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Boot time for os X seems to be slower

S

Straitsfan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 6, 2008
10
0
It seems that when I first bought my imac it would load OS X quicly -- maybe 15 seconds from turning on the machine to getting the desktop. Now I've noticed it takes longer -- up to half a minute, and that time from power on to desktop can vary sometimes.

I've also noticed that the icons on the desktop and in the folders aren't (and I don't know the right work for this, so forgive me if it's not clear) fully or quickly 'displayed' -- for example, when I first click on the finder icon, if I click on the applications folder there's a lag -- I'll see a blank folder for a moment and then the application icons appear, with size of the applications being filled in one by one, down the list. I also have a Neoffice .xls file on the desktop, and after power on I notice the icon first has a green color to it, then changes to the standard white color icon.

Is there a problem here, or is it just that as I've added files, etc, that it's the normal consequence of more info on the machine? Is there any software out there that is the Mac equivalent of disk cleanup/defragment that can get my imac up and running as fast as possible? I don't know if I'm nitpicking, but it would be nice to give a tune up or something.
 
Every computer slows down as it gets older. This is due to more applications, and more data to load on startup - bigger user profile etc. This isnt as big a problem as it is on xp, but it still happens under os x.

Mac OS X performs background maintenance by itself, so you should just let it run by itself for a while and it may speed up.
 
ppc750fx said:
This is not true.
Click to expand...

That's not very helpful, even it you are essentially correct. Computers don't get slower, but boot times USUALLY increase over time due to the things mentioned above. As more applications are installed, it is more likely that things are loading at startup, even if you don't open the app. Look in Activity Monitor right after booting. Although it's difficult to identify a lot of processes, chances are that a few are running to support some application you're not even using, slowing your bootup and sucking a little RAM.

I don't know the answer to this one, but if Spotlight reindexes at every boot, that could take longer and longer and longer...
 
Try repairing permissions. That should help a bit. Then run either DiskWarrior or Drive Genius 2 to de-frag your directory.
 
I run iDefrag in the Metadata mode with B-tree compact/rebuild on. This mode doesn't do a full defrag, but it does clear up the hot-files area, which allows OS X boot optimization function to get a clean start, and usually brings back your fast boot.
 
MacsRgr8 said:
It's better to state that a longer-used OS will probably load more slowly (reasons mentioned above), and not the computer itself that is slowing down.
Give it a fresh install of the same OS, and it will be just as fast as it was before.
Click to expand...

Yep. I should have elaborated, but I was tired. :p
 
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