internal hard disk preferences at least once a month. Launch your Apple Disk Utilities, located in: Applications>Utilities>Disk Utilities. Double-click "Disk Utilities" to launch the application, select your internal hard drive in the left-hand column and click "Repair Permissions." The permissions repair will take from 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of your hard drive.

6. Only launch as many applications as you need at one time. The more applications you have running at the same time, the more RAM and system resources those applications will consume. You will notice that as more applications are running, your Mac will behave in a more sluggish manner. Give your RAM and processor some breathing room, only launch the applications you need and quit the ones you're not using before you launch more active applications.