Optimizing Imac with OS X.4.11

I'd like to optimize my Imac-OS X.4.11 but I don't want to spend any money to do it. Any suggestions? Also, can I do it myself?

Not enough information. What Mac? What are the specs? How much free space?

eschwartz said:

I'd like to optimize my iMac...

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Maybe you can also define what you mean by "optimize". Optimize can mean different things to different people.

- Nick

More Info. About my Mac for Optimizing and Safari Questions

Here are the specs on my computer. I have an imac 5.1 Model #ST3160815AS. Processor: 2 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo. Amt. of RAM: 1 GB 667MH2 SDRAM. Internal HD Capacity: 149.05 GB. Free Space: 59.18 GB. I cannot upgrade my OS right now because I do not have the money to upgrade all of my software (which is very expensive - Quark, Photoshop, etc.) By optimizing I mean doing what I need to do to help my computer run better short of spending any more money on RAM or anything else. Thanks for any help!

eschwartz said:

Here are the specs on my computer. I have an imac 5.1 Model #ST3160815AS. Processor: 2 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo. Amt. of RAM: 1 GB 667MH2 SDRAM. Internal HD Capacity: 149.05 GB. Free Space: 59.18 GB. I cannot upgrade my OS right now because I do not have the money to upgrade all of my software (which is very expensive - Quark, Photoshop, etc.) By optimizing I mean doing what I need to do to help my computer run better short of spending any more money on RAM or anything else. Thanks for any help!

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Please respond to a thread within the thread. You created a new thread with the post I quoted. Having responses in separate threads will make things VERY confusing...and not get you the help you want.

Thanks,

- Nick

By the way...what happened to the subject of this other thread you started about a week ago...where you mentioned wanting to purchase a newer MacBook or MacBook Pro??:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/324967-operating-system-get.html

Are these two threads related (this one we are currently in & the one I linked)??

- Nick

eschwartz said:

Here are the specs on my computer. I have an imac 5.1 Model #ST3160815AS. Processor: 2 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo. Amt. of RAM: 1 GB 667MH2 SDRAM. Internal HD Capacity: 149.05 GB. Free Space: 59.18 GB. I cannot upgrade my OS right now because I do not have the money to upgrade all of my software (which is very expensive - Quark, Photoshop, etc.) By optimizing I mean doing what I need to do to help my computer run better short of spending any more money on RAM or anything else. Thanks for any help!

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The first thing that usually helps get you better performance is increasing the RAM. You have sufficient amount of HD free, so that isn't an issue. But you don't want to spend any money, so anything we suggest will really be a stop gap measure..

The one cheap option is to do a clean re-install of OS X which should get you the performance you had when you first got the machine..

Re: Clean Reinstall of my System Software

If I do a clean reinstall of my system software, will I lost anything I have stored on my computer?

Can i tell you something though.

10.4.11 is no longer supported by flash player or even apple itself and i understand you want to keep your older software i would recommend keeping the older computer and buying a new intel macintosh this way you can keep your software free and clear and for any machine running 10.4.11 i recommend using a external hard drive and transferring the iTunes library and your photoshop files to it it will clear up a lot more space and a gig of ram is fine with 10.4.11 most have a gig or max 1.5 gig's

eschwartz said:

If I do a clean reinstall of my system software, will I lost anything I have stored on my computer?

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Yes, the idea is to backup all of your important documents and applications first. Then erase your HD, re-install OS X and then re-install your applications and copy back the documents..

Based on the information you have given, this is your computer:

iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 17-Inch Specs (Late 2006, MA590LL, iMac5,1, A1208, 2114) @ EveryMac.com

This is from 2006 ... that is nine years ago (or, to put it another way, what should have been replaced by 2011 and about due for replacement again). This machine really shouldn't be on the Internet at all running an operating system that old and long unsupported ... you are BEGGING for malware and security issues, so I hope you don't have any personal information on that machine.

Since you infer that you have no existing backups (and making one would violate your rule about spending any money), I can't offer you any suggestions other than to unplug that machine and stop using it entirely. That should preserve your data from data loss, and keep you safe from malware until you can afford a more recent machine. If there's anything on there worth keeping, copy it onto a thumb drive and keep that safe until you can buy something made this decade.

chas_m said:

Based on the information you have given, this is your computer:

iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 17-Inch Specs (Late 2006, MA590LL, iMac5,1, A1208, 2114) @ EveryMac.com

This is from 2006 ... that is nine years ago (or, to put it another way, what should have been replaced by 2011 and about due for replacement again). This machine really shouldn't be on the Internet at all running an operating system that old and long unsupported ... you are BEGGING for malware and security issues, so I hope you don't have any personal information on that machine.

Since you infer that you have no existing backups (and making one would violate your rule about spending any money), I can't offer you any suggestions other than to unplug that machine and stop using it entirely. That should preserve your data from data loss, and keep you safe from malware until you can afford a more recent machine. If there's anything on there worth keeping, copy it onto a thumb drive and keep that safe until you can buy something made this decade.

