How to Make Your Mac Faster

We can't all buy a new Mac every year, but we can keep the one we have running in the same condition it ran when it was new. Noticing your older Mac slow down is a common complaint. Most users know some additional RAM would help, but there are plenty of ways to speed up your Mac without having to spend any money. Don't give up on your slowpoke Apple machine yet.

Instructions

1. Clean out your startup items. These items open every time you start your computer and usually run nonstop. Go into "Preferences" and click "Accounts." Click the "Login Items" tab and remove anything you don't need. In the newer operating systems, the setting is under "Users & Groups" in the System Preferences folder.

2. Clean off your desktop. A cluttered desktop can make a difference in a speedy startup. If you have to have things on the desktop, stick them all in a folder. Having a data backup like Time Machine helps to keep things tidy; you'll feel more comfortable moving things you probably don't need into the trash.

3. Free up some hard drive space. A nearly full hard drive slows your Mac down. Move stuff you don't need onto your data backup and delete it from your main drive. Compress large items you seldom use.

4. Remove some of the widgets from the dashboard. Every widget takes a bit of memory to run. If you don't actually use it, remove it.

5. Keep your programs updated and run lighter apps when they are available. Some apps are just memory hogs. If you notice your performance slowing when you use a particular application, see if the developer fixed the problem with an update. If not, look for a faster alternative to the program. If the switch turns out to be a bad move, restore the old program from your data backup.

6. If iTunes takes forever to open, the problem might be your playlists. If you use smart playlists, remove the "live update" feature. Right-click on the playlist, select "Edit Smart Playlist" and uncheck "Live updating." Then click "OK."

7. Fire up the Activity Monitor located in your Utilities folder. With any luck you'll be able to see what's hogging all the resources. If you don't know what something in the list does, Google it to find out.

8. Don't be afraid to wipe your computer and start over when all else fails. If you keep a data backup, this isn't that complicated. Back up, use the install disks to reinstall your system and restore your data from the backup.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't be surprised to find your older Mac slowing down if you install the newest software programs and upgrades that are optimized for larger, faster and newer Macs. Stick with the software generation that was released for your Mac for best results.

• Don't repair your god forsaken disk permissions. In fact, if a site tells you to repair your disk permissions to speed up your computer, close the page. This is voodoo - test have shown over and over it doesn't do anything. In fact, it can actually screw things up. Just don't do it.

References

• Review Mac Software; How to Make Your Mac Run Faster; October 2010
• Low End Mac: Make Your Mac Faster; May 2009

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish