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jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
2,171
93
For some reason, it seems like my MBA has taken longer and longer to boot and shut down since I purchased it. When Lion was installed, it seemed to triple it. Are there any easy maintenance ideas to improve boot and shut down times? Sorry if this is noobish. Thanks in advance. :)
 
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
You could look into the Login Items in System Preferences > Accounts >> YOUR ACCOUNT >>> Login Items
Screen shot 2011-10-27 at 8.30.29 AM.png
or you could just use the SLEEP feature.
 

jamesryanbell

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 17, 2009
2,171
93
Thank you!

One follow-up question. When I went into that screen, one of the programs listed was "iTunesHelper", and it had a yellow triangle by it with an exclamation point. I deleted it from the list, then right-clicked the iTunes logo in my toolbar and clicked "open at login". When it was added back to the list, it appeared as "iTunes".

...so what was "iTunesHelper", and why did it have a warning marker beside it? Just curious.
 

TheRealDamager

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2011
1,043
11
Another idea - just shut the lid and put the machine to sleep instead of shutting down. I only shutdown once every 3 months or when updates require it.
 

OnEMoReTrY

macrumors member
Aug 4, 2008
53
0
Another idea - just shut the lid and put the machine to sleep instead of shutting down. I only shutdown once every 3 months or when updates require it.

This. You're running OS X not Windows. There is 0 need to reboot more than once every couple months (except for updates obviously).
 

Stingray454

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2009
593
115
Another idea - just shut the lid and put the machine to sleep instead of shutting down. I only shutdown once every 3 months or when updates require it.

+1 on that. When I first started using Mac laptops I also used to shut down the computer all the time (used to that from the PC era). Then I noticed it's really not necessary. I only shut it down when I need to install a system update, or if I know it will be turned off for a long time (weeks). One second or so to shut down, same time to start up, and you have all your open applications running ready for use. Also, you don't get the old PC problem with available memory getting less and less, or that it gets slower for each passing day. That's a thing of the past - there's really no reason not to put it to sleep instead of shutting down :)
 

BENJMNS

macrumors 6502
Dec 28, 2005
449
0
you guys are obsessed! you don't even have to shut down very often with the mba. :D
 

fatlardo

macrumors 6502
Mar 15, 2011
333
36
Does sleep drain the battery? I've been shutting down because I thought it did?
 

Stingray454

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2009
593
115
Does sleep drain the battery? I've been shutting down because I thought it did?

Very little. I think it can go somewhere around a few weeks - a month before the battery is drained in sleep mode. Personally I usually have it plugged in over night, so it's not really an issue.
 
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