OSX running slow

[jebattyb]

I use a Mac Mini running 10.6.8 and about four years old.

Recently it has become slow on occasions; a function which should be instantaneous can take up to 2 or more minutes.

I have run Disc Repair a couple of times but to no effect.

Can I simply reinstall the operating system from my original disc?

Will it simply over-write the present software? Will it do any good? Are there any likely problems from this? Are there any other suggestions?

Any help gratefully received

jebattyb

 

[pigoo3]

- How full is your hard drive (gigs used and gigs free)?
- How much ram does it have?
- How often do you reboot it?

* Nick

 

[ankhseeker]

How much free space do you have left on the hard drive? We recommend having at least 20% free space for system use.

 

[jebattyb]

Slow Mac Mini

I can answer two of your questions.

I am using system 10.6.8

I have 2gb memory

But I cannot find the amount of space available/used. On my MacBook
(system 10.7.5) is is easy as in 'About this Mac' there is a section marked Storage. This not available on my Mini. I have tried looking in a number of places but none shows me the storage details. If you can tell me how to do that, I can answer your third question.

jebattyb

 

[bobtomay]

Several ways, one is:

Applications - Utilitites - Disk Utility - highlight your MacIntosh HD on the left side and then look at the bottom where it will list Capacity, Used and Free space.

 

[chas_m]

You can't be running both OS X 10.6.8 and 10.7.5 at the same time. You're running 10.7.5.

Even easier way to find the free space: open any Finder window and look at the bottom of it.

Broadly speaking, computers that used to be very fast and are now kinda slow comes down to (usually) one of three causes:

1. The disk is getting full.
2. The disk is starting to fail.
3. The user is doing more sophisticated stuff that pushes the limits of the machine/the user is doing stuff that uses much more RAM than they used to, and doesn't have enough for the newer software/requirements.

 

[banesto]

i reinstalled Mavericks on my mac mini just wednesday and everything is faster, cleaner and happier!
And i did not lose any files and found some i thought were delete.
the reboot is easy, i held the command/r key after the chime and released when the wheel turned.
- hope this helps!

 

[jebattyb]

Slow Mini

Can I answer two people in one reply?

To bobtomay
I looked at the Disk Utility which showed my capacity as 320GB but no sign of amount used or spare.

But to chas_m,
thanks it is so easy . when you know how, this shows I have 229GB avaialable.

So I guess my storage is not overloaded.

Can I go to a third respondent? bonesto
I note your comments about your new Mavericks;your experience seems different to most of the reviewers who said the new OS had generally slowed things down.

THanks for the replies, still await suggestions, especially regarding my idea to reinstall the original OS

jebattyb

 

[banesto]

i am happy i reinstalled
and this is simple, nothing to serious