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My Powerbook has slowed down. HELP!

W

Wano

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 23, 2002
487
0
Well in just the last few days while using my 17 in powerbook I have noticed it´s been slower than it used to be. So, I decided to run xbench and my results were about 5 points lower than about 2 weeks ago. Now, it's 87.15 and it used to be 92.7, I repaired disk permisions and erased some stupid stuff I downloaded, but my results were still the same.

So, my question is...what are some things I can do to speed up my computer, besides buying memory? Does safari and internet explorer save internet files on the computer that slows it down, if so how do I erase these? Also, does the system log every action and save it somewhere which slows it down?

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!
 
20gb used and 35gb available...it's the same as it was about 2 weeks ago
 
Originally posted by grapes911
did you try:

sudo ssh /etc/daily

sudo ssh /etc/weekly

sudo ssh /etc/monthly

It might work
Click to expand...

i thought it was sh, not ssh? what's the difference?

anyways, another thing worth trying is opening disk utility and repairing permissions. good luck.
 
Originally posted by shadowfax
i thought it was sh, not ssh? what's the difference?

anyways, another thing worth trying is opening disk utility and repairing permissions. good luck.
Click to expand...
ssh is the secure shell. It's normally used to access remote systems. Everything over the wire is encrypted and you have to have proper credentials to login.

You would not use ssh, normally, on your local machine, unless you're really paranoid and think that someone else on the same machine is syping on your terminal session.
 
Originally posted by daveL
ssh is the secure shell. It's normally used to access remote systems. Everything over the wire is encrypted and you have to have proper credentials to login.

You would not use ssh, normally, on your local machine, unless you're really paranoid and think that someone else on the same machine is syping on your terminal session.
Click to expand...
ah, good to know. as you can see, i am so lax with my security measures that i didn't even know they existed. thanks for the info.
 
Re: My Powerbook has slowed down. HELP!

Originally posted by Wano
Well in just the last few days while using my 17 in powerbook I have noticed it´s been slower than it used to be. So, I decided to run xbench and my results were about 5 points lower than about 2 weeks ago. Now, it's 87.15 and it used to be 92.7, I repaired disk permisions and erased some stupid stuff I downloaded, but my results were still the same.

So, my question is...what are some things I can do to speed up my computer, besides buying memory? Does safari and internet explorer save internet files on the computer that slows it down, if so how do I erase these? Also, does the system log every action and save it somewhere which slows it down?

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
You might try running "sox" (google it). It's a shareware utility that is supposed to speed things up. You can try before you buy, so give it a shot and see if it helps. I've tried it and didn't notice much difference, but then, my system wasn't running slow to begin with.

HTH
 
A more important question to ask is:

"How can I prevent my system from slowing down?"

This occurs when more extensions are installer, or when you install alpha/beta software. You know which programs you use that have version numbers starting with 0. ?? Those are alphas/betas.

The best way to prevent system slowdown is to keep your computer "clean". Don't install software you won't use (or don't see enough need to use). Avoid alpha/beta/development software whenever possible. (i.e. Don't install a beta of Panther an expect to have optimum and stable performance. :rolleyes:) Don't download spam mail or open unidentifiable email attachments unless you are sure that they don't have viruses in them. :eek:

Avoid running too much P2P software (if you use that). Also, watch out for corrupt files that may leak throughout your system, causing more and more speed reduction per usage of your computer.

DO NOT use a program to help you optimize the speed of your system, unless it is from a MAJOR software developer (Aladdin, Roxio, Symantec etc.). Even then, I would not recommend using them.

Keep your system up to date with the latest OS X software, as you would any major software.

The #1 cause of computer system speed bogs is: The User. The #1 way to prevent them is: The User.
 
Viruses? What are those?

BTW: Macjanitor does those ssh or sh commands (whatever they're called) and it's quite good. freeware.
 
A virus is a program.

But...its intent is to perform one task while replicating itself. Watch out for harmful viruses that are intended to corrput your directory tree or worse.

Remember Code Red from 2001? Viruses were spread throughout the web attacking networks.
 
Originally posted by King Cobra
A virus is a program.

But...its intent is to perform one task while replicating itself. Watch out for harmful viruses that are intended to corrput your directory tree or worse.

Remember Code Red from 2001? Viruses were spread throughout the web attacking networks.
Click to expand...
hold everything, i thought they were nonliving parasites that feed on living cells to perpetuate themselves? :confused:
 
I'd say do the routine maitainence through terminal. The weekly should give your system a good cleaning, I'm not sure how long you've used your system, but perhaps running the monthly will work for you, as well. As far as MacJanitor...why download a program to do something you can easily do through the terminal? But by all means, optimize your system and give it a good cleaning.
 
Originally posted by King Cobra
A virus is a program.

But...its intent is to perform one task while replicating itself. Watch out for harmful viruses that are intended to corrput your directory tree or worse.

Remember Code Red from 2001? Viruses were spread throughout the web attacking networks.
Click to expand...

I think he was being sarcastic when he said, "Viruses? What are those?", since (as far as I know) there are no OS X viruses.
 
Originally posted by Keith Purfield
I think he was being sarcastic when he said, "Viruses? What are those?", since (as far as I know) there are no OS X viruses.
Click to expand...
There are Viruses on Mac Os X, but luckily they have been out for a while and are easy to fix.

I've used SOX, its decent, but mostly I just do a DiskWarrior or Daily, Weekly and Monthly disks.
 
I also have an Al 17 inch with 1GB RAM.

Before repairing permissions I got 94.99; after permissions I got 96.88.

How much RAM do you have Wano?

Also, to find out where the problem is, you should save the results from Xbench so that you can compare the specific components that are being tested. Maybe it isn't a hard drive issue at all.
 
Hi,

do you have the results of the xbench run?
If you have same which of the sub-benchmarks gives a lower result?
Furthermore, what happens if you ran xbench as the first application after you booted the systen? Do you still get the same results?

Greetings
Peter
 
i have 512 mb ram. before i ran it i repaired permissions and rebooted.
 
wow! I just got 94.07..this is weird but cool...are there any background apps or caches that slows things down?
 
Originally posted by Wano
wow! I just got 94.07..this is weird but cool...are there any background apps or caches that slows things down?
Click to expand...
Well, I just ran Xbench twice on a freashly booted Panther beta and get different results each time. Even though the overall score is close, the sub-test varied quite a bit. I just don't think Xbench is a very reliable benchmark. Other people run it and find Panther 20% faster than Jag. I ran it and Jag was a hair faster than Panther, even though subjectively it feels *alot* faster than Jag.

As I said in a previous post, Xbench went 1.0 last January and hasn't had a single update since. I know for sure that they have not produced a build with gcc 3.3. So what are the results really telling you?
I think you would have to be able to run it in single user mode to get anything close to consistent results, but then you wouldn't be able to do any of the UI and graphics tests, which are very important.

Just my take on it.
 
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