Slow Mac, is there another option other than reformatting?

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Hi,
I have a fairly old macbook. I still use O.S. 10.6.8 because the hardware is too old for a software update! My mac is really slow, sometimes when I'm using logic express I get error messages telling me my mac's too slow to use it. I've recently moved all my files onto an external hard drive and deleted my previous account so I could start fresh without loosing my applications but this hasn't really made the situation much better. Is there anything else I can do before reformatting my disk? I don't have the original os x disk and I'm worried if I use the internet to reinstall os x it will try and download the latest version which my mac can't use. Also I have apps such as logic express which I would loose and I can't afford to buy them again... the only reason I'm doing this is to use that app!
 

Slydude

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Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
To give better advice on resolving this problem we need to know the specs for your machine. Which Mac model, amount of memory, free hard drive space etc. If you don't know the answers to these questions go to About This Mac under the Apple menu.
 

pigoo3

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2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Also I have apps such as logic express which I would loose and I can't afford to buy them again... the only reason I'm doing this is to use that app!

There shouldn't be any concern about losing apps. You should either have the original install disks…or be able to re-download things if the apps were download only.

But regardless. There should be other ways of addressing slowness without needing to do a complete erase of the HD.:)

- Nick
 
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My Mac Specs

Thank you for taking time to address this problem.

The hard drive has: Capacity 249.72GB, Available: 174.42GB Used: 75.29GB on disk

The hardware is as follows:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook6,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MB61.00C8.B02
SMC Version (system): 1.51f54
Serial Number (system): 45037039FYN
Hardware UUID: D2304DEB-41AB-5052-B19D-4F89D9D93543
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled


I hope this helps. Basically every youtube or similar video plays it stops repeatedly even if the buffer bar has got to the end. It's just really slow at everything!

Thanks
 
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Just in response to your advise Nick, I got the mac about 8 years ago, the programs were installed by disk them, I have since lost the disks, none of the apps I want to keep have been downloaded from the internet.

I hope there is a way of getting it back up to speed without a re-boot. Are any of the things like mac cleaner any good or just a con?
 

pigoo3

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I hope there is a way of getting it back up to speed without a re-boot. Are any of the things like mac cleaner any good or just a con?

Skip the "cleaner apps". And just do as suggested above…run "Onyx".

- Nick
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
A late 2009 MacBook 6.1 can handle up to 8GB of memory and with only 2GB available, any increase would assist greatly.
 
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I've tried using onyx and it helped slightly but still I get error messages like this:

''Disk is too slow or System Overload.
(-10010)
The Sudden Motion Sensor may have parked the hard drive head, or the disk performance is not sufficient to read or write all audio tracks, or the system was not able to process all data in time.''

How do you mean any increase Harry? Just delete more stuff?
 
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late 2012 mini w/SSD
How do you mean any increase Harry? Just delete more stuff?

Memory is RAM (random access memory). It comes on memory sticks, called DIMMS. They are user-replaceable. More RAM can make your Mac seem faster, because it can keep more stuff for "instant access" rather than reading from hard drive.
Hard drive space (or storage space) is space on your hard drive, where your files and programs are kept.

Reboot means restarting the computer, not reinstalling the software.
Reformatting means fixing/changing the hard drive's layout, not reinstalling software. (But after a reformat, you Will have to reinstall the software.)

The error message you get "may" indicate that the hard drive is failing. What program/application is running when this happens?
Oh - I see you mean Logic Express. That is probably a RAM-intensive program. So Harry's recommendation for more more RAM seems appropriate.
(By the way, 75 GB of free storage seems OK to me.)
 
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Ram

Cheers, I'll be getting some more RAM then, I'll keep you all posted!
 

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