Sluggish mbp

The last few months my MBP purchased just before the new '09's came out is running very sluggish (windoz like) the rainbow Beach ball will spin for a good while even when doing something simple like open a recent word document. Is there anything I can do to find the culprit?.


This is basically a desktop set up with external monitor etc.
Also I have an issue with the battery it says "service battery" and will only run a few minutes without external power.

Thanks for any help
Pastor Kenny

1stly welcome to the forums Pastor.
2nd thing is you will need to clean your Mac up a bit. We can start by repairing permissions
Empty Trash 1st then
goto
Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility and in the left column click on your HD then down the bottom click on repair permissions. This might take a while if it hasnt been done for a while and dont be worried about all the stuff the log brings out.

Once done log out then back in and you should have a faster Mac.

On the battery you might have to calibrate it. Do the permissions 1st then post back

EDIT: here is a link to help battery calibration Battery Calibration
Cheers

Thanks for the quick reply Tat!

I am working on it now and it says it will take 2 hours.... 1 hour 20 minutes... 22 minutes...
I will post back after it completes

YW mate and it should be without BBOD lol

More on the battery though it might be time for a new one BC only a couple minutes without the power cord in, im pretty sure a calibration wont fix it tht much.
But is worth a try.
Still under warranty ?? If so could be a clean swap ??

The permissions repair is complete,

I unplugged the power supply and it shows about 30 minutes of power left. actually the time left is increasing...? The warranty is past and I didn't pick up the Apple Care. I misspoke earlier the computer us a 08' model, about 18 months old.

Ahh ok
So no spinning wheel then ?
Did you do the calibration on the battery ?? Time increasing is always a good thing then.

not sure how to calibrate
so far no BBOD!

from the Apple support

The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:

Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.
Disconnect the power adapter while the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, the low battery warning dialog appears on the screen.
At this point, save your work. Continue to use your computer; when the battery gets very low, the computer will automatically go to sleep.
Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.
Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer's memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.

Hope all goes well. if you need more help post back as i have to shoot off very shortly. Good luck with it mate

Cheers

I attempted the above steps here is what happened.

while I was working on the machine it still had some time left on the battery meter, the machine suddenly shut down (no low battery warning) I tried to restart it but it would not get past the apple screen, I left it off all night. This morning the meter (uplugged) shows 22 Minutes left

The battery meter also STILL shows "service battery". Is it worth taking it to Apple to have it looked at or should I just buy a new battery? The machine is 18 months old.

PastorKenny said:

I attempted the above steps here is what happened.

while I was working on the machine it still had some time left on the battery meter, the machine suddenly shut down (no low battery warning) I tried to restart it but it would not get past the apple screen, I left it off all night. This morning the meter (uplugged) shows 22 Minutes left

The battery meter also STILL shows "service battery". Is it worth taking it to Apple to have it looked at or should I just buy a new battery? The machine is 18 months old.

Click to expand...

it can't hurt to take it in and remember no matter what be as polite as possible
they have fixed things for free in the past.