Mac seems to be going slower

[philr5150]

Hi everyone. I've been on OSX for a couple of years but i still think in Windows terms, so apologies in advance if this seems newbie-ish. I have a early 2012 MBP and I went from Lion to ML to Mavericks over the past 18 months. I've noticed I'm getting a lot more beach-ball notifications and the machine just seems sluggish. It only has 4Gb of memory but I don't really tax the system - mainly for surfing and some iPhoto.

I'm wondering if I should wipe the system and reinstall Mavericks clean (have a bootable USB device for this). Does that seem a reasonable thing to do? I know OS X is better at handling it's stuff than Windows but I don't know about things like temp files etc, anything that's been left over from the previous OS's that have been on there. There's 350Gb free on the drive so I know it's not a disc space issue. Is there something I can do that may help, without doing a complete reinstall?

Any help or tips appreciated!!!
Phil.

 

[ufkdo]

In my opinion, there is no need to clean install, you should consider it as a very last solution. Have you tried repairing disk using disk utility? And also repairing disk permissions? You may also consider removing caches (check the internet for how to do, some caches should not be deleted).

 

[Chestert]

Mac seems to be going slower

I'd suggest using Activity Monitor found in the Utilities folder to see how your ram memory is being used. Paying attention to the Memory Pressure graph. I would not look at the RAM used number but rather to the Memory Pressure graph that tells you how stressed is the system in terms of memory. I notice that my Macs had seemed slower and had more beach balls. I did increase RAM memory and the problem ceased.

 

[Isamilis]

I would go with reinstall. Backup & reinstall sometimes faster than troubleshooting. Especially if it has been upgraded few times.

 

[nexsta]

I feel the same way and after all I read a clean install will not fix this problem, it's Mavericks. I'm waiting for the next update (probably next week) if it's still bad after that I'm going back to Mountain Lion.

 

[philr5150]

@ufkdo, @chestert - thanks for the hints. I'll check on those. I wasn't aware of anything called Memory Pressure, so that's a new tip

@isamillis - that's what I was thinking, with the multiple upgrades. Who knows what crap is left over.

@nexsta - I don't think it's Mavericks. I have a Mac Mini at work (2013 model) that has ML upgraded to Mavericks and it runs really well. I think my issue is either low memory or something dragging in the OS because of a software problem, but not OS itself.

 

[HappyPhil]

It is slow

The design is such that Mavericks is learning to best utilize processing resources, as you are using a program. As it learns, it goes faster. This is great, if you only use one program and never turn your computer off.

Some of us Mac users actually use many processor intensive programs for various projects, (like graphic design, video production, multi-track recording and mixing, photography, etc.), and our work flow takes us through dozens of these programs continuously. This is more than Mavericks was designed to handle. It makes drawing impossible by causing the trackpad to behave with erratic, jerky responses. Try touching up a photograph, or detailing a piece of artwork, after editing the video you plan to put it in. Mavericks can't handle it.

I only have Mavericks on one of my MacBooks, so I can at least get my work done on my other machines. I plan to sell or trade my Mavericked MacBook, get a 2010, or older, Mac, install ML, use the full featured, pre-Mavericks, Pages, Keynote, iPhoto, GarageBand, etc., and happily go about my business.

Oh yeah, I turn off most of my computers when I am done using them. With Mavericks, that means it has to learn everything all over again.

I have been using Mac computers since 1986. It has been a really good run. I guess it has ended with with this substandard OS called Mavericks.

 

[xrtzx]

I've got a MBA mid 2011 and after upgrading to Mavericks from ML, it's been a nuisance.. It's gotten to a point now where i'm very frustrated with the speed of the OS....My computer hangs alot...The slowness persists even after a restart. Here's a screenshot of my activity monitor....

I know a lot of memory is being used....