Slow MacBook pro

I love my Mac, had it just over a year now but am quite alone as my friends and colleagues are on PCs.

When I started using my Mac it was lightening fast, now all I ever seem to do is watch that colored wheel whirl for minutes on end! I have 4Mb of RAM and my hard drive 90% free and unused (I have a remote hard drive for pictures, my main use). I've upgraded to the latest Lion OSX but this machine is slowly dying and taking me with it.

Anyone able to advise, what I should do, what I should read, so I can get back to 'Bolt' speed and make my friends jealous again as they should be...?

Try these suggestions, in this order:

1. Create a new (admin) account on your machine. Now log out of it and log into the new account. Is everything zippy again? If not:

2. Create a bootable clone of your setup on an external drive using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner (both free to try). Boot from the clone (the booting up will naturally take longer because its using USB or Firewire to boot up, not as fast as the internal drive). Once booted up, is the system more responsive with fewer beachballs? If so, that might indicate its time to replace the hard drive.

Wow, thanks Chas. it's like a language I don't know but I'll try it if nothing easier is suggested. If I sound doubtful its because I have no reason to suspect my hard drive has had it within a year or so of purchase. If it has then I'll go back to a PC. But I really appreciate you taking the time to help - thank you!

Petessnaps said:

Wow, thanks Chas. it's like a language I don't know but I'll try it if nothing easier is suggested. If I sound doubtful its because I have no reason to suspect my hard drive has had it within a year or so of purchase. If it has then I'll go back to a PC. But I really appreciate you taking the time to help - thank you!

Click to expand...

Remember, Macs do not use Mac hard drives. The drives are the same as in any PC. There are only a few companies who manufacture hard drives. If the drive is dying, it happens in PC hardware also. Drives die, some faster than others.

Try what Chas suggested, especially the 1st suggestion. Also download and run Onyx. See if that helps.

Thanks Dennis, and again Chas. I'll give a go...