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Techy folks, Lanny: why is my MacBook so unhappy? What can I do to make it happy again?


Ginevra
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To make a long story a little shorter, my MacBook Pro laptop is old (in computer terms); don't quote me on it, but I think I bought it new from Apple in 2006. (At the time I bought it, you had to buy iWork because it wouldn't run Microsoft programs and I needed MobileMe because there was no iCloud.)

 

So, my troubles began a little over a year ago, when I started shooting photos in raw format. My photo program, which already held many thousands of photo files in jpeg now also had raw copies, which are large files, so I understand. Additionally, I have Adobe Creative Cloud and many photos saved in PS. Well, the photo program became very lurchy and bogged down, so I quit doing raw format, backed all my photos up on thumbdrive keepers, and deleted several thousand photos (though there is still about 12,000 on the computer).

 

So, then I also updated the OS, which seemed at first to make everything better. My photo organization is better and I could access them without being lurchy. But then, that all stopped! Now, the Mac is just horrible to even try to use. It takes several minutes to boot up. It takes several minutes to attempt to do anything with photos. When I go online and type in web addresses, it types one character per 30 seconds.

 

My son scanned it for Malware and says nothing was detected. I have no idea what to do! I don't know if the issue is that the processor simply cannot keep up with the most recent system update; DS says he doesn't think this is so because Apple would simply not allow incompatible updates. He says, "That's why I couldn't update my iPhone 4; it would not allow it to update because its incompatible." So, what should I do? Should I have the Spple Genius Bar look at it and tell me what to do? Should I just look to getting a new computer? Could the photos be messing it up this badly?

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Go to your applications and then your "Utilities" folder. Open up "activity monitor". From there you can check your memory pressure and CPU load. 

 

Also, clear out your "downloads" folder - mine was taking up a ton of room on my HD recently and clearing it out helped a lot. 

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Your best bet would probably be to do a full system restore (or whatever they call it on a Mac). At eleven years old, your computer is probably full of damaged file bits and other random stuff- like the technical equivalent of being full of dust- and the only sure way to get rid of all that is to wipe everything back to the factory default. At the very least, you should clear as much space as possible on the hard drive. That's a lot of photos.

 

Also, at eleven years old your laptop probably just doesn't have the minimum amount of RAM needed to run current programs and websites smoothly. The minimum amount you need for a computer to work really well goes up a little more all the time, which is why new computers have much more than older ones. And yes, Apple won't allow an update that will completely and totally bork your computer, but that doesn't mean the current updates won't slow it down.

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Disclaimer: I know nothing about Apple products.  The only one I ever touched was on a job assignment in WA many years ago. Every 2 weeks I needed to do a report on an Apple.  Every 2 weeks, it was like starting over...  

 

Your machine is not incredibly old. We have 4 Dell Laptops that were made during 2008 - 2010 that work perfectly. And 3 others that are a little more recent.

 

I suggest that ASAP, you backup ALL of your data, onto a Removable Hard Drive. We have 2, both made by Western Digital, low end, that work perfectly.  

I make "System Image" backups of the HDD or SSD and store them on one of the Removable Hard Drives.  My Stepson is a DJ and he has Music on the other one.

 

If you did an in place "upgrade" of the OS, that is not as good as wiping the hard disk drive and then doing a "Clean" or "Fresh" install of an OS.  However, that assumes that you have the original CDs or DVDs that came with the machine, if Apple supplied them. Or, that you can get the installation media.

 

I would NOT be spending $$$$ to have Apple work on that machine.  I remember someone here who spent about $200 in an Apple store and then 6 months later had another problem and it was going to be another $200 + and she could have purchased another phone for about $200+ 

 

Sometimes it is time to move on and change hardware.    The photo files are going to take a lot of storage space and if you are manipulating images that does take processing power.

 

NOTE: ALWAYS when a machine is acting up, run Diagnostics on the RAM (Memory) and on the HDD (Hard Disk Drive.  That could account for the very sluggish behavior you are experiencing. Either the RAM or HDD could be causing the sluggish behavior. RAM problems are so common that every Linux installation disk I have ever seen (and I think even Microsoft does this) includes Diagnostics for checking RAM on the installation media.  

 

For a PC, the default Utility to check RAM is Memtest86   http://www.memtest86.com/ but I don't know if they have a comparable utility for Apple machines. Probably somewhere (on the Apple web site?) there is a free Utility to check the RAM in your machine.

