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slow imac

B

Bdx33

macrumors member
Original poster
hello,

i have an early 2008 imac and from time to time it freezes or it run very slowly.
how can i ditermine this problem source and fix it?
 
it would prolly run faster if you put more ram in there 😉, i'm guessing it's the 20" mentioned in your sigblock? throw another 2Gb stick of DDR2 in there and it should be a happier machine 😉
 
is there a way to be sure
some kind of software that determine the bottle neck of a system.
 
Bdx33 said:
is there a way to be sure
some kind of software that determine the bottle neck of a system.
Click to expand...

No need for software if you really only have a gig of ram installed. Easiest way to check would be the activity monitor app in your utilities folder (located in your app folder). Run that while you do your normal computing and see if the ram/CPU are maxed. With a 2.4Ghz processor, I'd imagine the backup is your memory. You can always correct the permissions by going to Disc Utility in the same Utility folder. This may help correct some issues. 🙂
 
At work I use an edu. model iMac - 2.0GHz, 1GB RAM, 9400M - and after loading up Entourage for email and Safari from regular browsing, it slows to a crawl.

For example, right now I have Safari open with 2 tabs (both Macrumors), Entourage 2004, and Activity Monitor. I have ~271MB of RAM free and my page ins/page outs are 325.5/237.9MB, respectively. This isn't terribly bad, either.

I can't wait - our tech coordinator just informed me last week that the district ordered 2GB memory sticks (for a total of 3GB) for ALL of our aluminum iMacs. 😀
 
i always have around 100mb free memory available and cpu isn't maxed out at all. it runs at 10% most of the time.
 
It would certainly seem that 1GB of memory is the bare minimum to run. I know many would consider my 2GB to be insufficient but I usually have close to 1GM not in use most of the time--between free ( currently 422) and inactive (667)--so I would not be surprised at sluggish performance with only 1GB.
 
Bdx33 said:
i always have around 100mb free memory available and cpu isn't maxed out at all. it runs at 10% most of the time.
Click to expand...

Put it to you this way - my iMac at home (specs below) is basically identical to my work one, save that its a 17" white and not a 20" aluminum. The only real difference is that I have 3GB of RAM. Unless I'm running an XP virtual machine, I rarely, if ever, hit my RAM ceiling. Memory makes ALL the difference. 😀
 
Bdx33 said:
i always have around 100mb free memory available and cpu isn't maxed out at all. it runs at 10% most of the time.
Click to expand...

100MB isn't a lot of wiggle room if you ask me...I'd say you probably bump against the memory ceiling so to speak. Did you try to correct the permissions? I'm not familiar with how easy it is to upgrade the memory for this model iMac, but I'd imagine it's a pretty easy/quick/cheap fix to throw in a new card and find out if that's what's holding you back. You can't even buy a netbook these days with only a gig of ram....(hell, WIN7 requires 2GB just for the operating system!).
 
Bdx33 said:
how can i do this?

i'm going to upgrade ram i just wanted to make sure it is the real issue.
Click to expand...

I think you can do this without booting up from a CD, but booting from an external source may be better....

In any case, open Disc Utility in the same Utility folder you found Activity Monitor. Select your HD, and click "correct permissions" in the lower right. Let it do its' thing, then I would reboot (not sure if it's necessary though).

If you want to try booting from a CD first, put in the install disc that came with the computer or a recent OSX disc (Tiger, Leapord, SL, etc.). Either restart the computer while holding down "c" or simply go to Startup Disc in System Prefernces and tell it to boot up using the CD (by selecting the CD in the options provided) and restart the computer. When the CD boots up, ignore whatever it tells you and go to the menu bar at the top, and select Disc Utility from the drop down menu. Then do the same as I described above.
 
i'll start by reparing the permission and then upgrade the ram
thanks everyone for your assistance.
 
this happened to my computer and it was due to a viruses thing i got i just ended up backing up my important files and reinstalled mac os really wasnt hard and after that my mac was amazing best decion i ever made...just wen u bak ur stuff up don't forget anything or u will kick urself...if nothing else works i would do this it'll prob solve ur problem
 
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