iMac G5 getting slower and slower

[Markek05]

As the title suggests, my iMac just keeps getting slower and slower. I don't know what to do. I get the beach ball almost every time I try to open something.

I have Leopard and the computer ran fine for about a year or so after I up graded but recently (the past few months) it has just gotten very sluggish. I have 1 gig of RAM which I'm thinking might be part of the problem (i might need more) but that doesn't explain why it ran fine for so long and is now running slow.

If anyone has any suggestions for getting my iMac back up to speed, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

 

[r.j.s]

Install any programs recently?

How much free space is on your hard drive?

 

[Markek05]

I haven't installed anything new in a while, haven't had the time to find anything cool to install. lol.

I still have almost 84gb left on my 250gb.

 

[r.j.s]

Did it start getting slower with the updates?

I think it might just be that the newest updates are taking their toll on the old machine, esp. with only 1GB of RAM.

I'd just add some more RAM.

 

[Markek05]

It could be the updates... iTunes and Safari are especially slow.

I guess, I'll check on some new memory. I have two 512mb do you think I should upgrade all of it or just replace one of the 512s with a 1 gig?

 

[r.j.s]

I'd put two 1GB sticks in.

 

[Markek05]

Alright, thanks for all your help and fast response!!

 

[Ciordia9]

That's still only going to take you so far. As a now aging iMacG5 w/2gb of memory it's getting harder and harder. Each app update creates significantly larger footprints and resources. My system most days sits using 1.7g, I've got a little clearance of it, its the apps and gui-shell.

Or the machine itself is degrading.

I know the LCD is starting to have burn-in where the heatports are. You can see the band lightly warped in.

Anyhow, aging is aging. I used to keep my old MPB Ti around as a mail client, even thats too slow now. A web browser w/ no flash browser hehe.

Anyhow, getting free of mem-cache is a great thing but don't expect to turn the clock back too far. Start saving. ;-)

 

[richmlow]

Something is definitely rotten in Denmark!

Your iMac G5 is not running slower and slower because of the lack of RAM. One of the systems that I use is: Mac Mini PowerPC G4, 1.25 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6. I push the system pretty hard and it has been rock-solid and does not display any appreciable slowdown.

Possible causes (in no particular order) for your slowdown might include:

1. Imminent hard drive failure.
2. Corruption of the Mac OS.
3. Background processes being run during normal computer operation.
4. Defective RAM.
5. Damaged font files, permissions, preferences, etc.

I hope that you're able to resolve your computer problem.....good luck!

richmlow

As the title suggests, my iMac just keeps getting slower and slower. I don't know what to do. I get the beach ball almost every time I try to open something.

I have Leopard and the computer ran fine for about a year or so after I up graded but recently (the past few months) it has just gotten very sluggish. I have 1 gig of RAM which I'm thinking might be part of the problem (i might need more) but that doesn't explain why it ran fine for so long and is now running slow.

If anyone has any suggestions for getting my iMac back up to speed, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

 

[Thomasthetug]

Something is definitely rotten in Denmark!

Your iMac G5 is not running slower and slower because of the lack of RAM. One of the systems that I use is: Mac Mini PowerPC G4, 1.25 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6. I push the system pretty hard and it has been rock-solid and does not display any appreciable slowdown.

Possible causes (in no particular order) for your slowdown might include:

1. Imminent hard drive failure.
2. Corruption of the Mac OS.
3. Background processes being run during normal computer operation.
4. Defective RAM.
5. Damaged font files, permissions, preferences, etc.

I hope that you're able to resolve your computer problem.....good luck!

richmlow

I would agree with number 1, because those are the main symtoms of a harddrive failure, and even 2 Corruption of the Os, because of its very slow doing everything, 1gb is plenty for Leopard, i run 1.5gb and runs great. It might be a good thing to start backing up your important files just to be safe.

 

[Hrududu]

If your system has been on the drive for a while, especially if you installed 10.5 over 10.4 I would recommend wiping the hard drive and doing a fresh install of everything. I find nothing speeds things up like a complete fresh install. It'll free up some HD space too.