25 Ways to Speed Up Your Mac

INSIDER RESOURCES

Special Sponsored Section

The video player requires Flash 8 Player or later. Please download the latest Flash Player.

FEATURE
100 Snow Leopard Tips, Tricks, and Features

FEATURE
OS X Browser Speed Wars: May the Fastest App Win

FEATURE
The Complete iTunes History -- SoundJam MP to iTunes 9

FEATURE
iTunes 9 Tips and Tricks - Solve the Mysteries of the New iTunes

TOP STORIES

Feature

25 Ways to Speed Up Your Mac

Posted 04/28/2009 at 10:51:09pm | by Michael Simon

Clearcutting Through the Jungle

Like the font cache, Safari keeps its own stockpile of temporary files that need to be purged every so often to reach optimal speed. Simply press Option+Command+E in any open Safari window. For best results, relaunch the browser too.

What’s Your Preference?

You might not think a 4KB text document could have much of an effect on your favorite apps’ performance, but tiny preference files can wreak havoc on your system, leading to spinning beach balls and untimely crashes. You can tromp through the Preferences folder yourself to find the offending file or download PreferenceCleaner to keep your hands clean.

Start Me Up (or Not)

You won’t find the massive amounts of bloatware that Microsoft crams into Vista, but there might be a few unnecessary startup apps that are quietly dragging down your system. Go check out your Accounts pane and sift through your login items for any unwanted guests.

Just a Little Off the (Desk)top

Mac users have been hearing this since the days of System 7. Of course, OS X handles things a whole lot better--with none of those pesky monthly rebuilds--but if you’re in the habit of cluttering your Desktop with lots of photos and movies, it’s a good idea to organize them into folders every few weeks, especially if your view options are set to render icon previews.

Downsize Me

Just like a messy Desktop can slow things down, an overstuffed hard drive can drag down your Mac, too. With an extensive library of music and movies, even 250GB can fill up fast, so keep an eye on your available space. When there’s less than 20 percent remaining, you might want to buy look into some external alternatives.

Get off at the next bus stop

Peripheral devices such as printers, PowerMates and docks are nice to have on standby, but too many of them can cause a bottleneck that puts undue strain on your Mac. Most USB accessories don’t need to be tethered when not in use, so if your Mac is experiencing periodic slowdowns, try unplugging a few peripherals.

To Defrag or Not to Defrag

The merits of defragmenting a Mac hard drive have been debated since the days of OS 8, but there’s one thing no one will disagree with: It can’t hurt to tighten things up. iDefrag may be a little pricey, but it’s head and shoulders above the rest.

Stand Firmware You Are

They’re not as frequent as OS updates, but every so often Apple releases a model-specific firmware update to tackle a specific hardware issue. These downloads don’t always appear in Software Update, so remember to check out the Support section of Apple’s Web page for the latest release.

Wham, PRAM, Thank You, Ma’am

Like repairing permissions, resetting PRAM (parameter RAM) and SMC (System Management Controller) isn’t a universal cure for everything that’s ailing your Mac, but it’s good for fixing power issues, mouse lag or other settings that may keep your Mac from running at its best. Zapping the PRAM is easy--hold down Command+Option+P+R before the bong--but the SMC is a little trickier, so you might want to read Apple's support document.

COMMENTS: 21

TAGS: OS X, Utilities, speed

COMMENTS

A great tool to help with these tips
Submitted by homemaderobot on Wed, 2009-04-29 05:06

Check out a program called Xupport. While this can be a paid application, you do have the option of running it for free (which gives you a delay in loading, but its worth it). The program helps with optimizing your system, clearing caches, running maintenance scripts, disabling 3D effects or changing the color of your dock, managing virtual RAM, etc.

I use it at work mostly, but I also run it on my macbook every once and a while. You can find it in Apple's Download section.

Login or register to post comments

Your "Stick to the Scripts" tip is obsolete.
Submitted by obvioustroll on Wed, 2009-04-29 05:31

There hasn't been a need to run the daily, weekly or monthly scripts by hand since 10.4. These jobs are now managed by anacron and periodic (10.4) or by launchd (10.5) - in either case, if the computer is sleeping or off when the time to run a job passes, it will just run the job the next time it's started.

