17 MBP running Unbearably Slow, Suggestions?

[mashinhead]

My macbook C2D is running very slow. I feel like I've done everything but nothing matters. I have:

Restarted
Zapped the PRAM
Ran Onyx, Tech Tool Pro, Cocktail, and repaired persmissions multiple times
I am using minimal applicaitons (Finder PS, Illustrator, Safari) opening and closing only what I need and the results are

Slow opening and saving of PS files regardless of size. Slow typing, the screen is always behind me, slow spaces transitions. It's a 2.66 c2d and seems to be unusually slow and I can't figure it out. I'm trying to avoid a reinstall but if that will help i will do it.

It just makes working a pain, and verry slow.

 

[MikeinJapan]

Have you checked your permissions?

 

[mashinhead]

Have you checked your permissions?

yes i have. Everything is just very choppy, this model is only a year old, I bought it second hand so I don't know if this one has two video cards or not or how to activate the better one if it does.

 

[pukifloyd]

yes i have. Everything is just very choppy, this model is only a year old, I bought it second hand so I don't know if this one has two video cards or not or how to activate the better one if it does.

I think you need to open the system preferences, click on the energy savings button and then click on high performance (and also clicking yes to log out) to activate the better card (i think its the 9600M GT). You'll log out and then the card will be activated....keep in mind that your battery will drain faster if you switch to discreet graphics card...

On the issue of your mbp running slow, i think you need to reinstall the OS...maybe that will fix any problems...if it doesn't then just call apple

 

[mashinhead]

I think you need to open the system preferences, click on the energy savings button and then click on high performance (and also clicking yes to log out) to activate the better card (i think its the 9600M GT). You'll log out and then the card will be activated....keep in mind that your battery will drain faster if you switch to discreet graphics card...

On the issue of your mbp running slow, i think you need to reinstall the OS...maybe that will fix any problems...if it doesn't then just call apple

well you seem to have the same processor as mine, are you running CS5 on it, do you have any issues with lag or speed?

 

[davidlv]

There are 2 main suspects: 1. the HD may be bad, what is it and have you tried repairing it with Disk Utility or better yet Disk Warrior? 2. Memory, use Activity Monitor (Applications/Utilities/ folder) to check to see if a. you have a process running constantly and eating up CPU cycles or b. memory shortage causing a lot of page outs?
While it is not the latest, fastest MBP, that machine shouldn't feel sluggish doing what you are doing. My first suspect would be the HD.
Best suggestion, get Disk Warrior and run it from the DVD or an external HD and replace the directory of the internal HD.
Having DW is really a good idea anyway, even if it doesn't solve this issue. It has saved my bacon several times (you do have your important data backed up I assume.

 

[DesmoPilot]

HDD could be dying.

 

[mashinhead]

well luckily i have tw hdds in this thing, one is just a clone, so i will work off the second today and if i experience the same thing i will assume it needs a reinstall.

 

[mashinhead]

Well the second drive seems to be a bit snappier for now, I will work off of that for now and let you know how it goes. Thanks for all your help so far. I basically made the backup the startup and the startup the backup until i get a new drive.

I do have one quick question, is there anywhere I can get a free trial of disk warrior? I have scoured the net and can't find one.

 

[spinnerlys]

Have a look at Activity Monitor ( Applications / Utilities / ) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example

Run AJA System Test to test the HDD speed.


click above image to download the application directly

 

[mashinhead]

Run AJA System Test to test the HDD speed.

So i ran aja on both drives. Here are the results:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

The backup drive is the culprit drive

 

[spinnerlys]

The backup drive is the culprit drive

Why do you think that? The read speed is on oar with the "Macintosh HD", the write speed is only 10MB/s slower.

Have you verified the HDDs in Disk Utility?

 

[mashinhead]

Why do you think that? The read speed is on oar with the "Macintosh HD", the write speed is only 10MB/s slower.

Have you verified the HDDs in Disk Utility?

sorry badly worded, what i meant was the backup drive is the one that is running slow when i use it. I mentioned that just incase you may have seen something odd and wanted to know which drive I was having problems with. I didn't mean that from those results that I had concluded it to be the problem.

hope that makes sense.

 

[mashinhead]

I can't believe how well this other hard drive is running. This morning I was considering getting a new computer, now I fee like I'll never upgrade (kidding) but the difference is night and day.

I'm chalking this up to a bad or dying hard drive. I ordered a new one from newegg this morning and it should be here soon.

Thanks all.