OS Rot

Discussion in 'macOS' started by thejadedmonkey, Jul 28, 2010.

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  1. thejadedmonkey, Jul 28, 2010

    thejadedmonkey macrumors 604

    thejadedmonkey

    Joined:
    May 28, 2005
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    #1
    I've had this computer since 2006.

    It started slowing down, and so I put more ram into it... a few years later, Applecare told me my hard drive was failing because it took so long to boot up. I wiped the computer, which got rid of many of the start up items, and sped it up... I upgraded the OS to Snow Leopard (which I immediately downgraded). Then I got the mouse fixed.

    By this time, the computer was slow, hot, the mouse was erratic, and programs took a long time to upgrade. My Windows 7 netbook would run better. Applecare just told me it was because my computer was old, and a new computer would fix my problems.

    Then I saw a post by someone on here, who said that he created a new user account and it made his powerbook run like new. I did that, rebuilt the driver cache, and guess what. My erratic mouse is no more, and my computer runs like new again!

    So let this just be a word of warning, OS X suffers from OS Rot just like any other OS, and sometimes a fresh install, without transferring your user account, but creating a new one, can really help speed up your computer.
     
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  2. calderone, Jul 28, 2010

    calderone macrumors 68040

    calderone

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    Aug 28, 2009
    Location:
    Seattle
    #2
    No, this is just a case of not knowing what you are doing just like Windows users.
     
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  3. Nermal, Jul 28, 2010

    Nermal Moderator

    Nermal

    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2002
    Location:
    New Zealand
    #3
    Wow. A user posts a tip that has worked for many people and helps to track down the cause of problems (in this case, a user account issue) and you respond with a rather rude post. There is nothing wrong with creating an additional user account in order to isolate or work around an issue.
     
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  4. calderone, Jul 28, 2010

    calderone macrumors 68040

    calderone

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2009
    Location:
    Seattle
    #4
    Where did I dispute that this isn't a good troubleshooting technique?

    The OP was giving this as a solution to a problem, not as a method for determining the root of a problem.
     
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  5. QuarterSwede, Jul 28, 2010

    QuarterSwede macrumors G3

    QuarterSwede

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2005
    Location:
    Colorado Springs, CO
    #5
    For my wife it was a failing hard drive.

    Sloooooow as crap when it should have screamed for months. Then a few days ago she was working in iPhoto when the event she was working in just disappeared. I then opened up Time Machine to restore the iPhoto library when it stalled before finishing freezing the computer. I forced it off and it refused to boot. I popped in the Snow Leopard disc (I still think it's better than Leopard) and when it couldn't find a hard drive I tried the Tech Tool Deluxe (from AppleCare) diagnostic disc which it refused to run. Made a Genius bar appointment and got a brand new hard drive (w/40 more GBs to boot). That's the 4th hard drive I've had die on me over the years. I HATE mechanical HDs. SSDs are where it's at.
     
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  6. OzExige, Jul 28, 2010

    OzExige macrumors 6502

    OzExige

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2008
    Location:
    Omnipresence
    #6
    ahhh New Zealand

    "home of the long ... <insert must be appropriate> ..." :confused:
     
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  7. Michaelgtrusa, Jul 29, 2010

    Michaelgtrusa macrumors 604

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    Oct 13, 2008
    #7
    Never heard any proof that setting up a new account and transferring all you're data to that new acc works but...
     
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  8. Blondie :), Aug 3, 2010

    Blondie :) macrumors 6502a

    Blondie :)

    Joined:
    May 12, 2010
    Location:
    Prescott, AZ
    #8
    I'll have to keep this in mind just in case my MB starts to get slower than cold tar in a few years :rolleyes: has anyone been able to make this same type of result with Snow Leopard?
     
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  9. Michaelgtrusa, Aug 16, 2010

    Michaelgtrusa macrumors 604

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    #9
    How good is this method?
     
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  10. Michaelgtrusa, Oct 19, 2011

    Michaelgtrusa macrumors 604

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    Oct 13, 2008
    #10
    This method has worked for me in Lion.
     
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