Mac mini really slowing down

[marknicholls]

I have a 1.25Ghz mac mini with 256MB RAM

I always have iTunes, Eyehome, Mail and Bittorrent open, and web browsing is becoming slow, especially when having multipule tabs open

i assume it is the lack of RAM slowing this down? would i see an increase if i upgraded to 1GB? if so, i assume the installation is easy? I am a a convert, and used to us PC's, i assume its the same? slot the new one in and job done?

One another point, i have my mac mini for 6 weeks, and i have not turned it off once, is this bad? should i be giving it a rest now and again?

Thanks

 

[Lacero]

1 GB RAM goes for about $100 US, so yeah, that's probably what you want to do first thing.

I normally do cold reboots perhaps once a month. That helps to reset everything.

 

[feakbeak]

256 MB is most likely the reason why your Mac mini is running slow. The upgrade to 1 GB isn't too expensive and is well worth it. Just buy a 1 GB stick from newegg.com or buy.com or some other cheap online vendor - many people recommend Crucial for Macs which is what I used without any problems. Macs are pickier than PCs about cheap RAM so don't be stingy.

The upgrade isn't too hard, I installed mine myself. There are plenty of videos and instructions about how to open up the Mac mini case using a putty knife, which is how I did it. The only process only took me about 10-15 minutes and I was going slow, being careful and having fun checking out the internals of the mini. I'm sure it could be done in under 5 minutes if you weren't checking out all the details like I was.

 

[slipper]

bittorrent is highly CPU intensive according to my activity monitor so thats probably the culprit. i only turn on bittorrent nights while im sleeping.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Taking the question at face value -- which is "slowing down" rather than "going slow," I'd have to suggest some basic maintenance is in order. Repairing permissions is the obvious one.

Rebooting might help, especially if OSX has created some big swap files (nearly inevitable with 256mb of RAM), which are only fully deleted by rebooting -- but I'd also recommend running Applejack on a monthly basis, or more often if you experience problems. It's a single user mode tool that I could not survive without. I was in beachball hell just yesterday. Ran Applejack and all is well again.

 

[marknicholls]

I have just had a look at my startup items and i have the following items that i have no idea what they are or how they got there:

SEC Helper
Microsoft AU Daemon
System Events


all are not ticked...but its a bit worrying how it appears items have been installed, and i dont know what they are, i like to keep my system to a minimum for installed junk...any one shed any light?

PS i have just repaired permissions, as an ex windows user, this was a new experiance, but it appears to have speeded my system up, think i will get some new RAM anyway, Thanks for the advice

The Dashboard still takes over a minute for the weather, yellow pages, and even the calculator to function at all, it just feezes for a minute, then kicks in

 

[blodwyn]

I have a 1.25Ghz mac mini with 256MB RAM

I always have iTunes, Eyehome, Mail and Bittorrent open, and web browsing is becoming slow, especially when having multipule tabs open

Depending on what's uploading and downloading while you have Bittorrent open, you could be soaking up a fair bit of your internet bandwidth, which would make web browsing slow down a lot.

 

[marknicholls]

Depending on what's uploading and downloading while you have Bittorrent open, you could be soaking up a fair bit of your internet bandwidth, which would make web browsing slow down a lot.

Its firefox itself that is slowing down, "beachballing" for minutes on end, not the bandwidth

 

[ekenny]

Its firefox itself that is slowing down, "beachballing" for minutes on end, not the bandwidth

I had that problem with Camino (firefox enhanced for mac). I rebooted and it seems better now. Although, I did upgrade my mini to 1 GB of ram. It wasnt terribly hard, just make sure you have the right tool, and a lot of patience or you will mark up your case.

 

[marknicholls]

I am moving house next week, so money is a bit tight, do you think upgrading to 512mb would see an increase or should i wait a till pay day (next month) and get 1gb?

if 512 would be ok, does this seem good?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=101189&item=5212083808&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

if so, do i ask for PC2700 or PC3200?

Many Thanks

 

[feakbeak]

I would wait and buy 1 GB - not so much because 512 MB wouldn't be enough to get you by. Rather it is because you only get one RAM slot and if you ever want to upgrade past 1 GB in the future you'll have to remove the 512 MB stick. Plus the pricing is not that much of a difference.

You can get PC2700 or PC3200 - it doesn't matter. The RAM will run at 167 MHz (PC2700) on the mini since that is the speed of the FSB.

 

[nospleen]

I just purchased a 1gb stick from 18004memory for 81.50. It makes a WORLD of difference. The mini was barely usable before, IMHO. Now, it is a pleasure to use.

 

[marknicholls]

I just purchased a 1gb stick from 18004memory for 81.50. It makes a WORLD of difference. The mini was barely usable before, IMHO. Now, it is a pleasure to use.

What did you have before?