Improving my memory and other things

[Docslasher]

Hi there, am new to forum thingy but not new to macs, i would like to get to know my mac a little bit more and "Open it up" to a bit more of its full potential, that being the case i have installed Lion on it and now it seems to be running a little slow on the start up. According to my system monitor there are copious amounts of things running but with not a lot of %. can anyone give me some ideas as to how to speed it up or clean it up or something like that, sorry, as i said i am new to this so am having trouble putting down what i mean. Any help would be most appreciated.

Yours Aye
Jim
13" Macbook Pro 2.4GHz Intel core 2 Duo, 8 GB MHz DDR3 OS X 10.7.2

 

[TheJing]

Well I don't really think there is much you can do except upgrade your system, SSD, more RAM etc.

As for the boot time with Lion, mine doubled compared to Snow leopard and I think most people experienced that. (Not sure though...)

 

[Spink10]

Hi there, am new to forum thingy but not new to macs, i would like to get to know my mac a little bit more and "Open it up" to a bit more of its full potential, that being the case i have installed Lion on it and now it seems to be running a little slow on the start up. According to my system monitor there are copious amounts of things running but with not a lot of %. can anyone give me some ideas as to how to speed it up or clean it up or something like that, sorry, as i said i am new to this so am having trouble putting down what i mean. Any help would be most appreciated.

Yours Aye
Jim
13" Macbook Pro 2.4GHz Intel core 2 Duo, 8 GB MHz DDR3 OS X 10.7.2

I have the exact same MBP - 8GB RAM upgrade also - Lion runs fine for me. I was running Lion with 4GB RAM and need more so I upgraded to 8

 

[Docslasher]

Thanks

Thanks for the swift response, wow, didn't think it would be that fast, have been trawling through and seen a couple of options which i will give a go, but if the general concensus is that it does in general run slow then thanks, at least that puts my mind at rest, now to opening up my laptop to its full potential, this could be interesting.........

 

[chrisvee]

I've recently opened up my Macbook Pro for the first time to install a new 8GB RAM. It was relatively painless - minus the pain in my fingers from wrestling with those tiny screws with my stupidly small screwdriver.

Oh, and welcome to MacRumors!

 

[calderone]

According to my system monitor there are copious amounts of things running but with not a lot of %. can anyone give me some ideas as to how to speed it up or clean it up or something like that, sorry, as i said i am new to this so am having trouble putting down what i mean. Any help would be most appreciated.

That is your operating system. Leave it alone.

 

[lowonthe456]

Thanks for the swift response, wow, didn't think it would be that fast, have been trawling through and seen a couple of options which i will give a go, but if the general concensus is that it does in general run slow then thanks, at least that puts my mind at rest, now to opening up my laptop to its full potential, this could be interesting.........

Have you repaired permissions? Also, download the free app "OnyX" and run it to clear caches and things. Our iMacs at work slow down and clearing fonts cacha ALWAYS helped.

I would typically run OnyX (which also repairs permissions) and then restart

 

[Dock Status]

Clean Memory

The app called Clean Memory really seems to be the best to free up some Ram.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clean-memory/id494501461?mt=12
At .99c it is a great deal because of the way it is displayed like a foldaway dashboard.

Have you repaired permissions? Also, download the free app "OnyX" and run it to clear caches and things. Our iMacs at work slow down and clearing fonts cacha ALWAYS helped.

I would typically run OnyX (which also repairs permissions) and then restart

 

[Beachguy]

The app called Clean Memory really seems to be the best to free up some Ram.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clean-memory/id494501461?mt=12
At .99c it is a great deal because of the way it is displayed like a foldaway dashboard.

I agree. I used the free one, and it was so useful I bought the pay version and it does a great job of keeping memory free. I also use it on my work Macbook Air which only has 4GB and is keeps it running well!

 

[GGJstudios]

can anyone give me some ideas as to how to speed it up or clean it up

Performance Tips For Mac OS X

Have you repaired permissions?

Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.

Five Mac maintenance myths

Repairing permissions: What you need to know
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature​

Disk Utility repairs the permissions for files installed by the Mac OS X Installer, Software Update, or an Apple software installer. It doesn’t repair permissions for your documents, your home folder, and third-party applications.

You can verify or repair permissions only on a disk with Mac OS X installed.

Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files?

Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created. This is expected. Some applications are designed to be installed in one of those ways.

Also, certain files whose permissions can be changed during normal usage without affecting their function are intentionally not checked.

There are times when repairing permissions is appropriate. To do so, here are the instructions:

Repairing Disk Permissions​

If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.

Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore​

 

[thundersteele]

Don't mess around with your mac. Lion is doing it's job pretty well usually.

Free memory is not good. It's not being used, i.e. it does nothing for you. If you hire 10 people to do some work for you, you want all of them to work - you don't want five of them sitting around and drinking beer so that you have five free workers.

As for opening the macbook to it's full potential:
Use it! Learn how to do more than just web browsing or watching videos. Startup times and benchmark scores are meaningless.