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In Leopard, how to quit Finder from RAM

F

flanamac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 3, 2009
326
0
How do I quit Finder same as other programs so that it no longer takes up RAM?

Typically, when closing all Finder windows, Finder is still running in the background and taking up precious RAM. I can use Activity Monitor and quit manually, but is there a way to quit it via short cut like cmd-q?

Thanks for the help.
 
Finder has to be running all the time. You can use activity monitor or the force quit menu to relaunch finder but you can never quit it so that it doesn't run.
 
The Finder IS Mac OS X. It runs your system, it's not an application.
 
If you so desperately need more RAM, then why not quitting Safari first, it'll free up many times more than relaunching Finder...
 
HLdan said:
The Finder IS Mac OS X. It runs your system, it's not an application.
Click to expand...

Untrue. It's quite possible to run OSX without the Finder. My brother had it set up to launch Terminal instead, and ran Finderless for over a month. Finder is just an application with a few special hooks into the system.
 
HLdan said:
The Finder IS Mac OS X. It runs your system, it's not an application.
Click to expand...

There is so much wrong with this statement. I run OS X all the time without the Finder (pathfinder, or terminal make great replacements). Hell, you could consider the dock to be OS X, that doesn't make it so.
 
you don't need Finder running

I have quit Finder from the Activity Monitor before (like today) and run fine without it. Yes, all the RAM I can have free helps.

The question is can you quit Finder outside of having to open Activity Monitor and quit it yourself? BTW you don't have to force quit from AM because it gives you the option to simply quit.
 
flanamac said:
I have quit Finder from the Activity Monitor before (like today) and run fine without it.
Click to expand...
Yes, true.
Yes, all the RAM I can have free helps.
Click to expand...
FALSE. OS X will access all the RAM it needs, and if the Finder's processes are unnecessary, then OS X will pass the RAM to the hard disk. If a process makes a call to the Finder you may run into problems that will negate any minor benefit you get from freeing the Finder's RAM.

The question is can you quit Finder outside of having to open Activity Monitor and quit it yourself? BTW you don't have to force quit from AM because it gives you the option to simply quit.
Click to expand...

defaults write com.apple.Finder QuitMenuItem 1
(source)
 
Catfish_Man said:
Untrue. It's quite possible to run OSX without the Finder. My brother had it set up to launch Terminal instead, and ran Finderless for over a month. Finder is just an application with a few special hooks into the system.
Click to expand...

You do know that when you're running Terminal you running Unix commands and not GUI don't you? Terminal is not the default way to run OS X's file management and it's definitely not something to use for less than tech savvy people. Some of you guys need to stop thinking like a geek and think like the average user which is most of the world.
 
TuffLuffJimmy said:
There is so much wrong with this statement. I run OS X all the time without the Finder (pathfinder, or terminal make great replacements). Hell, you could consider the dock to be OS X, that doesn't make it so.
Click to expand...

There's so much wrong with your statement as well. Really smart Jimmy, the OP is trying reduce the amount of ram being used and you suggest using Pathfinder, WHICH USES RAM? He's not trying to replace the Finder, he's trying to stop it from using ram.
 
HLdan said:
There's so much wrong with your statement as well. Really smart Jimmy, the OP is trying reduce the amount of ram being used and you suggest using Pathfinder, WHICH USES RAM? He's not trying to replace the Finder, he's trying to stop it from using ram.
Click to expand...

I never suggested Pathfinder. I said you don't need the finder and the Finder isn't OS X. I said that he probably shouldn't quit the Finder and he should just let OS X do its thing. Don't flame me if you're not going to read my posts and don't flame me if you're going to make incredibly wrong assertions, like the Finder being OS X.
 
The Finder is just another application. It is not the OS, that's for sure, and does not need to be running.

As what stated previously, add a "Quit" menu item to the Finder "Finder" menu using this command:

Code: 
defaults write com.apple.Finder QuitMenuItem 1; killall Finder

Then you can quit the finder any time you want. The Finder does not use all that much memory though so it is not a big savings.

S-
 
To OP. You cant really quit Finder.

Finder is the equivalent to explorer for windows.
 
HLdan said:
You do know that when you're running Terminal you running Unix commands and not GUI don't you? Terminal is not the default way to run OS X's file management and it's definitely not something to use for less than tech savvy people. Some of you guys need to stop thinking like a geek and think like the average user which is most of the world.
Click to expand...

You are failing here.. you are taking a huge tangent trying to get out of your original absurd claim that "Finder is OS X, runs the system, and is not an application."

All Catfish_Man did was prove you wrong. Some of us "geek" guys need to set average users like you straight, otherwise MacRumors would be full of BS, like your claim..
 
Kilamite said:
You are failing here.. you are taking a huge tangent trying to get out of your original absurd claim that "Finder is OS X, runs the system, and is not an application."

All Catfish_Man did was prove you wrong. Some of us "geek" guys need to set average users like you straight, otherwise MacRumors would be full of BS, like your claim..
Click to expand...

Good for you, I'm actually happy that you posted such arrogance to set me straight. Wow, I should go to my room for a week for posting something wrong on MR. R U happy that you proved yourself to be elitist and arrogant and that I am not nearly as smart as you? :rolleyes:
 
TuffLuffJimmy said:
I never suggested Pathfinder. I said you don't need the finder and the Finder isn't OS X. I said that he probably shouldn't quit the Finder and he should just let OS X do its thing. Don't flame me if you're not going to read my posts and don't flame me if you're going to make incredibly wrong assertions, like the Finder being OS X.
Click to expand...

Don't worry Jimmy, this will be my last post and my last replies to you. I see your posts from time to time here and you always end up offending other forum members. You're not worth my time, now where is that ignore filter, ha, found it. :p
 
flanamac said:
I have quit Finder from the Activity Monitor before (like today) and run fine without it. Yes, all the RAM I can have free helps.

The question is can you quit Finder outside of having to open Activity Monitor and quit it yourself? BTW you don't have to force quit from AM because it gives you the option to simply quit.
Click to expand...

i believe that in the application superdocker, there is the option that allows you to quit finder.
 
lewis82 said:
You can quit Finder for sure...

I used it back then on my iMac G3... Helps so much for watching videos on youtube...

As said before, defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -boolean true, and killall Dock.
Click to expand...

"killall Dock"?????????????

One more time. Issue this command line in "Terminal":

Code: 
defaults write com.apple.Finder QuitMenuItem 1; killall Finder

S-
 
You shouldnt really have to worry about the finder taking up ram.It only becomes a RAM hog when it has to process all the image previews,or video previews of your files,this will also increase cpu usage.When you have multiple windows open in the finder the windowserver process takes ram,that can also hog it up.And the finder is just file browser,you can run OSX without it.
 
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