 

For a HDD it is best to use the Utility available on the web site of the manufacturer of the hard disk drive. Hopefully those are available for Apple machines too.

 

If it is more than the RAM or HDD I would probably begin considering the purchase of another machine.

 

After backing up ALL of your Data, I would then do a Clean/Fresh install of the OS and start over, assuming the Installation Media is available.

 

First, I would run Diagnostics on the RAM and on the HDD.

Edited by Lanny
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Thanks, everyone, for all advice. Don't take my lack of response for ignoring you all. 😊 i may have to wait until tomorrow to mess around with it; my internet at home is limited and i have to be at my office to do anything serious.

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A hard disk drive (HDD) that is almost completely full could as someone up thread mentioned cause issues and it should be very easy to check to see how much Free space there is on the HDD. Computers like lots of Free space on drives, whether they are Hard Drives or Solid State Drives. Solid State Drives probably require more free space. Approximately 25% Free space on an SSD.  

 

But as I wrote earlier, the first thing to do is to run Diagnostics on the RAM (Memory) and HDD (Hard Disk Drive) to be sure they are OK.

 

If the performance of the machine changed suddenly, not over time, that would (probably) indicate a HW (Hardware) issue. 

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To make a long story a little shorter, my MacBook Pro laptop is old (in computer terms); don't quote me on it, but I think I bought it new from Apple in 2006. (At the time I bought it, you had to buy iWork because it wouldn't run Microsoft programs and I needed MobileMe because there was no iCloud.)

 

My Mac Mini is about the same age as your laptop and I remember when you had to buy iWork. I did have issues with my hard drive filling up so I bought two WD external hard drives. One is used just by Time Machine and the other is used just for all photos, music, and movie files. All I had to do was tell the programs where I had moved the libraries. Moving the files freed up a bunch of space and did help with my Mini's performance. My machine is no longer eligible for the new OS so I can't speak to that performance.

 

I assume your machine is on WiFi? There was a time over the last year-ish when there was some bug that caused lag while the machine was on WiFi and not while connecting to the internet through a wired connection. If you are on WiFi and can try a wired connection, if you do that, do your issues continue? Or does it resolve it?

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My Mac Mini is about the same age as your laptop and I remember when you had to buy iWork. I did have issues with my hard drive filling up so I bought two WD external hard drives. One is used just by Time Machine and the other is used just for all photos, music, and movie files. All I had to do was tell the programs where I had moved the libraries. Moving the files freed up a bunch of space and did help with my Mini's performance. My machine is no longer eligible for the new OS so I can't speak to that performance.

 

I assume your machine is on WiFi? There was a time over the last year-ish when there was some bug that caused lag while the machine was on WiFi and not while connecting to the internet through a wired connection. If you are on WiFi and can try a wired connection, if you do that, do your issues continue? Or does it resolve it?

I don't know how I would put it on a wired connection at this point. I haven't connected any computer through a wire in so long. My connection at home is theough a hot spot; I don't think it's possible to connect throuh wires to that? The office is Fios. There might be a port to connect it there, if there is even a port on my laptop.

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I don't know how I would put it on a wired connection at this point. I haven't connected any computer through a wire in so long. My connection at home is theough a hot spot; I don't think it's possible to connect throuh wires to that? The office is Fios. There might be a port to connect it there, if there is even a port on my laptop.

I've never used the laptops, just the iMac and the Mini so I can't say for sure if yours has it, butwanted to mention it as an option just in case it might be a possibility. What happens if you shut the WiFi/Bluetooth off? Does the computer still behave the same? That would be another way of testing to see if that maybe contributes to the issue.

 

RAW files are pretty big and external hard drives are really cheap (and are good to have as a general rule) so that would probably be my first step after WiFi/internet issues. If after freeing up space on the hard drive, it still behaves the same way, then I would make a Genius Bar appt. I have had very good experiences with them.

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I've never used the laptops, just the iMac and the Mini so I can't say for sure if yours has it, butwanted to mention it as an option just in case it might be a possibility. What happens if you shut the WiFi/Bluetooth off? Does the computer still behave the same? That would be another way of testing to see if that maybe contributes to the issue.

 

RAW files are pretty big and external hard drives are really cheap (and are good to have as a general rule) so that would probably be my first step after WiFi/internet issues. If after freeing up space on the hard drive, it still behaves the same way, then I would make a Genius Bar appt. I have had very good experiences with them.

Well, it does still behave poorly with the WiFi turned off; I keep it turned off all the time unless I specifically go on-line. Because I have limited internet at home, I don't keep it continuously on.

