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Cleaning MacBook Pro

M

manutd27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
28
0
Hi all

I've had a Macbook pro for just over a year now, it's a fantastic machine.

I have noticed recently there has been a slow down in operations slightly. I have never ever done anything to clean it or "freshen it up" so to speak.

Is there anything I should be doing monthly/6 monthly/annually please? Or anything I can go just to clean it of the crap? I don't really download anything except the odd third party programme, documents, music, tv shows and movies.

Thanks all :)
 
iRyann

iRyann

macrumors regular
Aug 14, 2008
109
0
London
manutd27 said:
Hi all

I've had a Macbook pro for just over a year now, it's a fantastic machine.

I have noticed recently there has been a slow down in operations slightly. I have never ever done anything to clean it or "freshen it up" so to speak.

Is there anything I should be doing monthly/6 monthly/annually please? Or anything I can go just to clean it of the crap? I don't really download anything except the odd third party programme, documents, music, tv shows and movies.

Thanks all :)
Click to expand...


Use Disk Manager to verify/repair permissions. I do mine almost weekly.

Not sure this will speed up the machine per say, but it is useful.
 
SandboxGeneral

SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
manutd27 said:
Hi all

I've had a Macbook pro for just over a year now, it's a fantastic machine.

I have noticed recently there has been a slow down in operations slightly. I have never ever done anything to clean it or "freshen it up" so to speak.

Is there anything I should be doing monthly/6 monthly/annually please? Or anything I can go just to clean it of the crap? I don't really download anything except the odd third party programme, documents, music, tv shows and movies.

Thanks all :)
Click to expand...

How full is the HDD? How much RAM is installed and what are the Page Outs like in correlation with the Uptime?
 
SandboxGeneral

SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
manutd27 said:
143GB used, 500GB HDD. 4GB RAM.
Click to expand...

What's you're current Uptime?

Under Activity Monitor, System Memory Tab, what do you show for Page outs?

Screen%20Shot%202013-07-27%20at%2011.15.22%20AM.png
 
M

manutd27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
28
0
yusukeaoki said:
What year and spec is it?
Click to expand...

Early 2012.

2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 4GB RAM

----------
SandboxGeneral said:
What's you're current Uptime?

Under Activity Monitor, System Memory Tab, what do you show for Page outs?

Image
Click to expand...

I don't know a great deal about computers, but comparing your lovely pie chart to my less lovely one appears quite worrying! Any help would be much appreciated :)
 
yusukeaoki

yusukeaoki

macrumors 68030
Mar 22, 2011
2,550
6
Tokyo, Japan
I suggest getting 8GB.
You do have 1.5GB inactive but it wont hurt to have more RAM.
I mean they are getting extremely cheap as well.

If you are really looking for speed, get SSD.
 
M

manutd27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
28
0
SandboxGeneral said:
What's the Uptime? How long has it been since the computer was last restarted?

Your Page out's are low, considering the 4GB of RAM installed, indicating a recent restart.
Click to expand...

It's only been on a few hours today. Page outs are now at 72mb.

Should my lack of free space and your large amount of free space be a reason to worry?
 
SandboxGeneral

SandboxGeneral

Moderator emeritus
Sep 8, 2010
26,482
10,051
Detroit
manutd27 said:
It's only been on a few hours today. Page outs are now at 72mb.

Should my lack of free space and your large amount of free space be a reason to worry?
Click to expand...

There's no reason to worry per se. But leave it on for at least a day and see how the Page out's look. In all likelihood, you could benefit from additional RAM which is probably why you're experiencing some sluggishness.

I have 16GB of RAM as you saw and no Page outs and this Mac has been on for 19 days now.
 
S

scbond

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2010
259
2
Nottingham, UK
It is entirely normal for a computer or, more specifically, an operating system to get slower the more it is used. The more data you store the more it has to sift through when looking for something in particular. That said, it's also entirely normal to want to speed it back up.

Best thing to do is repair the disk permissions as suggested. I would also suggest deleting files you no longer need or use an external disk for those you don't access all the time or even doing a fresh install.
 
M

manutd27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
28
0
SandboxGeneral said:
There's no reason to worry per se. But leave it on for at least a day and see how the Page out's look. In all likelihood, you could benefit from additional RAM which is probably why you're experiencing some sluggishness.

I have 16GB of RAM as you saw and no Page outs and this Mac has been on for 19 days now.
Click to expand...


Thank you, and to yusukeaoki as well! I appreciate the help :)

Is there a way to reduce the inactive RAM to free up space?
 
srsub3

srsub3

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2013
418
275
NYC
if it gets hotter than usual maybe there is some dust inside. Last month I opened my boss laptop to upgrade ram and found out that it was full of dust! after cleaning he told me that temperatures were lower....
 
M

manutd27

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
28
0
SandboxGeneral said:
You're welcome. I suggest a RAM upgrade and even an SSD upgrade if you're so inclined. Either or both will help you out greatly. I see no need for an OS reinstall or any software "cleaners."
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice! Just to give you an update, mac has now been on about 8/9 hours and:

Page Ins 1.02GB
Page Outs 446.6mb
40mb free space.
 
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