Activity Monitor

[brenda TN]

I saw on another thread that said show your activity monitor when the person was asking about upgrading memory. I wanted to see if someone could look at mine and see if they see where my problem in slowness is. I get the spinning ball so much lately. I downloaded a flash player for Safari. Should I turn it off? Does Safari have programs running that aren't necessary? Does anything else stand out as not needed?

 

[DJLC]

It looks like you could use more RAM. Also, grab an extension like ClickToFlash to cut down on Safari's resource use.

 

[brenda TN]

I saw the clicktoflash info on another thread and went to the site and installed it. It now just says installed. Is there something else I need to do? The activity monitor still shows it running.

 

[Nameci]

You could use a memory upgrade to 4GB. Flash is a resource hog or a CPU monster, it uses most of your CPU cycles. That is why clicktoflash plugin is recommended. Clicktoflash if installed will play youtube videos in HTML5 if it is available. if it is not it will revert to flash. If HTML5 video is available there will be a little square on the video that says HTML5 or FLASH if it is not available.

As much as you can stay away from flash.

 

[GGJstudios]

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I saw on another thread that said show your activity monitor when the person was asking about upgrading memory. I wanted to see if someone could look at mine and see if they see where my problem in slowness is

Launch Activity Monitor again and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.

You have some page outs, but be aware that page outs are cumulative since your last restart. The best way to determine if you need more RAM is to restart your computer and track page outs under your normal workload. If they're significant (say 1GB or more) under normal use, you may benefit from more RAM.

I saw the clicktoflash info on another thread and went to the site and installed it. It now just says installed. Is there something else I need to do? The activity monitor still shows it running.

If you have the plug-in, click Safari > ClickToFlash > Preferences and make sure it's enabled. Or if you have the extension, go to Safari > Preferences > Extensions and make sure it's enabled.

 

[brenda TN]

Thanks for such clear instructions.

If you have the plug-in, click Safari > ClickToFlash > Preferences and make sure it's enabled. Or if you have the extension, go to Safari > Preferences > Extensions and make sure it's enabled.

Okay I checked and it is enabled so I guess I am good there.

Launch Activity Monitor again and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.



Any help at all is appreciated. I am so tired of the beach ball.
I restarted and will watch my page outs to see what it goes up to.

 

[GGJstudios]

Here is what it says.

Screen shots would be more readable than the text. Click on the CPU column so the arrow points down, and post screen shots.

 

[johnhurley]

Any help at all is appreciated. I am so tired of the beach ball.
I restarted and will watch my page outs to see what it goes up to.

You have good advice on this thread so far ... keep activity monitor open and you can click on the ( right hand side of the top ) the Real Mem tab ... that will sort the items in the process list by the Amount of memory being used.

For me it is typically Safari and Safari Web Content the highest ( but much better after 10.7.2 and the latest Safari updates ).

Are you using iCloud for doc storage or music storage ... a lot of people seem to be reporting beach balls going that route because it goes back and forth so much with the apple mother ship ( well apple data centers actually ).

 

[brenda TN]

 

[GGJstudios]

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You've just restarted and you already have page outs. You could certainly use more RAM. I see nothing else out of the ordinary.

 

[minifridge1138]

Your first thread shows that you're using a gigabyte of swap.
I'd buy more ram.

 

[brenda TN]

Thanks everyone. One more question. Apple Tech says it will only upgrade to 4 GB. The computer company that the Apple Store referred me to and is the oldest Apple authorized dealer in this area is saying the memory company says this macbook will take 8 Gb. Which would you believe?

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks everyone. One more question. Apple Tech says it will only upgrade to 4 GB. The computer company that the Apple Store referred me to and is the oldest Apple authorized dealer in this area is saying the memory company says this macbook will take 8 Gb. Which would you believe?

You can find specs on all Apple products, including maximum RAM:

• By visiting EveryMac.com: Actual Maximum RAM
• By using Mactracker
• By entering your serial number here to find specs for your model. (Be aware that some models can use more RAM than Apple shows. Check EveryMac or MacTracker to verify.)