04-16-2012, 04:56 PM

I am new to Mac Forums and am in desperate need of help. I have a 2008 IMac OSX 10.5.8 and it was running fine until 10 days ago. Now it is running so slow paint dries faster. I have tried a few things such as repairing permissions, emptying caches and probably things I shouldn't have done. Anyway I am at my wits end and need help!!

04-16-2012, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by Superdoc

I am new to Mac Forums and am in desperate need of help. I have a 2008 IMac OSX 10.5.8 and it was running fine until 10 days ago. Now it is running so slow paint dries faster. I have tried a few things such as repairing permissions, emptying caches and probably things I shouldn't have done. Anyway I am at my wits end and need help!!

1. How full is your HD (what size drive is it, and how many gigs free)?
2. What is the S.M.A.R.T. status of your HD (open Disk Utility, see info at bottom of the window)?

You could also download a maintenance program called ONYX...and run all of it's automatic scripts.

- Nick

04-17-2012, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by pigoo3

1. How full is your HD (what size drive is it, and how many gigs free)?
2. What is the S.M.A.R.T. status of your HD (open Disk Utility, see info at bottom of the window)?

You could also download a maintenance program called ONYX...and run all of it's automatic scripts.

- Nick

Nick, thank-you for your reply. I got distracted and could not continue the conversation. In answer to your questions; the size of the hard drive is 465.44 GB with 393.77 free. Used 70.61 GB on disc. System memory is used 1.91 GB with 2 GB free. S.M.A.R.T. status is verified. Does this helpand what does it all mean? I suspect I need more RAM.

Superdoc

04-19-2012, 12:01 AM

I have downloaded and run onyx without any improvement in speed and web pages are taking forever to load. Do I need more RAM????

04-25-2012, 12:10 AM

I think I need to increase RAM in my 2008 IMAC 8,1. What is the maximum amount ie 6,8,16
GB and what manufacturer?

04-25-2012, 11:30 AM

Maximum memory for your machine (iMac, 8,1) is 6 GB. Buy from Crucial or OWC.

05-01-2012, 10:57 PM

Thanks chscag for the information. I am convinced that increasing RAM will get my computer back on track and open web pages faster. I will keep you posted after I have installed the 6 GB RAM.

05-02-2012, 01:12 AM

what about replacing your system files first? i mean if it started to work slow all of a sudden and was fine before - it can just mean that you have a program installed that absolutely eats up all your RAM or maybe you have really corrupt files you can't use anymore?

05-02-2012, 12:30 PM

Thanks Macmania, getting to a website is also very slow as well as opening pages. I am not a computer techy and I have no idea how to replace system files. How would I know that I have corrupt files, corrupt meaning what? I would appreciate your help.

05-02-2012, 09:28 PM

More RAM is always good! Though have you looked in activity monitor to see whats hogging all your resources?

05-03-2012, 12:40 AM

you are welcome :-) corrupt can mean a lot of things, e.g. a file which needs another to correspond can't find it and the process isn't done.
to replace files - while you start your computer press the alt key and you get into a new menu. choose the recovery partition and replace your files.

Originally Posted by Superdoc

Thanks Macmania, getting to a website is also very slow as well as opening pages. I am not a computer techy and I have no idea how to replace system files. How would I know that I have corrupt files, corrupt meaning what? I would appreciate your help.

05-03-2012, 01:50 AM

When you say the iMac is slow, is it just the Web and loading pages that is slow, or the whole OS like booting and launching applications?

Even though it passed the SMART test, the hard drive still could be starting to fail.

05-04-2012, 12:45 AM

dtravis7, just the Web and loading pages is slow. Booting and launching applications appear to be okay. I didn't need to hear that my hard drive could be failing. Not a good thought!

05-04-2012, 03:05 AM

That was why I asked if the whole thing was going slow or just the web. If it's just the web, I doubt it's the drive.

What Web browsers have you tried? Have you tried more than just Safari?

05-04-2012, 04:45 AM

Since you say it's only web pages that are loading slowly, two thoughts come to mind:

1. How long ago did you sign up for high-speed broadband? Some promos run for only "x" months and then revert back to a much slower speed. A lot of people appear not to know this.

2. If it's not that, you could try deleting the cache in your web browser.