Does OSX slow down?

[AltecXP]

I have a rather fresh/clean install of OSX (10.5.5 with all patches only CS3, Office and WoW installed) after about 2-3 days the machine feel slow, even slower if i use it then put it to sleep then use it the next day. I have to restart it to get some performance back. If i fallow a few guides (clearing cache, fix perm.'s ect) it does get a little more peppy then slow down again till I redo it.

MacBook(black): 2.2GHz, 4GB, 160GB HDD OS X 10.5.5(fully updated)

Any ideas? Nothing in Activity Monitor is noticeably eating memory or CPU.

[markwolfe Veteran]

I have a (really) old MacBook G3 that was donated to one of our sons by a neighbor friend. The unit originally was an OS9 machine, then upgraded by him to OSX.

I can say that the 400MHz beast is a speed demon, but I can say that once booted and you get an app started, it is pretty responsive in that app (web browsing was the primary function while the laptop was used).

I can say that an OS9 install, upgraded to OSX, then many years of use with various apps don't seem to slow the unit down over time. However, not sure if that would still be true in the situation you describe of several continuous days of use without rebooting. OSX is BSD-based, so I would think it unusual, but I am not 100% sure about the whole "OSX" part that Apple adds, if that is equally robust.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

It shouldn't slow down noticeably after a few days, It should run the same after 4 minutes as it does after 4 months.

Also, fixing permissions does nothing.

[CHALE]

I don?t usually turn off my macbook pro my last reboot I think was with the update 10.5.5 and it runs great.

[markwolfe Veteran]

If those answers are the case, what could be causing the OP's problem? Is there some sort of ill-behaved app that might be consuming resources?

[Hell-In-A-Handbasket]

might want to do hard drive test

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Well, Office has crap running in the background, but if there's nothing using much CPU or memory, then it's hard to find the culprit.

For reference, my Mac is idling on 25% CPU usage at the moment, displaying a dead IRC room and a static web page :p

[AltecXP]

Well I tend to shut down every or every other night. If I say browse the web for a few he's Monday night, quit Safari, then put it to sleep, then when I wake it up Tuesday night is will feel VERY slow. If I reboot it feels a little better, but never as good as a 100% clean install. Is it possible Office or CS3 are launching item sin the back ground? I don't have any start up items and I rarely use CS3 or Office. mostly just Safari, mail and WoW.

might want to do hard drive test

The Disk Verify in Disk Utilities found no problems.

Is it possible its just my PERCEPTION is changing, or I'm going crazy?

[giga Veteran]

How much free space do you have left? Low hdd space will slow it down considerably due to fragmentation.

Have you tried running Onyx automation scripts? Zapped pram?

[PNWDweller]

...Is it possible its just my PERCEPTION is changing, or I'm going crazy?

I find that the more accustomed we become to the speed, the slower it seems to get. I know I used to think my Mac was screaming fast. In most respects it is fast, but I've become used to it and think it loads slower. I leave mine on almost 24/7 for the most part. Sometimes I shut it down. I know that the scripts run daily, weekly and monthly, and if it is shut down when the scripts normally run, it can slow the system down.

[gnuman]

You could always repair disk permissions once in a while.

[CPressland]

You could always repair disk permissions once in a while.

.... For the love of god, read the first thread before replying...

Anyway,

OS X in general is a massive set of Applications, Utilities and Services, to say that the entire operating system is slowing down would indicate either a Memory problem, or a perception problem ;).

My MacBook was running horribly slow, worst it'd ever run, taking 15 seconds just to find "Photoshop" via Spotlight. Maintenance scripts and such done nothing. Repairing permissions done nothing, defragmentation done nothing. So I reformatted the machine and restored all my files manually by hand from a backup, since then the damned thing is running faster then my rig with a Quad Core chip and 8GB of RAM.

So, this brings me to the conclusion that maybe, despite not using them, files in the "Library" folder and other system areas can still slow down the system. I think it must be something to do with Index's filling up and not properly dumping deleted file information.

Regardless, If you really think your system is slowing down.