Login or register to post comments

not really obsolete
Submitted by Michael Simon on Wed, 2009-04-29 07:46

I included the scripts tip for a number of reasons. First, not everyone has Leopard, and the 10.4.3 "launchd" update was known to sleep on the job. Also, some people have reported problems with maintenance script automation after waking from sleep in Leopard. So, I think it's best to run them when things get slow, even if they might be redundant.
Login or register to post comments

Scripts are NOT automatic
Submitted by MacRob on Wed, 2009-04-29 12:07

I have had Leopard since the day it came out, and I have never had The scripts run unless the computer was on at the time they were scheduled. I usually shut down when I'm not using my Mac. I just checked my scripts, and the monthly hasn't been run since Feb 1, 2009. I'm going to wait until May to check again, then I'll do it myself if it doesn't take care of itself.OSX 10.5.6 on a MacPro.

Login or register to post comments

evidence!
Submitted by Michael Simon on Wed, 2009-04-29 13:22

This is exactly what I'm talking about. The script(s) are supposed to run as soon as the computer wakes from sleep (assuming it was sleeping through the scheduled 3 a.m. maintenance) but that doesn't always happen. So, running them manually is a good habit to get into.
Login or register to post comments

great article - terrible finish
Submitted by garyedgar on Fri, 2009-05-01 11:23

I know it's harmless fun - but is it possible for this magazine/website to write an article just once without trashing Windows? It's just lazy and frankly for people who aren't blindly fanatical - not in anyway helpful. Just a suggestion.

Login or register to post comments

great article - terrible finish
Submitted by dBraf on Sat, 2009-05-16 11:52

Different strokes - I didn't see that particular comment as Windows bashing, to me it was a reminder to 'keep things in perspective'. We now live in a consumer society that conditions us to be dissatisfied with what we have, to tempt us to 'buy more'. I have 2 'hot' Apples (iMac24+MacBookPro17) 4Gb each and i still find myself looking for more speed (why I'm reading the article) and it's only when I have to help a friend/colleague with a PC that i appreciate how lucky I am and how much extra stress they have to tolerate in their environment !

Login or register to post comments

Aiyay!
Submitted by Gaursun on Mon, 2009-05-25 13:57

I agree. I just switch to Mac a few months ago. When I am at work on the pc's and dealing with issues for hours and sometimes days at a time that seem wholey unproductive, due to slowness, etc. etc. it is like a breath of fresh air to get home and I do want to bear-hug my Mac. Thanks to MIchael for the great tips on upkeep, this site is always wonderfully informative.

Login or register to post comments

"Automatic" scripts ?
Submitted by edwinblaw on Tue, 2009-05-05 07:35

I, too, have had Leopard, updated to 10.5.6, since issue. I also have 'Cocktail' but never used it. As a result of this excellent article, I did check and found the last script run was last July.

I also thought if it tried to run and couldn't it would then run when awakened. Apparently not so. I just used 'Cocktail' to set my 'run' to 1300 when the machine is usually awake but I am at lunch.

Thanks for the tip. I am also a Maximum PC avid reader and I see a similartiy and THAT IS a compliment,

Ed The only love you can buy is that of a dog.

Login or register to post comments

Monolingual – DON'T USE!!!!!!!!
Submitted by dmckill on Wed, 2009-05-06 11:43

Before you download Monolingual...PLEASE READ! I, as well as a few designers I work with, read this article and decided to try some of the space saving suggestions that we hadn't tried in the past. Upon downloading Monolingual and running the software, we found that we saved anywhere between 1GB and 3.5GB respectfully on our machines. The problems occurred after shutting down and restarting the next day. All of us had issues opening Adobe Acrobat (CS3 in Leopard) and one designer couldn't open ANY CS3 programs, while I, myself, couldn't open Microsoft Office. It was until we ran Monolingual that these issues/problems arose. We had to re-install the OS as well as the software to fix all the problems we ran into. If you're going to try this piece of software...BEWARE and definitely BACK-UP your data!!!!!

Login or register to post comments

Monolingual
Submitted by JustinMHas on Mon, 2009-05-18 19:03

Very true. I have an old PowerBook G4 and it had a kernel panic while running monolingual. I was running software update at the same time and you could make a case that monolingual wasn't the cause of the kernel panic, but it's definitely something to consider. Also, monolingual only freed up about 128 MB of space on my MacBook Pro, which could be a lot for some but isn't that much for a 150 GB drive.

