colored disk/slow mac

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how can i stop or at least lessen the colored disk and speed up my mac? thx
 
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You can start by giving us some specs for your mac. Such as year , model, and a little hardware info
 
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osx version 10.6.8 2.4 ghz intel core duo
1 gb 800 mhz ddr2 sdram
 
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Your Mac's Specs
27" iMac (Mid 2011), 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 2GB Video Card, 2TB HDD
Upgrade that 1gb of RAM to at least 4 (more than 4 recommended though). Pretty much all hard drives back when the Core Duo's were shipping were 5400 RPM drives. Upgrading that to at least a 7200 RPM drive would do wonders and it'd also give you a lot more drive space too. (Note: SSD drives would be even faster and more reliable but they are expensive and you don't get a lot of space with them).

The RAM is easy to upgrade and install yourself. Thats just a matter of popping the old RAM sticks out and replacing them with the new ones. The hard drive will be much more tricky because you'll have to back everything up first of all, create a bootable external installer drive for OSX (I usually just use USB thumb drives), install the new hard drive in the computer, and re-install OSX on the new drive.

Either upgrade would make your machine zippier. Both upgrades in tandem would give your computer a significant shot of adrenaline to keep it going strong for another year or two.

Please realize though that the core duo's are pretty old (not to be confused with the Core 2 Duo's) and they're getting close to being totally obsolete if they haven't become so already. These upgrades are only postponing the inevitable...
 
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being a core duo model is gonna limit your ram upgrade. This is an early 2006 model mac your likely only gonna be able to upgrade to 2 gigs of ram. But its still quite capable of being a usefull computer.

I would check the startup items folder and see if it has a lot of stuff loading at startup , eliminate any startup items you don't need running. Use disk utilities to repair the disk and permissions.

It also wouldn't hurt being this old of a mac to either take it and have it cleaned out and new thermal paste applied to the heatsinks , or if you are comfortable doing it yourself , ( I warn you though disassembling a laptop of any type can be very time consuming , and may cause damage if you don't know how to do it. ) But I think that a good cleaning of all the dust will help the unit run cooler and ultimately breathe some life back into the unit.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Well we still do not know if we are talking about an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro or what. If it is an iMac it can handle up to 6GB memory. Regardless of the model 1GB is simply nowhere near enough memory.
 

dtravis7


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Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
What are the specs on that iMac? There are so many.
 
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osx version 10.6.8
2.4 ghz intel core 2 duo
1 gb 800 mhz dd2r sdram
thx
 

dtravis7


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Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
1GB RAM even with 10.6.8 is really not enough and probably the cause of the pauses.

That iMac will easily upgrade to 4GB and if you go with OWC 6 GB. I would go for the 4GB as it's a Matched Pair of RAM that way. Upgrade to at least 2GB anyway.
 

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