I want to reinstall OS X based on poor performance - question re restore

[cmm]

I've had a poorly performing MBP i5 4GB 7200rpm machine. It's running slow as hell. Anyway, I've gone through the list: Before upgrading to 8GB of ram, I want to try reinstalling OS X. And if that doesn't work, good bye OS X and its poor memory management.

If some scripts are causing the computer to run slowly, does that mean I should only copy over ~/Documents, ~/Movies, ~/Pictures, /Applications, ~/Music and not copy ~/. , ~/Application Support/ and /Application Support?


I'm afraid if I copy over the config files, that could bring back the poor speed.

Thanks.

 

[MisterMe]

The most probable cause of poor performance is a hard drive with >85% capacity filled.

 

[name99]

You would be far better figuring out WHY your computer feels slow rather than random hacking.

Install something like iStat Menus, or just use Activity Monitor, and see if there are any unexpected apps that are using lots of CPU, or if there is lots of unexpected disk activity or swapping.
Look in the Console logs and see if there are any messages that seem to indicate something strange.

Macs are not impenetrable black boxes. If something is chewing up CPU or hitting the disk a lot, it will show up in Activity Monitor or equivalents.

 

[davidlv]

I've had a poorly performing MBP i5 4GB 7200rpm machine. It's running slow as hell. Anyway, I've gone through the list: Before upgrading to 8GB of ram, I want to try reinstalling OS X. And if that doesn't work, good bye OS X and its poor memory management.
If some scripts are causing the computer to run slowly, does that mean I should only copy over ~/Documents, ~/Movies, ~/Pictures, /Applications, ~/Music and not copy ~/. , ~/Application Support/ and /Application Support?
I'm afraid if I copy over the config files, that could bring back the poor speed.
Thanks.

The only poor management possible here is "user management," as OSX has very good to great memory management. However, user installed applications can hog the CPU and cause a slowdown, the most notable of these is Flash. Make sure you have the latest version, but not the latest alpha! As another post said, a full HD can be problematic too. Of course reimporting your previous installation may cause the same issues. Try a clean install and see if the issue continues, it will most likely be gone. If it does remain you may have a hardware issue and have to go to Apple for help.

 

[QuarterSwede]

The only poor management possible here is "user management," as OSX has very good to great memory management.

Agreed. It uses every bit of memory it can.

However, user installed applications can hog the CPU and cause a slowdown, the most notable of these is Flash. Make sure you have the latest version, but not the latest alpha! As another post said, a full HD can be problematic too. Of course reimporting your previous installation may cause the same issues. Try a clean install and see if the issue continues, it will most likely be gone. If it does remain you may have a hardware issue and have to go to Apple for help.

Definitely a more likely culprit. A lot of Mac users have no speed issues on far older hardware.

 

[cmm]

No one here has answered my question. Is anyone going to answer my question?

 

[maflynn]

No, they're content on bashing you and your intelligence level.

To answer your question, after backing up your hard drive and reinstalling the OS, trying selectively restoring those folders you've put in your post.

Also don't restore your apps but reinstall only those that you use now.

~/Library gets filled up with all sorts of crap and short of retaining the ~/Library/Mail folders, reinstalling will keep that stuff from getting back in there

 

[cmm]

No, they're content on bashing you and your intelligence level.

To answer your question, after backing up your hard drive and reinstalling the OS, trying selectively restoring those folders you've put in your post.

Also don't restore your apps but reinstall only those that you use now.

~/Library gets filled up with all sorts of crap and short of retaining the ~/Library/Mail folders, reinstalling will keep that stuff from getting back in there

Yeah, I was hoping that there would be another method, rather than 1 by 1. I know the main culprits, so I'll be careful of those, but I'm not as familiar with the OS X architecture as other *nix derivatives.

Thanks.

 

[MisterMe]

No, they're content on bashing you and your intelligence level.

...

~/Library gets filled up with all sorts of crap and short of retaining the ~/Library/Mail folders, reinstalling will keep that stuff from getting back in there

Unless the OP is running his Mac from a Zip® Drive, this is nonsense. In 6.5 years and six email accounts, my Mail folder has accumulated a total of 1.52 GB for the entire folder, about 1% of my hard drive capacity. A significant number of these files are older messages imported from my previous Mac. The takeaway message is that removing "crap" email will have very little impact on the OP's capacity consumption. Unless he has saved all of his spam for Viagra and Florida vacation homes, it is irresponsible to lead him to believe that it will.

 

[cmm]

Unless the OP is running his Mac from a Zip® Drive, this is nonsense. In 6.5 years and six email accounts, my Mail folder has accumulated a total of 1.52 GB for the entire folder, about 1% of my hard drive capacity. A significant number of these files are older messages imported from my previous Mac. The takeaway message is that removing "crap" email will have very little impact on the OP's capacity consumption. Unless he has saved all of his spam for Viagra and Florida vacation homes, it is irresponsible to lead him to believe that it will.

It's all relative. My ~/Library/Mail folder is 23GB since I've been using OS X. I need to go through that one day.

I'm not concerned about space; I use about 40% of my available HDD space on my boot drive.