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Are these problems due to lack of RAM?

mariahlullaby

mariahlullaby

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 19, 2005
852
3
NYC
I seem to be having a lot of problems with my PB. It's barely two months old and seems very sluggish and choppy. Also, programs to "close suddenly and unexpectedly" every few days or so (adobe programs do this the most). I've had to force quit many applications and completely reboot by holding the power button down when the whole thing freezes up for several minutes. Also, my Dashboard takes foreeeeeeever to get the info for the widgets, very very slow. Is this normal?? According to my system stats I have lots of RAM free though.

I have the stock 512 MB of RAM, which I will be maxing out soon (don't have the funds). Will increasing the RAM help these problems?

Thanks
 
Having lots of RAM can certainly speed up a PowerBook, but yours sounds more seriously disabled than a simple lack of RAM would explain, and having applications quit on you makes that even more apparent.

You could try some possible fixes yourself (including reinstalling the whole system), but with a new computer why jump through hoops yourself when a service call might get to the bottom of it? Any reason you can't have it checked out under the warranty?
 
I am constantly confused by Apple Warranty. If I don't have Apple Care, are the calls free? And is it under warranty for a year, like the iPod?

Thanks!!
 
The phone support lasts for 90 days and your PB will be under warranty for a year. AppleCare extends these services to three years. If I were you I'd repair the permissions and then if it's still acting shoddy give apple a call, or better yet take it in to the genius bar.



allison.
 
Standard advice to try first, testing after each step:

Repair Permissions
Boot from DVD and do a Repair on the disk
Delete preferences for the affected programs
Remove third party peripherals (USB and Firewire)
Remove third party RAM
Run Apple Hardware Test/TechTool Pro/Rember-MemtestX
Remove extra fonts
Remove and reinstall program(s)
Reinstall OSX

The more that the problems appear in different programs and at different unexpected times, the more you look to OS or hardware. If the problems crop up at the same actions in the same programs, look to the program(s).
 
Sounds like you have bad RAM. At the very least, try swapping in new RAM to see if it clears it up, otherwise, your system may need a clean re-install.
 
Every time you hard restart the Mac you do some hard disk directory damage -- it's cumulative and doesn't heal on its own. You need to reboot in single user mode and run fsck. Also, before doing anything drastic, you should also repair permissions. If you want to make the process as painless and effective as can be, I recommend Applejack.
 
If the two month old PowerBook was mien I would try Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities > Repair Permissions. If the problem persists, then I would give Apple a call or take it to a local Apple Store if possible. Would also highly recommend the AppleCare. The repairs on my wife's has more than paid for the AppleCare.
 
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