Why does it take so long to load Apps?

mm1250 · 09:02 AM

Hello All,

I have a MBP since mid-2007. Core-2 Duo 2.2Ghz 4GB RAM. When I first got the thing loading apps was fairly quick. Overtime apps like Firefox would take about 10-15seconds to load. So when Leopard came out I decided to do a clean format of the Mac. Well after boot up apps like Firefox or Mail still take lots of time to come up. (after it loads 1st time it is fairly quick to load back up since it's in memory). Is this normal on Macs? Should it take firefox about 15secs to load ?

Thanks,

psxguru · Oct 25, 2009, 09:01 AM

Firefox can seem slow to start especially if you have a lot of plugins/addons installed since it checks for updates to these when it starts.

rekhyt · Oct 25, 2009, 09:10 AM

(Are you talking about startup items which loads at login or when you just click it?)

Depends. Firefox maybe takes 10-15 seconds to load when I click on it. It used to be 5 seconds or faster but I stuffed it with addons and insane amounts of bookmarks so now it loads slow.

Chrome and Camino load insanely fast though. 0-1 second.

miniConvert · Oct 25, 2009, 09:11 AM

The first load of apps can be a bit slow, particularly Firefox or apps with a lot of 'stuff' in them like Mail. But really you should only be loading the app from scratch once - unless you're hitting the wall in terms of RAM you'd not Quit the app, even if sleeping the Mac.

You could try Safari, that's always nice and quick for me

I know Firefox is Firefox and some folk just need it, but Safari, like much Apple software, is awesome if you give in to the Apple way and embrace the Steveness. You could upgrade to Snow Leopard, too.

rekhyt · Oct 26, 2009, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miniConvert

The first load of apps can be a bit slow, particularly Firefox or apps with a lot of 'stuff' in them like Mail. But really you should only be loading the app from scratch once - unless you're hitting the wall in terms of RAM you'd not Quit the app, even if sleeping the Mac.

You could try Safari, that's always nice and quick for me

I know Firefox is Firefox and some folk just need it, but Safari, like much Apple software, is awesome if you give in to the Apple way and embrace the Steveness. You could upgrade to Snow Leopard, too.

I think the OP wants to know about the problem/how it can solved/what's happening instead of upgrading to Snow Leopard.

Chrome could be fast but I'm really stumped on the problem right now.

CubeHacker · Oct 26, 2009, 02:19 PM

Well, since you wiped the hard drive and reinstalled the OS, that pretty much rules out any software issues. And your hardware has not slowed down since you first bought it. The only thing I can think of is your hard drive. Hard drives get progressively slower the more they are filled up. I don't have exact statistics, but a drive that is 75% at capacity might be anywhere from 25-50% slower than when its empty, especially in writes. Of course, I don't know if your drive is filled or not. There might be something else at work.

rekhyt · Oct 27, 2009, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CubeHacker

Well, since you wiped the hard drive and reinstalled the OS, that pretty much rules out any software issues. And your hardware has not slowed down since you first bought it. The only thing I can think of is your hard drive. Hard drives get progressively slower the more they are filled up. I don't have exact statistics, but a drive that is 75% at capacity might be anywhere from 25-50% slower than when its empty, especially in writes. Of course, I don't know if your drive is filled or not. There might be something else at work.

OMG Really?!?! That's why my hard drive's slower now. ¬.¬ 50GB out of 250. (320 originally, but gave XP 40GB and OSX took the rest. 10?)

Oct 25, 2009, 08:57 AM	#1
mm1250 macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2007	Why does it take so long to load Apps? Hello All, I have a MBP since mid-2007. Core-2 Duo 2.2Ghz 4GB RAM. When I first got the thing loading apps was fairly quick. Overtime apps like Firefox would take about 10-15seconds to load. So when Leopard came out I decided to do a clean format of the Mac. Well after boot up apps like Firefox or Mail still take lots of time to come up. (after it loads 1st time it is fairly quick to load back up since it's in memory). Is this normal on Macs? Should it take firefox about 15secs to load ? Thanks, __________________ MacBook Pro 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 15.4'' 2GB RAM, 120GB HD Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard iPhone 8GB Last edited by mm1250 : Oct 25, 2009 at 09:02 AM.

Oct 25, 2009, 09:10 AM	#3
rekhyt macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2008	(Are you talking about startup items which loads at login or when you just click it?) Depends. Firefox maybe takes 10-15 seconds to load when I click on it. It used to be 5 seconds or faster but I stuffed it with addons and insane amounts of bookmarks so now it loads slow. Chrome and Camino load insanely fast though. 0-1 second. __________________ iPod Touch 32GB (3G) // MacBook White // iPod Nano (2G) // Magic Mouse Coming Soon: MacBook Pro 15" Inspiration for sig by: rust.puppet

Oct 25, 2009, 09:11 AM	#4
miniConvert macrumors 68030 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kent, UK - the 'Garden of England'.	The first load of apps can be a bit slow, particularly Firefox or apps with a lot of 'stuff' in them like Mail. But really you should only be loading the app from scratch once - unless you're hitting the wall in terms of RAM you'd not Quit the app, even if sleeping the Mac. You could try Safari, that's always nice and quick for me I know Firefox is Firefox and some folk just need it, but Safari, like much Apple software, is awesome if you give in to the Apple way and embrace the Steveness. You could upgrade to Snow Leopard, too. __________________ Where are we? What the hell is going on? --Hide And Seek, Imogen Heap

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Oct 25, 2009, 09:01 AM	#2
psxguru macrumors regular Join Date: May 2006 Location: UK	Firefox can seem slow to start especially if you have a lot of plugins/addons installed since it checks for updates to these when it starts.

Oct 26, 2009, 02:19 PM	#6
CubeHacker macrumors 6502a Join Date: Apr 2003	Well, since you wiped the hard drive and reinstalled the OS, that pretty much rules out any software issues. And your hardware has not slowed down since you first bought it. The only thing I can think of is your hard drive. Hard drives get progressively slower the more they are filled up. I don't have exact statistics, but a drive that is 75% at capacity might be anywhere from 25-50% slower than when its empty, especially in writes. Of course, I don't know if your drive is filled or not. There might be something else at work.