My Macbook is running SUPER SLOW

My macbook is running super slow. I really started noticing it yesterday when playing with some photos in Lightroom2. Its ungodly slow though, I cannot really do anything. Even alot of applications close on me...

Here is what I have done..

1. uninstalled CS4 master collection completely (obviously will have to put back on, but thought might be cause because I just installed few days ago).

2. uninstalled paralells w/ Vista. (no biggie, dont want it anyway). But for some reason it still tries to boot into Windows on startup, anyone know how to make it go to OSX instead without holding down ALT key?

3. in disk utility I did the repair permissions.

4. restarted few times, deleted a bunch of crap, etc..

I dont really know whats going on. I have a black macbook with 2.2ghz and about 2-3 weeks ago bought memory upgrade. I have 4gb of memory. Could the memory I bought be bad all of a sudden or could I have a virus or something like that? I download alot of music and crap...

thanks, looking for any help I can get, thanks!

Have you pulled up memory in system profiler and seen that it says ok in the last line also do you leave it on for 24hours every once in a while so unix
can perform maintenance and there is a widget called MAINTIDGET which
you can manually run scripts daily weekly and monthly.

Start by looking here:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/93819-basic-os-x-mac-troubleshooting.html

2. You uninstalled Parallels but your MacBook still wants to boot to Windows?

You must have a Boot Camp partition with Windows installed on it and were using Parallels to access the BC partition. Removing Parallels and the Vista VM does not remove Vista since it's still installed on your BC partition.

To remove Vista and the BC partition, run the Boot Camp assistant from OS X and select "create partition", "restore". That will permanently remove the BC partition and Vista. Your Mac HD will be restored to OS X. If you don't want to remove Windows, do this:

Open System Preferences, click on "Startup Disk" and make OS X (Macintosh HD) the default.

Regards.

okay, I did everything you guys mentioned here. memory says ok, followed all the steps of the troubleshooting and didnt change anything. I then downloaded that onyx program and ran it. Rebooted and BAM!!!! my computer wouldnt start anymore. It would stay stuck at the apple screen with the thing spinning. It stayed there for like 3 hours. Rebooted numerous times and same thing. So I finally just put in my original apple discs and did an archive and install. So far I havent noticed losing a single file or anything. I even have all my same programs in there.

I havent had much time to play with it because it was a late night, but I did open up iphoto and try to import some photos (about 150 photos mix of raw and jpg) and it was at the importing photo screen for a while this morning and I had to leave for work...

Does this typically take a long time? I dont ever use iphoto, but havent reinstalled CS4 yet.

Sounds like you might have a hardware issue, specifically, a bad hard drive. I would run the Apple Hardware Test and see what it finds.

thanks, I will give that a try tonight when I get home.

Okay, Im getting really irritated. I did the hardware test last night. I opted to go for the extended type and it took about 1.5 hours to run. The results came back perfectly fine.

So to recap. I have a 2.2ghz, 160gb Black MacBook that came with 1gb memory (2 512s). And was running fine for a while, then did all of the following pretty much at the same time...

1. upgraded to 4gb (2 2gb sticks) from my local Frys. Was pretty cheap, think I only paid $70 for the "kit"

2. installed parallels, it ran slow so I uninstalled it. Then tried bootcamp, but decided I didnt even want windows on my Mac, so took it off.

3. installed CS4 master collection and opted to install every application in the package. (have since totally uninstalled this for now)

4. transfered all my music to my macbook's hard drive. Have about 3,000 songs and takes up about 20gb hard drive space. (this is still all on my hard drive).

5. did all the things listed above (hardware test, cleaning, uninstalled programs, archive and reinstall OSX, etc)...


I did all of these things within about a week or two span and in this order. I didnt really start noticing any real MAJOR slowing down until I did #3 and #4 the same day. Now when I try to do anything i get that spinning rainbow circle thing. I can surf internet, but even browsing my pictures folder and click on a picture to preview, it takes forever.

