Help on a Slow(er) MBP - Does a Defrag/Clean Up exist or?

[Peter Franks]

Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
10.6.8
SL

Hey guys and girls, Can someone let me know if, after I've deleted about 100GB of stuff as I was down to my last 20GB on my 320GB MBP, is there anything like there used to be on my old Win PC, to clean up after, or do you just not bother.

I didn't secure empty, which takes forever, delete, I just emptied trash, but because it's so instant you can't help but feel there is more I should/can do to clean up after deleting so much data?

I know it won't be as fast as it was when I bought it 2 and half years ago, but by now, should I be doing anything to speed it up after a clean out?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Where do your speed problems occur?

If you want to enhance the performance of your Mac, be sure to check these two articles, do not just use applications, that promise to do it for you.

• Performance Tips For Mac OS X
• Mac Performance Guide

Normally there is no need for defragging, as the file system takes care of that.
Once I scanned several HDDs with iDefrag, those HDDs gone through lots of copying and deleting files and folders and the most fragmentation iDefrag found was around 2%.

Articles explaining why Mac OS X does not need maintenance software like CCleaner, MacKeeper or CleanMyMac:

• Five Mac maintenance myths
  [*]The myth of the dirty Mac

 

[Peter Franks]

thanks... I did check that stuff out.

I thought after the offload of stuff, the start up would be back to where it was too but it isn't.

Do you think the secure delete makes a difference and actually removes the stuff, and makes the space, rather than just an empty trash where the stuff is still on there?

 

[tmagman]

There's always little pockets of junk here and there that build up on your machine. Whenever I do significant deleting or even just annually when I'm starting to find my machine is a little sluggish, i just do a clean wipe and install of everything. It doesn't take that long and I definitely notice the difference.

 

[Peter Franks]

Don't know I could trust myself to do that. Wouldn't know where to start to be honest

 

[notjustjay]

Don't know I could trust myself to do that. Wouldn't know where to start to be honest

Often a good time to do that sort of thing is when deciding to upgrade to a bigger hard drive anyway.

When I took the 120 GB drive out of my MacBook Pro and replaced it with a 750 GB drive, I also upgraded the OS (Snow Leopard, at the time). Then I took my old drive and put it inside an external USB enclosure, plugged it in, and copied over the files I needed. I reinstalled most of my apps from scratch as well.

This way I got rid of all the old apps and files I don't actively use (if I don't use it anymore, it didn't get reinstalled) but I still have a full backup of everything on the old drive, which is now an external USB drive, in case I need it later.

 

[Peter Franks]

Typically. I think it was barely a couple of months after I bought it that they stopped the 320 in favour of the 500GB...

 

[benwiggy]

Assuming that you have at least 10% free space on your hard drive, "stuff on my disk" nor "time passed" should not of itself cause your computer to be be slower.
Having apps that you don't use, or pref files for deleted apps will not affect your computer one bit.

Some perceived slowness over time is likely to be because of an increase in tasks -- you simply do more with your Mac, using newer software, bigger files, more data; and you yourself have become more adept at getting your computer to do stuff.

If it's not that, then you need to look at Activity Monitor, and see what processes are taking up CPU% and RAM. Then investigate from there.

 

[Peter Franks]

Help on a Slow(er) MBP - Does a Defrag/Clean Up exist or?

thanks, I just remember hearing that no matter how much you remove from an old Puter or Phone, once it's a few years old, the hard drive is knackered. Not saying this is what's happened now, because it's only at 2 and a half years old stage, but eventually, clearing out won't make a difference anyway

It's certainly true of my 2 year 7 month old iPhone 4. That freezes and slows up and is as buggy as it gets now.

 

[benwiggy]

I just remember hearing that no matter how much you remove from an old Puter or Phone, once it's a few years old, the hard drive is knackered.

Utter nonsense. Firstly, iPhones and Macs have completely different storage technologies.
Mechanical hard drives will work consistently until they fail. Some will fail after a few years, some will keep trucking for 10 years.

SSDs can fail too -- technology is improving, but there's little long-term data on each new type, of course.

I have an iPhone 4 that's just over 3 years old that works fine. I've have hard drives on Mac last over six years -- which tends to be when I get rid of the whole computer in favour of a new one. My dad still has G4 PowerMacs with the original hard drives, still working every day.

 

[Fishrrman]

[[ Hey guys and girls, Can someone let me know if, after I've deleted about 100GB of stuff as I was down to my last 20GB on my 320GB MBP, is there anything like there used to be on my old Win PC, to clean up after, or do you just not bother. ]]

Actually, the best "speed up" of all would be to replace the existing HDD with an SSD.

You don't need anything fancy if it's an older MacBook Pro.

Even a smaller-capacity SSD will breathe a couple of years of new life into the computer...

 

[Peter Franks]

Utter nonsense. Firstly, iPhones and Macs have completely different storage technologies.
Mechanical hard drives will work consistently until they fail. Some will fail after a few years, some will keep trucking for 10 years.

SSDs can fail too -- technology is improving, but there's little long-term data on each new type, of course.

I said puters, not Macs... not nonsense, my previous Samsung laptop ground to a halt after a few years, even with a half empty HD. But if you say that Apple is different then good, pleased to hear it. I would like to think it won't happen like that on here. It's not yet 3 years old. Is SSD a better bet for speed though

Actually, the best "speed up" of all would be to replace the existing HDD with an SSD.