Move all your files to another drive, including applications (the beauty of OS X), Reformat the drive, Reinstall OS X, Update OS X completely, Reinstall everything (except Microsoft Office), Dump your applications back across. And if you still think it's going slow. You're a mad man :p

Hope some of this helps, was just a mix of ideas i've compiled on how the system works/runs/ticks

[giga Veteran]

Regardless, If you really think your system is slowing down.

Move all your files to another drive, including applications (the beauty of OS X), Reformat the drive, Reinstall OS X, Update OS X completely, Reinstall everything (except Microsoft Office), Dump your applications back across. And if you still think it's going slow. You're a mad man :p

Or just create a new account and log in.

[AltecXP]

I have used Onyx, and the machines feels a tab better afterward, but nothing is OBVIOUSLY much faster, so it might just be me hoping it is again.

I have about 90GB left on the drive. Most of the files I produce I save to a ext HDD.

As I said before, it IS (at least feels it) fast after a clean install, but then it feels like it gradually gets slower. does that SlimmerX or what ever it is that pulls the PPC code and other languages out of programs actually help any aside from freeing space? or if it not worth it?

Ive only been an Apple guy for a few months so I'm not as familiar with its "tips and tricks" as I am with Windows.

[StevoJD]

Happens with my OS X install too. Except all that happens for me is that animations get choppy.

I've grown used to it, but it is annoying. I guess no OS is perfect.

[PyX]

I guess this is the kind of thing they'll put all their efforts to fix in Snow Leopard.

It never happened here though. Well, ok not really. When it happens, it's at random times and it's a Dashboard process that knocks down my iMac, so I fire open Activity Monitor, knock it down and kill it. Everything goes fine then, I gain all the speed I lost before. I'm thinking it might be due to a lyrics widget.

[what]

I actually had to reinstall after messing around with iLeopard too much; I didn't realise how slow the OS had actually become. The great thing about re-installing with Mac OS X though is that you can reinstall the System folders while preserving your home folders, so you keep all of your applications, documents, settings, etc, while getting a massive speed boost. All you have to do it let the system install (took about 30-40 minutes for me), run software update and voila, instant fast system without losing ANY data or having to restore any settings. Brilliant!

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

You could always repair disk permissions once in a while.

1. He already has
   
2. It doesn't even do anything
   

[Blaine]

So, from several replies to this thread, I take it that repairing permissions is a pointless task that should never be performed by a normal user?

[Brian M. Veteran]

So, from several replies to this thread, I take it that repairing permissions is a pointless task that should never be performed by a normal user?

Unless your permissions are incorrect and causing errors, there is no need to do it.

I only ever reboot OS X for updates, and I've noticed little to no slowdown (machine spends most of it's life in standby).

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Repairing permissions only checks the permissions against installed apps (they leave a receipt detailing what files were installed and what the permissions were)

But, messed up permissions have a fairly large indicator, stuff stops working, if a app can't write to a folder it just can't, it's not going to slow down then write anyway.

[Jase]

It might be your widgets, they tend to be working in the background.. I heard that someone was experiancing major issues with a Lyric/ iTunes Widget which caused 95% usage of ram.

Check your widgets.. better yet, if they are not in use.. disable them.

Do you have any devices plugged into your mac?.. ipod, iPhone, HDD, Mobile phone?.. anything check to see if they are the culprits.. Also iPod and iPhone co

[ikonizer]

It's a third-party issues you're having.

Ever installed a fresh copy of OS X and use ONLY what Apple packs with it? It's fast, it's clean, it's stable. (98.2% of the time, anyways)

Nearly all problems are caused by something other than the OS itself. But then again what do I know? Your copy of OS X could be possessed by the devil.

[offroadaaron]

run top in terminal and see whats actually running, also see if things are taking up virtual memory aswell for some reason.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

It might be your widgets, they tend to be working in the background.. I heard that someone was experiancing major issues with a Lyric/ iTunes Widget which caused 95% usage of ram.

Check your widgets.. better yet, if they are not in use.. disable them.

Do you have any devices plugged into your mac?.. ipod, iPhone, HDD, Mobile phone?.. anything check to see if they are the culprits.. Also iPod and iPhone co

Widgets only run for a while then go into a sleep state or something, it's why they take longer to come up if you leave the dashboard closed for a while.