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*shakes head* Not everyone has the luxury of replacing their computers every few years, especially when what they have suits their purposes. This "kill it with fire" attitude is unnecessary and unhelpful. There are perfectly acceptable ways to secure his Mac with 3rd party software, such as using a more modern browser; ensuring you are running behind a firewall (a router is usually enough); taking basic precautions like doing your daily activities only on a standard user account; and more, including *gasp* relying on anti-malware software to scan your downloads and email. Routine backups with an offline copy should ALWAYS be done if you value what's on your system.

Well it is not suiting the OP's purpose looking to 'optimize' his old iMac.

Whatever suggestions would improve the iMac, such as running Snow Leopard OS X.6, increasing the memory and buying an eternal drive to backup to all cost money. Fact of life if you wish to meddle with computers it costs money!

Lifeisabeach said:

Not everyone has the luxury of replacing their computers every few years, especially when what they have suits their purposes.

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1. This is not a case of "every few years." This is A DECADE. This machine has not suited any modern purpose for years, and has been unsafe to use on the Internet for years. I'm not the bad guy here -- the OP was flatly irresponsible in not properly maintaining their machine over all this time, and is now paying the price for that.

This "kill it with fire" attitude is unnecessary and unhelpful.

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2. You have grossly misinterpreted my response, and oversimplified it. It is both necessary to be truthful and realistic, and it helpful to disabuse the OP (and, apparently, you) of the ridiculous and fantastical belief that this problem can be magically fixed without spending any money. That attitude is precisely what got him into this mess in the first place, it is not going to get him out of it. Without that restriction, the fix for his machine (at least in the short-term), would have been simple: spend $20 on the Snow Leopard DVD and upgrade your OS, and he'll just have to accept the fact that some of his software will need to be upgraded, though very likely most of it will work fine, and the rest can be updated incrementally as affordable.

But placing a zero-money condition on any possible help is simply a limitation on any solution that makes the request impossible to take seriously, since the user has demonstrated that he is unserious about saving this machine and his data. Continuing to enable this unrealistic outlook will just result in further problems.

Contrary to your suggestions, there isn't a lot of software still supported for Mac OS 10.4, and finding any is difficult. And in many cases, expensive. While I did, as ONE of my suggestions, say that getting something newER would be the best option, the foremost thrust of my post was to point out the foolishness of the idea that this can be fixed for free. That attitude needed to be changed before any responsible, effective solutions could be offered.

There are some very real, in-the-field threats that prey on users like the OP who never upgrade anything. They work by exploiting flaws in older versions of the operating system. This is also why Windows PCs get so many viruses. I didn't suggest that his only option was to buy new machine; what I actually said was "with that attitude, there's not much you can do and so the best option is to just take it off-line." I continue to stand by that statement as the best advice under the limitations he placed on us and himself.

As I pointed out in my previous post, the OP intimated that he does not have a backup. If this is the case, there is NO WAY to make one without spending some money. In light of that, there is no solution – even free – that could be responsibly taken, since the risk of data loss at this point is so high, and with the age of this machine that has to be the first priority.

I'm well aware that budget can be an issue, but I don't go to my dentist and say things like "I ate too much sugar and now my teeth are falling out. I want you to fix it, but I can't afford to pay anything for any solutions you might offer!" I don't know about your dentist, but mine would just throw up his hands and move on to the next patient if I did that.

Once the OP decides to get serious about solving this problem, I have a wealth of suggestions for him that are low-cost, or free in some cases, practical, and do not involve buying a newer machine necessarily -- though that is still the best long-term option, and I think you are smart enough to know I'm correct on that point.

But I'm not going to waste my valuable volunteer time trying to help someone whose attitude precludes any meaningful help.

chas_m said:

1. This is not a case of "every few years." This is A DECADE.

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LOL! You told him he should have replaced once already and a second time "soon". That's every few years.

*snip*

But I'm not going to waste my valuable volunteer time trying to help someone whose attitude precludes any meaningful help.

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LOL! You didn't provide meaningful help. You beat him up for daring to use an old Mac, then told him to take it offline because he should be quaking in fear of all the boogeymen out to get him. That is NOT meaningful help. Meaningful help would be determining what software he's relying on; determine what the max OS version is that he can upgrade to; determine if he can run his software on that OS; and come up with methods to minimize his security risks given his limited budget.

I wanted to mention/remind folks that the issue the OP has is not just related to upgrading the computers OS…or upgrading the computer itself (because it is pretty old).

The OP mentioned way back in post #4...that one of the big issues is not having the funds to upgrade the expensive apps that are installed on the computer (upgrading the apps so they would be compatible with newer OS versions).

As we all know…some individual apps can be pretty darn expensive to upgrade. And upgrading multiple older expensive apps can get really pricey. A lot more expensive than the cost of an OS upgrade…or in the OP's case…maybe more expensive than even purchasing a newer model used computer.

- Nick

And the other thing is, what the OP has now, is obviously working for him, and hasn't mentioned anything about losing data, or having his ID Stolen, so I guess he is quite adapt as too using the Internet safely with this Mac.