You don't need anything fancy if it's an older MacBook Pro.

Even a smaller-capacity SSD will breathe a couple of years of new life into the computer...

Is this something I can do, or ..... and how long will it take if I took it into an Apple store for a new SSD? Bearing in mind I haven't a clue..

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Is this something I can do, or ..... and how long will it take if I took it into an Apple store for a new SSD? Bearing in mind I haven't a clue..

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:

• 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
• 1. Getting a new HDD
• 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
• 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
• 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)

​

 

[benwiggy]

I said puters, not Macs... not nonsense, my previous Samsung laptop ground to a halt after a few years, even with a half empty HD. But if you say that Apple is different then good, pleased to hear it.

Hard drives are made by the same people for Macs and other PCs. There's no difference between them. Just because you had a drive that failed after a few years, doesn't mean that every drive will do so.

Whether a hard drive will fail or not is a lottery. Things like vibration, shock, humidity, excessive usage are not going to help, but some drives will cope and some won't. You'll find stories here of brand new Macs with failing drives, and others that last for aeons.

When you say "Even with a half-empty drive", this suggests that there's a link between amount of stuff on a drive and whether it's going to fail. There isn't.

SSDs can also fail, and usually more totally and catastrophically than HDDs. The important thing is to expect drives to fail, and have a backup. ;-)

 

[Peter Franks]

Hard drives are made by the same people for Macs and other PCs. There's no difference between them. Just because you had a drive that failed after a few years, doesn't mean that every drive will do so.

Whether a hard drive will fail or not is a lottery. Things like vibration, shock, humidity, excessive usage are not going to help, but some drives will cope and some won't. You'll find stories here of brand new Macs with failing drives, and others that last for aeons.

When you say "Even with a half-empty drive", this suggests that there's a link between amount of stuff on a drive and whether it's going to fail. There isn't.

SSDs can also fail, and usually more totally and catastrophically than HDDs. The important thing is to expect drives to fail, and have a backup. ;-)

Thanks for your help. I understand more now. I did think fuller HDs would influence the death of the machines. Yep

 

[xlii]

I have a 13" 2009 MBP and over time I've added a 1 TB drive and 8 GB of memory. Started with 10.6.8 and am now on 10.8.4. Never had an issue with it getting slower over time. It's time for me to get an SSD, remove the superdrive (which is no longer so super) and create a fusion drive.

To the OP... how much memory does your machine have? That might be an issue. Both the memory and the HDD are easily upgradable and something you can do yourself.

You need to decide how much money you want to put into your machine.
More memory...
Larger HDD...
SSD...

are all options for you to consider.

 

[charlituna]

There are a lot of things that can cause a computer to slow down

1. Yes it could be that the hard drive is beginning to fail. Hard sometimes to call that one but we backup our stuff so it shouldn't be a big issue
2. Too little RAM. What was okay when you bought the computer might not be okay now with new software. Especially with a newer OS
3. Not enough space on the hard drive to have enough for virtual memory to work well
4. Corrupted software. Similar in effect to a fragmented drive, over time all those bits of data get shuffled in and out and can get a little scrambled
5. If it's a portable it could be a worn out battery if it's particularly old

Make sure your backup is current. Try simply turning off the computer and letting it sit for about five minutes to make sure it is completely off. Then power it back on. Sometimes that's enough. Otherwise it might be time to reinstall the OS or even do a complete erase and install. If those don't work, seek professional help for testing the hard drive and battery.

 

[Yell0w]

I have a 200GB early 2008 MBP, then upgraded to a SSD. It was day and night difference.

 

[Peter Franks]

I have a 13" 2009 MBP and over time I've added a 1 TB drive and 8 GB of memory. Started with 10.6.8 and am now on 10.8.4. Never had an issue with it getting slower over time. It's time for me to get an SSD, remove the superdrive (which is no longer so super) and create a fusion drive.

To the OP... how much memory does your machine have? That might be an issue. Both the memory and the HDD are easily upgradable and something you can do yourself.

You need to decide how much money you want to put into your machine.
More memory...
Larger HDD...
SSD...

are all options for you to consider.

thanks but doing those things myself is just asking for a disaster...

There are a lot of things that can cause a computer to slow down

1. Yes it could be that the hard drive is beginning to fail. Hard sometimes to call that one but we backup our stuff so it shouldn't be a big issue
2. Too little RAM. What was okay when you bought the computer might not be okay now with new software. Especially with a newer OS
3. Not enough space on the hard drive to have enough for virtual memory to work well
4. Corrupted software. Similar in effect to a fragmented drive, over time all those bits of data get shuffled in and out and can get a little scrambled
5. If it's a portable it could be a worn out battery if it's particularly old

Make sure your backup is current. Try simply turning off the computer and letting it sit for about five minutes to make sure it is completely off. Then power it back on. Sometimes that's enough. Otherwise it might be time to reinstall the OS or even do a complete erase and install. If those don't work, seek professional help for testing the hard drive and battery.

Sadly, I couldn't even reinstall the OS, I just don't know how to. As for switching off, I turn it off wheneve I'm not using it, never leave it on.

I have a 200GB early 2008 MBP, then upgraded to a SSD. It was day and night difference.

this is 2011 and I think I bought it just before the upgraded versions...