- Joined
- Nov 28, 2011
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
Basically I am not now and probably will not become a Mac person
but my new girlfriend of about 4 months is a Mac girl and well she
isn't very tech savy.
I am very experience in the PC world, having been building, setting up,
troubleshooting and fixing PC's for over ten years now. Chances are if
you have a PC/Windows related problem I can fix it.
So mainly right now I've been mainly a windows guy, starting from
windows 95 all the way to the windows 8 beta and I have used
(although not liked) every M$ OS inbetween.
However she is having issues with her 13" White MacBook model number
MB062LL/A. It's a 2.16ghz Core 2 Duo with 1GB of ram and a 120GB hard
drive. It's running kinda slow especially on the internet and when she goes
to play facebook games like the sims or monopoly.
I did the proper tech maintenance to this thing already.
I disassembled the MacBook and sprayed her out completely to remove all the dust. I didn't think to remove the heat sink and apply new thermal compound or check to make sure the fan is still running as she does get a little hot. I removed the memory sticks and cleaned the connectors.
I've installed and run CCleaner on the macbook which basically gets rid of all the "crap" that will accumulate on your computer. But it really doesn't seem to have made a huge difference.
I've also noticed she only has 1GB of memory installed and from researching it seems this isn't good enough in the mac world. Windows vs Mac aside I know that memory is a big deal and you need to have enough of it, it's too cheap not to have enough so I've ordered her a 4GB (2x2GB) set of memory sticks. I've heard that this particular macbook will only recognize 3GB of it?
Even if that is true, 3GB is much better then just 1GB. 3 times better!
Her battery isn't being recognized by the computer and the "about system" thingy tells her to replace the battery now so I bought her a replacement.
The ram and the new battery should be here soon.
Here are my questions:
1) How do I go about formatting this drive and doing a fresh, clean reinstall of the Snow Leopard operating system. I am not sure if she has any disks at all for this. I know for windows this is a simple procedure but as I sort of understand it, each "install DVD" for mac has the specific drivers for that hardware "built" into the disk. It's not a generic install disk like say a windows 7 DVD would be. Do I absolutely have to have this disk? If she doesn't have it what can I do about that?
I ask question number one because in the PC world when a computer is running like crap, most often the best and quickest course of action is to backup your files and do a complete format followed by a re installation of the operating system.
2) How well does this Intel GMA 950 graphics run? I mean she is claiming to have issues playing facebook games but I'm wondering if that's a "fixable" problem. I know that my Dell XPS M1530 sort of lags when playing facebook games but can play WoW just fine at high resolutions with settings turned up.
3) She wants to get Lion installed. I am planning on getting her a SSD to improve the performance of this macbook. Is there anything I should know about? Does Lion support TRIM? I'm planning on a 120GB SSD, as if she does get a new laptop in the future she can take the SSD with her.
I'm trying to fix up her MacBook and "future proof" it for a little while and make it usable for her. Buying her a new one is out of the question as mac products are VERY expensive. I'm fine with putting $200 into the one she has (battery, ram and SSD) if it means the mac will run like a champ again. I do think it needs formatted and a fresh install of Snow Leopard for the time being though.
Any advice?
Thanks in advance! ;D
but my new girlfriend of about 4 months is a Mac girl and well she
isn't very tech savy.
I am very experience in the PC world, having been building, setting up,
troubleshooting and fixing PC's for over ten years now. Chances are if
you have a PC/Windows related problem I can fix it.
So mainly right now I've been mainly a windows guy, starting from
windows 95 all the way to the windows 8 beta and I have used
(although not liked) every M$ OS inbetween.
However she is having issues with her 13" White MacBook model number
MB062LL/A. It's a 2.16ghz Core 2 Duo with 1GB of ram and a 120GB hard
drive. It's running kinda slow especially on the internet and when she goes
to play facebook games like the sims or monopoly.
I did the proper tech maintenance to this thing already.
I disassembled the MacBook and sprayed her out completely to remove all the dust. I didn't think to remove the heat sink and apply new thermal compound or check to make sure the fan is still running as she does get a little hot. I removed the memory sticks and cleaned the connectors.
I've installed and run CCleaner on the macbook which basically gets rid of all the "crap" that will accumulate on your computer. But it really doesn't seem to have made a huge difference.
I've also noticed she only has 1GB of memory installed and from researching it seems this isn't good enough in the mac world. Windows vs Mac aside I know that memory is a big deal and you need to have enough of it, it's too cheap not to have enough so I've ordered her a 4GB (2x2GB) set of memory sticks. I've heard that this particular macbook will only recognize 3GB of it?
Even if that is true, 3GB is much better then just 1GB. 3 times better!
Her battery isn't being recognized by the computer and the "about system" thingy tells her to replace the battery now so I bought her a replacement.
The ram and the new battery should be here soon.
Here are my questions:
1) How do I go about formatting this drive and doing a fresh, clean reinstall of the Snow Leopard operating system. I am not sure if she has any disks at all for this. I know for windows this is a simple procedure but as I sort of understand it, each "install DVD" for mac has the specific drivers for that hardware "built" into the disk. It's not a generic install disk like say a windows 7 DVD would be. Do I absolutely have to have this disk? If she doesn't have it what can I do about that?
I ask question number one because in the PC world when a computer is running like crap, most often the best and quickest course of action is to backup your files and do a complete format followed by a re installation of the operating system.
2) How well does this Intel GMA 950 graphics run? I mean she is claiming to have issues playing facebook games but I'm wondering if that's a "fixable" problem. I know that my Dell XPS M1530 sort of lags when playing facebook games but can play WoW just fine at high resolutions with settings turned up.
3) She wants to get Lion installed. I am planning on getting her a SSD to improve the performance of this macbook. Is there anything I should know about? Does Lion support TRIM? I'm planning on a 120GB SSD, as if she does get a new laptop in the future she can take the SSD with her.
I'm trying to fix up her MacBook and "future proof" it for a little while and make it usable for her. Buying her a new one is out of the question as mac products are VERY expensive. I'm fine with putting $200 into the one she has (battery, ram and SSD) if it means the mac will run like a champ again. I do think it needs formatted and a fresh install of Snow Leopard for the time being though.
Any advice?
Thanks in advance! ;D