probably another "dumb question"....

[dolphin1]

At work we all have Mac computers (University). My boss's computer runs slow sometimes. I showed him how to repair permissions and told him to restart his computer He's using Safari but I'm not sure which system he's running on, I'd have to go check his computer.
I heard that sometimes Safari can store a bunch of stuff and you could do something about that???
I told him he could try downloading Camino or another browser and save Safari for his timecard info. He says that the time cards will only work on Safari -- hmmm... that doesn't seem correct because I can punch in and out at home off my eMac using Camino. But some things you just can't tell him he's "wrong".
Oh, my main question.... The desk top computers up here run on ethernet. Is there a certain speed ethernet runs on or can it vary or am I way out in left field?? I tried looking in his network and then configure but it only said, Ethernet connection.
thanks --

 

[bearbo]

At work we all have Mac computers (University). My boss's computer runs slow sometimes. I showed him how to repair permissions and told him to restart his computer He's using Safari but I'm not sure which system he's running on, I'd have to go check his computer.
I heard that sometimes Safari can store a bunch of stuff and you could do something about that???
I told him he could try downloading Camino or another browser and save Safari for his timecard info. He says that the time cards will only work on Safari -- hmmm... that doesn't seem correct because I can punch in and out at home off my eMac using Camino. But some things you just can't tell him he's "wrong".
Oh, my main question.... The desk top computers up here run on ethernet. Is there a certain speed ethernet runs on or can it vary or am I way out in left field?? I tried looking in his network and then configure but it only said, Ethernet connection.
thanks --

okay, as i'm not the expert on this... hopefully this helps

ethernet (not internet) can run on three speed 10 or 100 or 1000 megabits/second... which one it runs depend on the computer's ethernet card and switch (it runs on the speed of lower of the two)

however that is only for transfer between the computer and the switch.. beyond that your internet speed is also limited by the internet connection speed... your internet service provider (ISP)dictate over that

when you are connecting to a certain website, you are also limited by the connection speed of that certain website's server

but most of the time, it's your internet connection speed that is limiting your overall speed

hopefully this helps, and someone correct me if i'm wrong

 

[aquajet]

You can delete cookies, cache files, etc. from Safari all at once by selecting "Reset Safari" from the "Safari" menu.

There are three different speeds that ethernet can run at: 10 mb/s, 100 mb/s (fast ethernet) and 1000 mb/s (gigabit ethernet). All new Macs have gigabit ethernet and just about every Mac built since 2001 or so has fast ethernet, AFAIK. It's all auto-sensing, so your Mac will connect at the fastest possible speed.

 

[yellow]

I heard that sometimes Safari can store a bunch of stuff and you could do something about that???

Yes, an abundance of favicons can slow Safari down.

They can be deleted by quitting Safari and removing the contents of ~/Library/Safari/Icons/.


Are you the IT support person?

For starters, you need to determine where the "slowness" is coming from, network or CPU cycles.

 

[Flowbee]

Also, depending on the processor and amount of RAM, there are a lot of web-based technologies that can really slow Safari down.

 

[bearbo]

interesting... i thought his big question was about ethernet speed...

 

[dolphin1]

interesting... i thought his big question was about ethernet speed...

LOL -- I think I actually asked quite a few questions including ethernet speed.
But I think you all answered them all. To the person who asked if I was the IT person - LOL!!! Kind of. And that's a scary thought!!
We have a computer person but you can rarely find him.
And how would you determine if the slowness is coming from the network or cpu styles?
It's not real slow or anything but he gets quite a few beachballs and freezes.
While I was standing there, he got a beachball for quite a while.
I'll have to see how much ram he's got and such.

 

[Flowbee]

And how would you determine if the slowness is coming from the network or cpu styles?
It's not real slow or anything but he gets quite a few beachballs and freezes.
While I was standing there, he got a beachball for quite a while.

Well, I've worked with a lot of dog-slow connections (like on a cruise ship), but they've never caused beachballs.

 

[bearbo]

LOL -- I think I actually asked quite a few questions including ethernet speed.
But I think you all answered them all. To the person who asked if I was the IT person - LOL!!! Kind of. And that's a scary thought!!
We have a computer person but you can rarely find him.
And how would you determine if the slowness is coming from the network or cpu styles?
It's not real slow or anything but he gets quite a few beachballs and freezes.
While I was standing there, he got a beachball for quite a while.
I'll have to see how much ram he's got and such.

when you have beachball, that's definitely slowness of the computer... however i have a 6 yrs old windows PC, that's really slow, but page loading speed is generally as well as my 3 months mbp

 

[obrien234]

I think an important question to ask is:

What kind of computer is your boss using?

(To find this out, click on the Apple Menu and then select "About This Mac")


Also, to find out CPU and Network speeds you can use Activity Monitor. It's in Applications>Utilities