Five ways to speed up your Mac
[MUSIC]
Once your Mac isn't quite so new anymore you might start to notice it slowing down to a crawl.
Applications take too long to load.
And even doing some book things, like saving files, can take forever.
But, before you go out and buy a new computer, here are five ways to clean and speed up your Mac.
First, if your computer is slow to boot up, it's probably because it's trying to launch a bunch of applications at the same time.
To fix this all you need to do is disable some of those start-up items.
So go to System Preferences, then to Users and Groups, and then click on the Login Items tab to see a list of the apps that open when you boot up your Mac.
Remove any apps that you don't need at start up.
Another big problem is getting major slow down when you're using more than a couple applications.
For most apps, your computer should be able to handle this without a problem.
But, if an app is taking up too many active resources, it could reap havoc on your system.
So, open the Activity Monitor.
The numbers here are constantly going up and down showing you the amount of CPU and memory resources each app is using.
So if you see an app is taking up too many resources, it might be time to look for a replacement or if you absolutely need that app.
Consider using it with out any additional apps running at the same time.
Another culprit might be your hard drive if it's getting too close to its storage limit.
In this case, use an app like OmniDiskSweeper or Disk Inventory X to find out what's taking up space on your drive and delete any big storage hogs if you can.
At this point, you should also use the built in disk utility to fix any issues there might be with your hard drives directory.
The directory is like a road map your computer uses to retrieve files.
And if that's out of order, it can cause your Mac to slow down.
So head to the disk utility and choose your hard drive from the left panel.
Make sure you're viewing the First Aid tab and then complete the Repair Disk button in the lower right corner.
If you did all of these things and your Mac still won't perk up, you might need to add more RAM.
You can get 8 gigs for about $50, which is a whole lot cheaper than buying a new computer.
Check out www.CNET.com for the guide to doing it yourself.
And finally, always keep your operating system current.
It's free, and the new systems often include improvements that can speed up your computer.
Like compressed memory and OS ten Mavericks.
With these tips in place, you should see a huge improvement in your Mac's performance.
And you can get the detailed guide at Cnet.com/how-to.
For Cnet, I'm Sharon Profis.
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