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Super slow Macbook Pro

adamvk

adamvk

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 29, 2008
1,308
0
Phoenix, AZ
So, my Macbook Pro is going SUPER slow lately...any idea what might be causing it? As I type this on my Windows computer, my Mac has been in the process of logging in for about 5 minutes. When I click on things once it's up I get the ball of death. I've run ONXY, deleted cache, all of that fun stuff. I've reset the PRAM, etc etc. Any ideas? Its quite frustrating...Also both RAM and CPU usage are fine.
 
For performance issues, there are a few things you can check:
  • Check your Login Items under System Preferences > Accounts to see what you have automatically launching.
  • Also check /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Users/yourusername/Library/LaunchAgents/ for items launching at startup
  • Look at what widgets you may have running.
  • Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.
  • Take a look at the System Memory tab at the bottom of Activity Monitor to see if you have excessive "page outs", a sign that you may benefit from more RAM.
  • Make sure you're not running any 3rd party antivirus app, as many of those will drain resources, reducing performance. They're not needed to protect your Mac.
  • To prevent Login Items and Finder windows from opening when logging in, after clicking the Login button at the login screen, hold down the Shift key
  • Try starting in Safe mode (only essential Mac OS X items are started. Some features and applications might not work correctly.) Hold down the Shift key immediately after the startup tone and release when you see the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear)
 
GGJstudios said:
For performance issues, there are a few things you can check:
  • Check your Login Items under System Preferences > Accounts to see what you have automatically launching.
  • Also check /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Users/yourusername/Library/LaunchAgents/ for items launching at startup
  • Look at what widgets you may have running.
  • Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.
  • Take a look at the System Memory tab at the bottom of Activity Monitor to see if you have excessive "page outs", a sign that you may benefit from more RAM.
  • Make sure you're not running any 3rd party antivirus app, as many of those will drain resources, reducing performance. They're not needed to protect your Mac.
  • To prevent Login Items and Finder windows from opening when logging in, after clicking the Login button at the login screen, hold down the Shift key
  • Try starting in Safe mode (only essential Mac OS X items are started. Some features and applications might not work correctly.) Hold down the Shift key immediately after the startup tone and release when you see the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear)
Click to expand...

Sweet, I did all of those. The one thing I'm noticing that seems odd perhaps is that under all processes something called kernel_task is taking up around 500MB of memory, is that a lot?
 
adamvk said:
Sweet, I did all of those. The one thing I'm noticing that seems odd perhaps is that under all processes something called kernel_task is taking up around 500MB of memory, is that a lot?
Click to expand...
No, that's fine.
 
adamvk said:
Sweet, I did all of those. The one thing I'm noticing that seems odd perhaps is that under all processes something called kernel_task is taking up around 500MB of memory, is that a lot?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you are doing... I have 4 programs opened (iTunes, Safari, Mail and iPhoto) and kernel_task is at 346 MB.
 
In the Activity Monitor check wich process is taking up more %CPU. Then you can uninstall it, stop it, reinstall it...depends on what's causing it.
 
Just reinstall OS X. Takes only 20 minutes. If it still runs slow, then it's a hardware problem ( probably HDD I guess ).
 
adamvk said:
So, my Macbook Pro is going SUPER slow lately...any idea what might be causing it? As I type this on my Windows computer, my Mac has been in the process of logging in for about 5 minutes. When I click on things once it's up I get the ball of death. I've run ONXY, deleted cache, all of that fun stuff. I've reset the PRAM, etc etc. Any ideas? Its quite frustrating...Also both RAM and CPU usage are fine.
Click to expand...

You might have a failing Hard Drive...
 
Well a brief update. Since I couldn't even login for half an hour or so, I kept restarting it by holding down the power button. I did this 3 or 4 times. The last time, it boot up, I logged in, and now it's back to being fast again....:confused:
 
adamvk said:
Well a brief update. Since I couldn't even login for half an hour or so, I kept restarting it by holding down the power button. I did this 3 or 4 times. The last time, it boot up, I logged in, and now it's back to being fast again....:confused:
Click to expand...

What kind of SORCERY is this!!!!!

Hahaha, good luck, but you should check and repair permissions, clean caches and some maintenance (updates you haven't install). Hope your MBP stays well.
 
castillo4141 said:
What kind of SORCERY is this!!!!!

Hahaha, good luck, but you should check and repair permissions, clean caches and some maintenance (updates you haven't install). Hope your MBP stays well.
Click to expand...

Haha I know! I'm also confused, but I'm happy it's working now.
 
It could have been a hard drive issue, in which case make sure SMART says that your hard drive is still okay.
 
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