Slow Old MacBook... Can I save it?

[picaritos]

my macbook is about 5 years old (13 inch mid 2007) and has been very slow lately to the point of freezing up. I have deleted some programs and then I thought it was a disk start up issue, so I have "repaired disk permissions." However, I still have a the same problem. Any ideas? I'm lost...

I have updated the macbook to OS X 10.7.3 las summer I think. Processor is 2ghz intel core 2 duo; Memory 3GB 667 mhz ddr2 sdram; HD 188.82 free out of 319.21gb.

I'm not computer driven, please forgive me if I have forgotten something. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Performance Tips For Mac OS X
And while 3 GB RAM are okay for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, it is not ideal and you would fare better with 4 GB RAM.

 

[416049]

Performance Tips For Mac OS X
And while 3 GB RAM are okay for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, it is not ideal and you would fare better with 4 GB RAM.

Yes except the laptop would not recognize 4 only 3 due to hardware limitations.

OP Maybe buying an SSD would help you breathe some new life into that machine, you can find tons of threads in that regard as to which one is best etc, on macrumors.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Yes except the laptop would not recognize 4 only 3 due to hardware limitations.

I know.

Upgrading RAM in MacBooks and MacBook Pros​

 

[416049]

I know.

Upgrading RAM in MacBooks and MacBook Pros​

You did kinda hint that you didn't when you wrote: " it is not ideal and you would fare better with 4 GB RAM."

But its a pointless argument anyways cuz i think the op is better of buying an ssd or switching back to snow leopard or both.

 

[picaritos]

ok, so I followed the link and it seems that the problem is with my spotlight... It was taking 75% according to my activity monitor. So I selected "quit process" and I don't have that problem now, but I'm afraid it will come back. Any ideas on how to resolve this issue?

and right, my macbook won't recognize 4 gb ram. also, I'm not sure how an SSD would help resolve the issue, this looks to me like a software problem, am I of target? Thanks for the help thus far.

 

[blueroom]

Let Spotlight finish,it won't be as noticeable when it updates.

 

[picaritos]

So I tried to let spotlight finish but no luck. The computer freezes and eventually if I just let it sit, a window will come up and read something like 'there is not enough disk start up memory' Now what? I have a ton of documents that I use on a regular basis. Is there a way to fix this?

I should mention that I have gone to the disk utility and repaired disk permissions.

 

[mykweb]

Same issue after I upgreaded my late 07 macbook to 10.7 I am still running 2gb of ram with a regular 5400 hard disk. I recently upgraded to a SSD 12gb hard disk. Now its like night and day. However I was not having the identical issues that you are expericing.

Mike

 

[MOKHAN]

As you can't upgrade to 4GB, I'd suggest trying an SSD.

 

[TacticalDesire]

I would go with an SSD too. It will breathe new life into your machine and you will fall in love with it again.

 

[fteter]

Were it me, I'd want to know why my performance was so bad before I started to spend money. Have you tried using the Activity Monitor to monitor your CPU, Ram, etc.?