10-18-2006, 03:18 AM

So i got this MacWorld article..

y'know how the dock slows down over time?

go to the activity monitor and 'quit process' on the Dock

it will reset it and, for me at least, its run a LOT faster.

10-18-2006, 06:56 AM

Woah that is great, I never even noticed it was slow until I did this... thanks!

10-18-2006, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by kevin_msu

So i got this MacWorld article..

y'know how the dock slows down over time?

go to the activity monitor and 'quit process' on the Dock

it will reset it and, for me at least, its run a LOT faster.

Awesome tip..thanks

10-18-2006, 03:19 PM

i dont quite get what you mean.
i have gone into activity monitor and ended the process 'dock' but i dont see what it has done. the dock is still there and nothing has happened.

plz explain a bit

thanks

chris tm

10-18-2006, 09:46 PM

it might not work for everyone...

10-18-2006, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by kevin_msu

it might not work for everyone...

Didn't do anything for me. I have never noticed a slowing of the Dock, and I have never heard of such a thing being an issue for that matter either.
Could you please explain in a little more detail what exactly is supposed to happen, or can you link to the article you got this tip from?
It would help some people out and let them understand a little more.
:black:

10-20-2006, 01:24 AM

Mac OS X Hint of the Week
Over time, depending on which Dashboard widgets you use and how often you use them, you may notice that Dashboard grows slower -- each time you activate it, it might take a bit longer, or you may experience delays when working with a given widget. If this is the case, the following tip might help the situation -- but it certainly won't hurt anything to try it.
As you work with various Dashboard widgets, the Dashboard application caches information -- that is, it creates a local copy of various widgets' data. So if you need to access that data again, it's available locally, instead of requiring a trip to the Internet. These cache files are stored in your user's Library -> Caches folder, in a folder named DashboardClient.
So here's the tip: drag all the cache files in that folder to the trash and empty the trash. After doing this, you'll need to restart the Dock (as that's the program that controls Dashboard). You can do this by using Terminal (type killall Dock) or through Activity Monitor (in Applications -> Utilities; type dock into the search box, click once on the Dock process, then click the Quit Process button, then the Quit button in the resulting dialog). The Dock will restart automatically; after it does, try loading Dashboard and see if it's not faster for you.
I was initially quite doubtful -- cache is supposed to speed, not slow, access to information. But after testing it on my own machines, there's no doubt it made a difference. Since these are only cache files, you can't hurt anything by trying. Worst case, you'll find no change in speed, and the cache files will be recreated as needed.
If it works, and you'd like to permanently prevent Dashboard from creating any cache files, that's quite simple to do, too. Navigate to the DashboardClient folder, select it, then open the Get Info window (Command-I). In the General section of the Info window, click the Locked checkbox. That's it -- once the folder is locked, Dashboard won't be able to write to it any more. (Obviously, to reverse this, just open Get Info again and uncheck the Locked box.)
As I noted, this may or may not make any difference for you. My cache folder was nearly 20MB in size, and Dashboard was notably quicker after emptying the cache. A friend's machine, however, had only about 100KB in cache, and he saw no benefit to erasing the files.
For more tips like this one, visit http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxhints/ where I post three hints a week.

10-20-2006, 04:00 AM

Okay, that makes more sense. It speeds up Dashboard, not the Dock like you stated in your initial post:

Originally Posted by kevin_msu

y'know how the dock slows down over time?

go to the activity monitor and 'quit process' on the Dock

it will reset it and, for me at least, its run a LOT faster.

:black:

Personally, I use the Stop Dashboard Widget. It does pretty much the same thing, only it actually kills Dashboard so it doesn't eat up and hog system resources. All you have to do to launch it again is hit F12.
:black:

10-22-2006, 06:03 AM

sorry...

i'm new to the 'lingo'

09-11-2007, 08:08 PM

great post man, thanks for the tippy tip

09-11-2007, 08:16 PM

ya, i just disable dashboard with mainmenu... its a resource hog.

09-11-2007, 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by D3v1L80Y

Okay, that makes more sense. It speeds up Dashboard, not the Dock like you stated in your initial post:

:black:

Personally, I use the Stop Dashboard Widget. It does pretty much the same thing, only it actually kills Dashboard so it doesn't eat up and hog system resources. All you have to do to launch it again is hit F12.
:black:

well, now i don't actually have to reply to this post.
thanks DB!