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Question

My macbook is progerssively taking longer to boot-up. HELP!

Jun 7, 2012 5:53AM PDT

My macbook is progerssively taking longer to boot-up. I suspect this is happening because of programs being launched every time I turn it on. The programs are... default mail - iTunes - Trend Micro Smart Surfing for Mac - blank stickies and X11.
How did this develop? How can I stop these programs from being launched at start-up?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. What is the X11 program about? It reads something like 3.2$ every time I boot-up my Mac. ?????
C.
Mac OS X version 10.7.4
Processor 2.4 GHz intel core i7
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Once booted, go to System Preferences
Jun 7, 2012 8:04AM PDT

and choose Users and Groups.
Unlock the pane if necessary and then click on your account.
Choose Login Items from the right hand pane.
Find all those apps that launch at startup, select them one at a time and click the - button.
That will stop them launching

See if that makes a difference to your startup times

P

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Answer
That's just the way it is...
Jun 8, 2012 4:05PM PDT

This seems to be usual... even on macs. You might use 3rd party utilities and all to get some speed back, but even these are not sure-fire ways to get that speed back.

The only sure-fire way to fix this 'problem' is to manually back-up your data, wipe your hard disk, and then re-install a fresh version of the OS.

But that's easier said than done, and only experienced people know how to manually back up everything. However, you might be able to get away with creating a TimeMachine backup, and then then manually back up your important data. Do not back up applications unless you've gotten them from sources where you can't reinstall them.

A manual back up is simply moving all your documents (stuff in the documents folder, pictures folder, music folder, downloads folder, movies folder and wherever else you might have put it... stuff on the desktop etc.) to an external drive, and then moving them back when you're ready.

If you use a Time Machine backup, do not use this to restore your OS and settings, as it will have backed up all the crud you DON'T want put back. The Time Machine backup is only 'just-in-case'. You should always try using your manual back up instead.

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Almost forgot...
Jun 8, 2012 4:15PM PDT

...Lion (10.7.x) is a really buggy OS. It's similar to Leopard... which in itself was buggy. Some long-time mac users like to view Leopard and Lion as "Paid Beta OSs" -- because they're so full of bugs and Apple seems unnaturally slow at patching these bugs. Case in point -- the Mail full-screen attachment view which effectively disables Mission Control (until you quit Mail). That hasn't been fixed since 10.7.0 and we're already at 10.7.4. There are other bugs such as the Launchpad icon rearrangement bug, App window navigation bug and No-sound-upon start-up bug (introduced with 10.7.4) to name a few.

In short, Lion is just really buggy, and I'm not surprised it runs/boots slow. People have already voiced their dismay over Lion's performance compared to the previous OS -- Snow Leopard's.

Users are looking to Mountain Lion for answers. Rumor has it Mountain Lion is Lion "the way it SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE" -- just as Snow Leopard is Leopard -- the way it should have been in the first place!

So, before doing anything, you can save yourself the frustration and wait for Mountain Lion. It is a MUST HAVE and reports say that it runs MUCH more efficiently -- indeed the way Snow Leopard has done to Leopard. Wait for Mountain Lion, and then do the manual backup. You might upgrade from Lion to Mountain Lion, but any long-term mac user worth his salt will tell you that the best option is ALWAYS to install a fresh OS from a newly-wiped hard drive.