Login or register to post comments

Editor/Proofreader anyone?
Submitted by nemodomi@comcast.net on Thu, 2009-05-07 17:57

I'm stunned by the large number of typos in this article. Are you guys professional or what? Seriously, I'd be embarrassed to have this kind of non-quality on my Web site if I were you. BTW I'm available for meticulous editing and proofreading services at very reasonable rates if you're interested, though I imagine, by appearances, that you're NOT. Good luck.

Login or register to post comments

Grammar Nazi Rebuke!
Submitted by Jokotai on Tue, 2009-08-18 13:27

Your own post here is very poorly stated. So, first, don't post to random magazine forums in the hopes to drum up business for yourself. Second, if this is an example of your writing expertise, find another line of work. I've seen better editors in high school classrooms.

Login or register to post comments

Clueless
Submitted by gskibum on Fri, 2009-05-22 18:47

About 75% nonsense this article is.I'm amused as to how he confuses storing documents on one's Desktop (prior to OS X) with the occasional need to rebuild the Desktop File. That was an idiotic myth that still won't die.Documents stored on the Desktop had nothing to do with the pair of invisible files known as the Desktop File. They were completely unrelated and there was ZERO performance hit by storing files on one's Desktop.I’ve heard this claim going back at least to the System 6 days, and it has always been nothing but complete nonsense. Time after time people would mistakingly associate the pair of invisible files known as “Desktop DB” and “Desktop DF” with the Desktop folder. The only thing in common with the two invisible files and the Desktop folder are their names! Every volume, whether an internal hard disk, external hard disk, Zip disk, Benoulli or Syquest or whatever had this pair of invisible files. The Mac OS would store information within these files about the association between any given application and the icons associated with and it and documents created with it. Desktop DB stood for Desktop BNDL. These files could become corrupt which is where the old “rebuild your Desktop” troubleshooting step came from,There was in no file system association. I would dismiss out of hand any and all advice coming from a supposed Mac expert that makes such a claim as storing files on the Desktop wastes resources any more than storing files in say, the user’s Documents folder. It is a demonstration of just how little they understand the way the Mac OS works.Nothing but fluff articles like this are why I don't subscribe to this magazine.

Login or register to post comments

Stacks in the dock...
Submitted by kevkevallen on Sun, 2009-06-14 21:22

Rendering icons in the Stacks in your Dock hog more memory than you might think, especially if you have a ton of stacks, and a lot of files in those stacks. Even alias's can hog memory if you have enough of them. Remember, when it comes to memory, every Byte counts!

Login or register to post comments

While System Preferences is
Submitted by macosx on Fri, 2009-08-14 07:09

While System Preferences is open, take a look at a few other things. Apple has generously included a number of very useful features as preferences. Some, however, may not be useful to you, such as Universal Access (which offers help for visually and hearing impaired users) or Bluetooth (which allows certain devices to be used wirelessly). If you don't use these features, verify that they are turned off. This will save you some valuable RAM and processor resources.
Free games

Login or register to post comments

Backup before using idefrag, is there another way to do it??...
Submitted by ManuelHuerta on Sun, 2009-08-23 11:12

I checked the iDefrag "Readme file" that came with the demo version, and they say that you should do a BackUp of all your important files, just in case, so that does not give me much security using this software, so I have 2 questions: Is there another way to defragment my mac besides using iDefrag or is it secure using it?, and How often should I defrag my mac?

Login or register to post comments

Nice list
Submitted by lora.a on Fri, 2009-10-09 17:10

I use Xupport mostly, but I also run it on my macbook every once and a while. You can find it in Apple's Download section.
teen depression - lasik surgery

Login or register to post comments

Great tips
Submitted by sam77am on Sat, 2009-10-24 23:45

Wow, nice to see cool tips here...thanks all!

Free Game

Login or register to post comments

omega watches
Submitted by benet (not verified) on Tue, 2009-11-10 19:52

Every little chat Salon 1000 ah!replica watchYou are my best's buddy
jkdfjuw

Login or register to post comments

rwe4h4a شات دردشه
Submitted by lovestar on Sat, 2009-11-28 16:16

rwe4h4a شات دردشه شات كويتي دردشه كويتيه ، شات كويت60 شات كازنوفا شات سعودي شاات مصريه شات كويت25fg3fwf

Login or register to post comments