Im not sure if its my memory or some sort of software type issue. I did just about everything I know to do, anyone have anymore thoughts? Im desperate.

Did you ever run any of the disk operations mentioned in the Basic OS X Troubleshooting guide?

1) Reboot the Computer. -did this one countless amount of times

2) Clean Your Caches - ran the Onyx program, this is one after I ran and restarted I couldnt get it to boot up and had to do archive and reinstall OSX.

3) Delete the .plist file - didn't do this

4) Repair Disk Permissions - did this once

5) Run Disk Repair - think I did this one? Not 100% sure, but think so

6) Resetting the PRAM: did this once

7) File System Check - did not try this

8) Reset Nonvolatile Firmware - did not try this either

Definitely do #7.

Okay, I will do that tonight. But do you or anyone else have any other suggestions? Any chance it could be the new memory even though everything says its OK? One thing I haven't done that I probably should have is put the original back in and try it. The only reason Im hesitant about my memory is it was such a good deal. $69 for 4gb just seems cheap to me.

00bolt said:

Okay, I will do that tonight. But do you or anyone else have any other suggestions? Any chance it could be the new memory even though everything says its OK? One thing I haven't done that I probably should have is put the original back in and try it. The only reason Im hesitant about my memory is it was such a good deal. $69 for 4gb just seems cheap to me.

Click to expand...

Yes, there's a chance the memory is the culprit. Generic memory can be a huge problem and sometimes difficult to pin down. If you continue to have problems after doing a file system check, I'd recommend removing the new memory and seeing if the problem persists. If it does, I'd return the upgrade and buy it from a more reputable source (I recommend Crucial.com).

I will try that for sure. Fry's is actually a very HUGE electronics store in my area and trusted. Its like 3-4 Best Buys under one roof.

00bolt said:

I will try that for sure. Fry's is actually a very HUGE electronics store in my area and trusted. Its like 3-4 Best Buys under one roof.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't trying to defame Fry's, because they're just the seller. But if you bought generic, low-quality memory, there is a world of difference by going with a higher quality name-brand vendor like Crucial.

wow, that memory is even cheaper than stuff I have...

Computer memory upgrades for Apple MacBook 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (13-inch Black) MB063LL/B Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

00bolt said:

wow, that memory is even cheaper than stuff I have...

Computer memory upgrades for Apple MacBook 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (13-inch Black) MB063LL/B Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

Click to expand...

And that's from a top-tier vendor with outstanding customer service and a lifetime warranty.

well I ran the test and it came back clear. So it appears there is nothing wrong with my computer. My bet is on the memory (at least I hope it is). But I couldnt find a small enough screwdriver last night and got wrapped up hanging Christmas lights. Im going to try that today as a last straw, guess if that doesnt work I need to take somewhere to have someone look at it. I think it might still be under warranty.

ya I just looked, I bought my Macbook in March 2008 on apple.com

what is the standard warranty period? Wonder if I can still get extended warranty for it?

Okay, little update if anyone is following this with similar problems.

Did the file system check, everything came back clear. Replaced my memory to original memory. No luck, still really slow.

Called apple support and guys said I basically did everything he would know to do, but had me try one more thing and create a new user. Created a new user and it didnt really fix my previous issue. But when I restarted my computer a day later it froze back up. Now it wont start again, stuck at the blue screen after the grey apple screen.

Tried to do another archive and install and its officially crashed. After getting through the first install disc, it said it needed to restart and be ready with disc 2. It restarted and then froze up and stuck at the blue screen again, never prompted for disc 2 or anything. Difference now is I get this little folder at bottom with a question mark flashing... It now just boots directly to my OSX cd.

Not sure whats going on, Im a dumb azz and didnt take off the photos I needed to while I could, so Im still needing files off this computer. I bought a firewire and going to see if I can access them this way off a friends Mac tonight. Then Im taking to applestore tomorrow to a "genius" to fix...

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it's a bad hard drive. Is your machine still in-warranty?