 

I may try the external HD.

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>Now, the Mac is just horrible to even try to use. It takes several minutes to boot up. It takes several minutes to attempt to do anything with photos. >When I go online and type in web addresses, it types one character per 30 seconds. 

 

I would still like you to check: the RAM,  hard disk drive and to see if you have a full hard disk drive. Could be something else, but those are the most common and the most easily fixed.

 

If it takes 30 seconds, when you touch a key on the keyboard, what is called an "Interrupt" (hardware term) is taking a LONG time to get processed. The CPU should be scanning, hundreds or thousands of times each second, looking for Interrupts from the keyboard, mouse and other things you can see and some things that are on the Motherboard that you are unaware of.. The Interrupt from the Keyboard should be a very low priority Interrupt, but it should not take more than a second for you to see a response in your web browser.

 

If they are available for Apple products, run Diagnostics on the RAM (Memory) and on the HDD (hard disk drive) and also look to see how much of the capacity of the hard disk drive is empty. I think 10% should be the minimum empty space. On an SSD, 25% empty space. 

 

ETA: Question: If you open a Word Processor or a Text Editor, does it take a long time, after you touch a key on the keyboard, for you to see a response on your display?

 

 

Edited by Lanny
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I agree with the suggestion to check your RAM.  Bad RAM makes your computer act inconsistently.   There is a free diagnostic called "Rember" that will thoroughly check your RAM.   It is even used at the Apple Genius bar, so it is absolutely safe to use.   It has found RAM problems for me - absolutely worth checking!

 

Also agree with cleaning out your downloads folder, making sure you have plenty of space on your hard drive (take some off or upgrade the size of the harddrive).  Finally, look at how much 'crap' you have on your 'desktop' of your computer.  Macs need to basically 'draw' them each time - (for lack of a better way to explain it) and it can suck your processing power and make things slow to open up.   I eventually made 'folders' for my stuff on the desk top, and then put all my random documents etc into folders.  It helped.  Note that when I read the tip to do that, I thought it was BS.  But, when I cleaned up my desktop, it made many things noticeably faster.   Good luck!   Computer problems make me tear out my hair!

 

 

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I concur with the advice given thus far.

 

1) Look at the amount of RAM. 

2) Look at available disc space.

 

Too little of either will make your computer sloooow.

 

3) Get an external hard drive. Use the "Time Machine" utility to back up all the files. The erase the hard drive and go a clean install of the  OS. Double check prior that you have access to the correct OS for your machine, or have this step (only) done by a local computer store.

 

Drives get "fragmented" over the years which causes them to slow down.

 

4) Instead of wiping the internal drive it may be far preferable to replace it with a far larger (in terms of capacity) internal drive. High capacity drives are very inexpensive now. A shop could install a new drive and the most recent OS your laptop will support.

 

Bill

 

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If when the OP opens a Word Processor or a Text Editor, and she types a few characters on the keyboard, there is a long lag, she has an issue to resolve that probably has nothing to do with her photo files.    Keyboards are simple mechanical devices. When one types, it should be on the display, immediately or sooner.

 

ETA: The Keyboard is a simple, low priority Interrupt, for the CPU to handle, along with other Interrupts, some of which have far higher priority in the scheme of things. 

Edited by Lanny
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NOTE: When you run Diagnostics, of any kind, if there is an option, always run the "Thorough" or "Extensive" Diagnostics.  Never run the "Quick" Diagnostics.  

 

The Apple link in post #18 seems to be a Suite of Diagnostics, to check different Hardware in the machine.  It might find a problem in the RAM, it might find a problem on the hard disk drive, it might find   problem on the Motherboard (worst case situation) and it might not  detect anything.  I would begin with that.

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My (older, but not as old as yours) MacBook was getting super sluggish (I also have a lot of photos on it), and also overheating like crazy. Just radiating heat, the fan running noisily, etc. A Mac-savvy friend told me to open the disk utility (applications > utilities > disk utility) and run the "verify" and "repair" disk and disk permissions once a week or so. I don't know what it's doing, and I don't know if is relevant in your case, but I do know that when I do this, my computer gets cool as a cucumber and back to its usual speeds. I suppose it couldn't hurt? Although the suggestions above  sound like the people know what they're talking about. :) Just thought I'd mention this, in case it help you or someone else. And if anyone has advice for me about this process, I'm all ears. :)

