Question:
We had a potential client ask us if we could help with a general problem of their ‘slow’ Mac.
The answer is a good starting point for anyone trying to keep their Mac fast and fresh.
Anwers4Macs said:
You’ve hit on the one thing we are least able to directly help with, unfortunately… a ‘slow’ Mac.
A slow PC is often has piles of free junk programs, virus software demos, add-on junk and you pay a PC shop $40 to hook it up to the Internet and some guy in India throws away a bunch of junk.
I’m sure there are Mac places that offer that sort of boilerplate service as well. But we tend to do more specific help for Macs, and much of it for small business (see below).
Why is My Mac Slow?
Macs get slow for different reasons usually. It’s good every few years to back up the whole computer and reinstall the basic Mac system and programs. It gives you a fresh start and keeps things tidy. I usually do it each time Apple releases a new Mac OS… like the new Mountain Lion 10.8 that came out a while back… I’ll wipe and start fresh.
The problem with that is, you have to live with the computer and use if for a few weeks to say ‘hey, I need XYZ program installed again’ and see what needs updated… it’s not a one time thing, it’s a process.
Speed Up Your Mac Without Us:
- See if you have enough RAM memory and buy more:
- Under your apple menu in the top left of your screen choose ‘About this Mac’ and look up your iMac model HERE to see how much RAM you can add total or use the Crucial Mac RAM scanner HERE which is very easy and will tell you what you have and can buy… plus their RAM is very high quality any only a tad more expensive. It’s what we use.
- too little RAM will make newer programs and ones that use lots of RAM like video, photo ones run slower
- See how close your hard drive is to full:
- in the Finder… blue smiley icon in your dock, click on ‘Macintosh HD’ and under the File menu, choose ‘Get Info’ to see how big the drive is and how much you’ve used a full hard drive is one of the biggest things that slow a Mac down
- Run a Mac cleanup app:
- I use Clean my Mac HERE and have found it safe and effective at freeing HD space, etc
- Another option in Magician HERE that does a similar set of things plus a few more (full disclosure: they contacted us to be aware of their product. No money of course
![:-)]()
Unlike PC ‘cleaner’ apps, these don’t install more junk, risk viruses, etc…. you pay for the app and it does a job for you
- Consider taking your Mac to Mac-Ave or the Apple Store:
- I really like Mac Ave and they have a shop in Webster NY. Info HERE They are particularly helpful if you feel your hard drive is dying, etc. That certainly can cause a slow/flakey Mac
- The biggest advice for any of this is to be sure your Mac is thoroughly backed up!
Unlike PC ‘cleaner’ apps, these don’t install more junk, risk viruses, etc…. you pay for the app and it does a job for youSo I hope that helps some.
What would you use Answers4Macs (Colin and Ken) for?
People use us to train them on Mac things:
- ‘How do I set up mail with different email account’ or create beautiful HTML email for my business
- ‘How do I organize my photos and send them to people’
- how to use pro Mac apps like Aperture, Final Cut, etc.
- Or using other Mac apps like Pages, Numbers, iMovie, iPhoto, etc.
- Lots of people also use us to set up good backup systems, find lost/trashed items, etc.
We help small businesses set up systems on their Macs to do everything they need. Give advice on apps to do anything and get their Macs and iPads and iPhones all working together.
