Our oldest laptop has become incredibly slow in the past while, and I'm wondering about some possible reasons. For example, I'll click on something and sometimes it will take several minutes for something to happen. The pointer will move around just fine and there's rarely the spinning beachball. It has two 4GB third-party RAM sticks, but the system report says their status is okay. Could this be the sign of a dying hard drive or just the result of being nearly 6 years old? Maybe El Capitan just doesn't work well with the hardware? Any ideas would be appreciated.
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MBP Mid-2010 very slow
- Thread starter lostnomore
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Why? I have a 2008 iMac, 2011 MBA, 2012 MBA and 2015 MBP all on El Cap. No issues at all. The OP's issue is hardware related. He needs to get a good clone of his HDD and replace it pronto. Unless of course Activity Monitor shows an errant app consuming way more CPU that it should.
Agree with BoneDaddy above.
Put an SSD into it.
The drives are cheap (get a Crucial or Sandisk Plus) and the replacement is "screwdriver-easy".
Go here to see how to do it:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+Hard+Drive+Replacement/4305
One more thing:
BE SURE TO BUY AND USE THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB. (shouting intentional)
An SSD made my own mid-2010 MacBook Pro 13" run better than new.
Put an SSD into it.
The drives are cheap (get a Crucial or Sandisk Plus) and the replacement is "screwdriver-easy".
Go here to see how to do it:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+Hard+Drive+Replacement/4305
One more thing:
BE SURE TO BUY AND USE THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB. (shouting intentional)
An SSD made my own mid-2010 MacBook Pro 13" run better than new.
If you get a SSD, get a Samsung 850 (Pro or Evo) or newer Crucial's (MX100, MX200, BX100, BX200, M500). A lot of MBP's of that age have the NVidia MCP79 (some have the MCP89). The MCP79 has problems with some SSD's. The Sandisk Plus is one it has a problem with. If you want more details, you can search for "NVidia MCP79 Macbook Pro 2010". You can find out which SATA chip you have by going into the System Information app.
As a fellow mid 2010 15" user, I highly recommend that you just upgrade to an 850 evo of your choosing (get the 500g).
I have yet to upgrade the memory as I am holding out for the 2016 upgrades....
I run El Capitan (latest version) just fine on this machine with no hiccups. Bootcamp and all. Gaming on both OS's as well. This thing cranks along just fine.
So yeah, there's my recommendation. Best of luck.
Also, if you are really cheap...
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/search?q=SSD&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&feature=legacy_search
I have yet to upgrade the memory as I am holding out for the 2016 upgrades....
I run El Capitan (latest version) just fine on this machine with no hiccups. Bootcamp and all. Gaming on both OS's as well. This thing cranks along just fine.
So yeah, there's my recommendation. Best of luck.
Also, if you are really cheap...
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/search?q=SSD&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&feature=legacy_search
What would be the best way to clone it? Couldn't I just rely on a Time Machine backup to put onto a new drive?
That's how I went about it for the second go around.
The first ssd upgrade allowed me to boot into disk utility and clone it onto the new SSD. I would highly recommend using the disk utility method, just as long as you have a usb to sata cable, you should hopefully have no issue.
Buuuuut...
If you feel unsure that you might for any reason format your existing hdd by accident (highly unlikely) do the time machine
Keep us posted!
I found this article, so I think I'll do the clone thing instead. I don't want to spend even more $ on an external hard drive enclosure, but I don't want any surprises, either.That's how I went about it for the second go around.
The first ssd upgrade allowed me to boot into disk utility and clone it onto the new SSD. I would highly recommend using the disk utility method, just as long as you have a usb to sata cable, you should hopefully have no issue.
Buuuuut...
If you feel unsure that you might for any reason format your existing hdd by accident (highly unlikely) do the time machine
Keep us posted!
I had the same problem. After the excellent advice from forum users, I swapped the HD with a Samsung EVO 850 1TB. It is like a different computer! I can keep this computer for 1-2 more years.
My only problem is very slow shut down. Probably it is software issue.
My only problem is very slow shut down. Probably it is software issue.
You COULD rely on a Time Machine backup, but it includes a bunch of incremental updates that have accumulated over time. Cloning your drive is a much cleaner process, AND it is something that you really should be doing from time to time anyway as part of your backup strategy.
You don't need to go whole-hog and get an external enclosure; you could use something as simple as this:
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Adapter...171845&sr=8-3&keywords=hard+drive+adapter+kit
Use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to clone the drive.
I suggest CCC because it will also clone the recovery partition.
CCC is FREE to download, and it's FREE to use for the first 30 days.
It -will- do the job for you.
Also -
It's a good idea to pick up a USB3 external enclosure for the old drive.
Once you have the new drive up-and-running, you can:
- reinitialize the old drive
- run Disk Utility's "repair" function on it several times in succession
- if you get "a good report" every time, keep using the old drive for a backup, scratch storage, etc.
I suggest CCC because it will also clone the recovery partition.
CCC is FREE to download, and it's FREE to use for the first 30 days.
It -will- do the job for you.
Also -
It's a good idea to pick up a USB3 external enclosure for the old drive.
Once you have the new drive up-and-running, you can:
- reinitialize the old drive
- run Disk Utility's "repair" function on it several times in succession
- if you get "a good report" every time, keep using the old drive for a backup, scratch storage, etc.
Well, I've taken the advice to get a Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB and did the Carbon Copy Cloner and followed the steps here and here, and the laptop is now - as some of you said - pretty much like new. I can also see that 6-year-old laptop getting another couple of years out of it.
As an aside, I find this forum very helpful and friendly. I had joined another popular Mac forum back in 2004 but it eventually got rather, how shall I say, acrimonious? Sort of like how dpreview.com forums have long been to photographers (as I've experienced). Some really snobby people who don't tolerate ignorant questions or even decent ones. But yes, a lot of good folks on here. I might even stick around a bit learn a lot more from you guys. Thanks again and all the best.
As an aside, I find this forum very helpful and friendly. I had joined another popular Mac forum back in 2004 but it eventually got rather, how shall I say, acrimonious? Sort of like how dpreview.com forums have long been to photographers (as I've experienced). Some really snobby people who don't tolerate ignorant questions or even decent ones. But yes, a lot of good folks on here. I might even stick around a bit learn a lot more from you guys. Thanks again and all the best.
Congrats on the upgrade!
I also agree on the forums here being pretty friendly and helpful - this is especially the case in the Mac sections in my experience.
I also agree on the forums here being pretty friendly and helpful - this is especially the case in the Mac sections in my experience.
Good deal! Glad it worked out!
And yeah, hey the majority of us here go through the same straits as you, always willing to help out! (if we know the answer)
And yeah, hey the majority of us here go through the same straits as you, always willing to help out! (if we know the answer)