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General discussion

my Mac Desktop computer is running super slow..

Jul 1, 2010 10:42PM PDT

My Mac has been running really slow lately.. the computer gets wheel of death a lot. I have a few programs open ie all adobes, but i think it should have more guts than what it is showing.
I am also having trouble shutting things down and have had to force quit several times.

I think it could be a virus - Help! what can I do?

Discussion is locked

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Almost certainly not a virus
Jul 1, 2010 11:06PM PDT

how about you tell us what sort of Mac you have,
how much memory it has
how big the hard drive is and how much free space you have on it.

P

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ok...
Jul 1, 2010 11:13PM PDT

10.5.7 OSX
2 Gig Memory 2 Gig Ram
118 Gig Free Space.

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Good,
Jul 2, 2010 9:28AM PDT

does it run slow all the time or just after a period of time?

Did you used to have a Windows machine? (the question is relevant)

Do you have more than a couple of applications open at the same time?

Have you tried, as a first step, repairing disk permissions? If not, go to Applications\Utilities\Disk Utility and run the Repair Disk Permissions.

P

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answers
Jul 2, 2010 9:53AM PDT

it's running really bad, i always get the wheel of death. I have only ever had Macs, prior to this i have been rocking a G4 powerbook - which would go slow but it has only 1 gig of ram.
I have a few applications open but this should not affect it. It should be able to handle these applications open at the same time.
I will do the disk permissions now, someone else said to use the re-install disc also. I an scared however as i cannot afford to lose the programs on the system.

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contd
Jul 2, 2010 10:00AM PDT

when i got the computer i fire wired it to the laptop to transfer all the data but this was well over a year ago. and it has worked well prior.

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it works...
Jul 2, 2010 10:13AM PDT

i did the permissions repair and it said 'permissions differ on ..[practically every application]but it says they are repaired now.

It is working heaps better.

Thank You for your help - it's the most basic stuff i struggle with, if it continues i will reply the to this forum.

I really appreciate your time.

- Caroline

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you're welcome
Jul 2, 2010 11:46PM PDT

Oh, and the reason for the Windows question.

I find that a lot of switchers tend to use the Red button at the top right of an open window in the same way as they use the X at the top left of a Windows open window.

In Windows it Quits the application but in OS X it only Quits on certain applications. The switchers then end up with just about every application they own, running at the same time.

You obviously don't suffer from that affliction.

Happy


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you mean the other way round
Jul 5, 2010 5:18AM PDT

The red button in Mac at the left, the X in Windows at the right.
Happens with the best. An old joke: A brilliant conductor would always take a piece of paper from his jacket before the performance, carefully read a few words on it, put it back and then conduct exceedingly well. Everyone was curious what was written on it, some mantra, prayer, etc. One day, the orchestra arranged for a fake phone call so he would leave the rehearsal hall for a few minutes. Then everybody rushed to his jacket hanging on his chair and got the famous piece of paper out. It read: Violins to the left, altos to the right.

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Ooops,
Jul 5, 2010 8:34AM PDT

I could answer that I view the screen from behind. Happy


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red cross
Jun 2, 2011 7:04AM PDT

you have me worried there,i keep clicking on the red cross on my mac,what should i do instead?

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As already noted,
Jun 2, 2011 8:35AM PDT

there is NO red X on an open Mac window.
There is a Red dot though.
Clicking that only closes the open window and leaves the actual program, the thing using the RAM, running in the background.

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+1
Jul 11, 2010 10:04PM PDT

Disable the hardware that you do not use. Delete programs from start-up that is not used. It is what you can do for now.

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(NT) It's a Mac, not a Windows machine
Jul 11, 2010 10:05PM PDT