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My (older, but not as old as yours) MacBook was getting super sluggish (I also have a lot of photos on it), and also overheating like crazy. Just radiating heat, the fan running noisily, etc. A Mac-savvy friend told me to open the disk utility (applications > utilities > disk utility) and run the "verify" and "repair" disk and disk permissions once a week or so. I don't know what it's doing, and I don't know if is relevant in your case, but I do know that when I do this, my computer gets cool as a cucumber and back to its usual speeds. I suppose it couldn't hurt? Although the suggestions above  sound like the people know what they're talking about. :) Just thought I'd mention this, in case it help you or someone else. And if anyone has advice for me about this process, I'm all ears. :)

 

First of all, one should ALWAYS have a laptop on top of a Cooling Pad that works properly. (I realized, several days ago, that mine had failed and I am using the Cooling Pad for my Backup Laptop at this time).  

 

Secondly, overheating will kill electronic components.  The cause of the overheating should be determined. eg: Is there a fan that has stopped working inside the laptop?

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If when the OP opens a Word Processor or a Text Editor, and she types a few characters on the keyboard, there is a long lag, she has an issue to resolve that probably has nothing to do with her photo files. Keyboards are simple mechanical devices. When one types, it should be on the display, immediately or sooner.

 

ETA: The Keyboard is a simple, low priority Interrupt, for the CPU to handle, along with other Interrupts, some of which have far higher priority in the scheme of things.

No, there is no interrupt with the word processor.

 

I have done some of the simple things mentioned here and it is functioning better. I cleaned out ages-worth of Downloads. I threw away a bunch of clutter files. My system says I have 102.75 GB available of 249.2 GB. That doesn't sound like a lot. But I am pretty ignorant about this.

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No, there is no interrupt with the word processor.

 

I have done some of the simple things mentioned here and it is functioning better. I cleaned out ages-worth of Downloads. I threw away a bunch of clutter files. My system says I have 102.75 GB available of 249.2 GB. That doesn't sound like a lot. But I am pretty ignorant about this.

 

You have approximately 40% free space on your hard disk drive.  That's fine. Even if you have an SSD (Solid State Drive), as I do in this Mobile Workstation, above 25%  is fine for free space..  

 

Question: To clarify: When you open a Word Processor or Text Editor, and you type on the Keyboard, is there any delay (long or otherwise), between the time you touch the key and the time you see the character on your display?  If there is any delay, you have an issue.

 

As I wrote in my first reply, I know nothing about Apple products and I believe your machine was made before Apple based their OS on Linux, however I am not positive about that...  If you had a Windows PC, there is something called Disk Fragmentation that you can/should do, occasionally, to put the files in a more appropriate structure on the disk.  On an SSD you would *never* do Disk Defragmentation, because there is nothing to Defragment (no moving parts on an SSD). On a Linux machine, you would never defragment a drive, because the files are organized properly.  I do not know if Defragmenting is necessary on an Apple machine.  

 

Question #2:  If you open a photo or image editor, does it freeze up or is it more responsive now?

 

Question #3:  If you ran those Apple diagnostics (it sounded like they are very cursory and complete in several minutes?) did that find any problems with the Hardware?

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Here are some next steps:

 

1) Reboot your computer into 'Safe Mode'.  To load your Mac in Safe Mode, press and hold the Shift key while it boots. You can stop holding the Shift key when you see an Apple logo and progress bar. (Note that it will take a little while to reboot into Safe Mode.  Unlike with a PC, it is actually repairing things as it boots into safe mode.  )  To leave Safe Mode, just reboot your Mac without holding the Shift key.   Still having problems?  Then go to step two:

 

2) In your applications, Go to 'Disk Utility' and click on 'First Aid'.   If you are not running Sierra, it might have an option for 'verify' and 'repair' disk as mentioned previously.    Once that is done, reboot your computer.   Still having problems, then:

 

3)  Reset your PRAM and your SMC.   Here is a link that tells you WHAT that is, and more importantly, how to do it.   Note that the instructions vary based on which mac you have and whether battery is removable or not, etc.  So, in other words, read the whole thing.  Note that resetting PRAM and SMC fixes a lot of weird things.   

 

https://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2010/12/04/how-when-why-to-reset-the-pram-smc-on-your-mac/#.tnw_wfJcpjLN

 

 

If you are still having problems:

4) Download 'Rember'.  This free software will test the health/functioning of your RAM.  It takes a while to do.   Here is a link:

 

http://www.kelleycomputing.net/rember/

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

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