How to speed up my mac........

I am current trying to build a small home studio around my powerbook 12'. Sometimes it seem to be running slow when running logic and garage band at the same time, or any other audio related programs for that matter. I upgraded my memory to 1.25 Gb. I was wondering if there is anything like any guides to speed up your computer that I could find online like I did when I had my pc. thanks!

whoriental said:

I am current trying to build a small home studio around my powerbook 12'. Sometimes it seem to be running slow when running logic and garage band at the same time, or any other audio related programs for that matter. I upgraded my memory to 1.25 Gb. I was wondering if there is anything like any guides to speed up your computer that I could find online like I did when I had my pc. thanks!

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If you've maxed out the RAM, then there isn't a whole lot more than you can do. You can download Speed Freak, which will allocate more processor power to the main program that you're using rather than spreading it evenly across multiple applications. And it can't hurt to clean up the system in general with MacJanitor or Onyx and to keep any unnecessary applications closed until you need them open. But Logic and Garage Band are never going to run perfectly on a Powerbook G4--it's a powerful computer, but it's got a limit.

make sure that under sys prefs, energy saver, options, processor speed is at max. although the cpu is technically supposed to "adjust" as needed, i often have noticed that this isnt the case. If i am trying to watch a movie while doing other things, the movie will be sluggish (on a 1.67 with 2gb of ram) since ive placed the CPU to highest, ive noticed that it runs a lot faster

also... contrary to what most people think... it is possible to defrag a mac hd. I use techtool 4 pro, and about once every 3-4 months, i defragment the hd and notice a good jump in overall system performance. Im not sure how long you have had your mac, but if you are frequently installing/removing programs, deleting files, ect. it may be time to defrag

A PowerBook G4 should run both of those apps with no problem. It's meant for professional work w/ Final Cut Studio and such. Run Activity Moniter (In utilities) and see if anything is hogging the memory. 1.25gb is more than enough. I have 1gb here and I can run multiple Studio apps w/ out a problem.

You could try putting in a faster (7200 RPM) hard drive...it's a messy and difficult job, with a risk that you could break something, but it could speed things up a little.

If your PowerBook is old enough to have a 4200 RPM drive, then even an external FireWire drive might make an improvement.

whoriental said:

I am current trying to build a small home studio around my powerbook 12'. Sometimes it seem to be running slow when running logic and garage band at the same time, or any other audio related programs for that matter. I upgraded my memory to 1.25 Gb. I was wondering if there is anything like any guides to speed up your computer that I could find online like I did when I had my pc. thanks!

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on a side note, how do you like Logic Pro? I am a guitarist myself and having just switched to mac I am now trying out GarageBand. What is the difference in the two programs?

I've change my processor speed to ''Highest'' and downloaded ''Speed Freak'' and there's a noticable difference when I open up applications and Safari seems somewhat faster.

saunderscc said:

on a side note, how do you like Logic Pro? I am a guitarist myself and having just switched to mac I am now trying out GarageBand. What is the difference in the two programs?

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I am still not sure yet as to how I like it. I am just learning about it so far. It takes a little to learn but so far I like it. I am just used to Pro Tools.

BTW, thanks everyone for helping out. I am sure these suggestion will help in some way. Especially the defragmentation thing. I constantly install and remove programs so that will help.