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Macs are SLOW ! ! !

A

Apple Geek

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2011
12
0
Amsterdam
hi there!
i have 3 macs at home
and i realized 2 of em are sooo slow and getting the beach ball so much :S
so i formated my iMac and re installed snowL now its faster i installed all the apps i needed but i did not update my mac (cuz i think apple's update may be a problem here)
so now im using my imac with no problem but my macbook pro is still slow
what is the problem ?
-its not a virus i did a scan and nothing came
-its not problem of apps cuz i installed all of em again on imac

so thats why i think its apple update (maybe)
+a friend of mine has the same problem . . .

pc specs
intel core 2 duo 3.06GHz
4GB ram ddr3 1067mhz
500hdd
 
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How much RAM do you have in the "slow" systems and how much memory utilization and page outs are you seeing?
 
You said you ran a virus scan, so you must have a virus scanner program on there and those traditionally will drastically slow down any computer. You do not need anti-virus software for your Mac's.

Mac Virus/Malware Info
 
My pc was so slow with virus scan.Switched to new mac in Dec and it flies.Dump that virus scan
 
jsf8x said:
Is this really true? If so. Why?
Click to expand...

ECUpirate44 said:
It is true. Read the guide and you will find out why. There are no virus's for OSX
Click to expand...

Just as mentioned, read the guide I posted and you will understand. There are only a couple of old ones out there that cannot infect your system unless you specifically allow it by entering your password from pirated software. Otherwise, general browsing and downloading will not harm you.
 
By the fact you have anti-virus, I take it you bought your mac at best buy. Not nocking on you, it's best buy and how they try to add on crap that costs just as much as the computer.

FYI, delete the crap virus software. you computer should fly. My wifes macbook, Core 2 Duo 2Ghz, 1Gb ram (2007 model) chugs along decently on SL, but my iMac i3 3.2ghz 4Gb ram just fly's. So 3 possible things...

1. Anti-Virus Crap
2. Possible hardware malfunction, but I tend to believe it's software
3. Trolling

I don't think it's 3 because you seem sincere and actually seem to want help to figure it out. Plus I try to give ppl benefit of the doubt. Anyways, as others have said, delete anti-virus, run permission and disk repair, shut down and turn back on and see how it goes. Hope it helps!
 
I'm fairly sure Best Buy does not add any software to any of the Apple products. They never have for any of mine.
 
I second creating a new user account and testing.

Are you running any background apps? Do you have any apps or network devices in your user account Login Items?
 
SandboxGeneral said:
Just as mentioned, read the guide I posted and you will understand. There are only a couple of old ones out there that cannot infect your system unless you specifically allow it by entering your password from pirated software. Otherwise, general browsing and downloading will not harm you.
Click to expand...

what about clamxav ? does it slow the computer too ?

i am using it for windows viruses not mac.
 
A modern computer should have no problem running antivirus software. it's something else that's slowing your computers down.
 
bo-waleed said:
what about clamxav ? does it slow the computer too ?
i am using it for windows viruses not mac.
Click to expand...
Any anti-virus app is going to consume some system resources, leaving less available for other apps. It's simply not necessary to keep AV running on a Mac. If you're sharing files with Windows PCs, you can launch the AV to scan a file before you send it, then shut down the app. A more effective approach is to make sure that all Windows PCs with whom you share files have their own AV running, so they're protected from malware, no matter what the source. Read the link that SandboxGeneral posted for more details, especially the section on "What about sending files to Windows users?".
 
Open activity monitor (spotlight search "activity monitor") and look why your mac is getting slow. I got 4gb ram in my macbook pro and safari ends up eating most of it (+ using some adobe apps = slow downs). Look what tasks use too much cpu or ram and try to get rid of them. Restarting Safari / Firefox will help most of the time.

EDIT: And my macbook pro tends to get laggy when there's only 1-2gb diskspace is left.
 
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GGJstudios said:
Any anti-virus app is going to consume some system resources, leaving less available for other apps. It's simply not necessary to keep AV running on a Mac. If you're sharing files with Windows PCs, you can launch the AV to scan a file before you send it, then shut down the app. A more effective approach is to make sure that all Windows PCs with whom you share files have their own AV running, so they're protected from malware, no matter what the source. Read the link that SandboxGeneral posted for more details, especially the section on "What about sending files to Windows users?".
Click to expand...

Currently have Sophos open and running a complete scan of both drives on my system. It is using a piddly 3% of my CPU. I don't consider this an issue, and while I am not too worried about viruses for my Mac, I do like to help out my Microsoft brothers by not sending any malicious ware their way.

I do recommend Sophos, simply because it is not a CPU hog.
 
Mac.World said:
...I do like to help out my Microsoft brothers by not sending any malicious ware their way.
Click to expand...
That's fine if you elect to do that. I prefer to help out my Microsoft brothers by recommending that they run their own anti-virus, so they're protected against malware from all sources, not just my Mac. The only way you can have Windows malware on your Mac is to first get it from a Windows PC.
 
Translation: noob made Mac slow.

There is a reason why Apple computers top consumer satisfaction charts. It must be because Macs are slow. NOT. :rolleyes:
 
To the OP, how much disk space is left on your HDD? If you're below 10-20% space left, that will also slow you down dramatically.
 
I prefer to help out my Microsoft brothers by recommending that they switch to OS X.
 
normally Mac's are not slow at all , not even intel Mac's :rolleyes:

and there are only 3 things that can slow down a Mac

1 ) hardware fault..run hardware test its usually included on the install disc that came with your Mac
2 ) software fault ...need to find out whats hogging your CPU , GPU or ram run spin control it ill tell you exact which app is causing the beachball

3 ) user fault ...no solution found so far to eliminate that

but generally just telling us "my Mac is slow" does not really help to find out where the problem is

so ideally we need to know what is your activity monitor is telling you when you get the beachball


i mean i have a iMac core duo 1.83 which only has 2 gb ram ...sorry all it takes and never have seen a beachball really , no matter what i do.. ..ok maybe my faster harddrive helps (velociraptor)
but as your iMac is a 21.5 and a core 2 duo with more ghz and double the ram and faster ram too , you should have a really speedy Mac in comparison and should never see a beachball at all
 
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GGJstudios said:
The only way you can have Windows malware on your Mac is to first get it from a Windows PC.
Click to expand...
e-mail transmits viruses, regardless if it's a Mac or PC. This is what I was referring to. And while I agree with you, that all Windows users should have virus protection, I simply think it is a curtesy to the entire community to try and stop a virus before it spreads further. Maybe I'm naive that way.
 
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of course its a nice gesture to have mercy with windows users and install a anti virus app on your Mac as long as you look for one that does not take over your ram and processor completely :rolleyes:
 
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