My Computer Starts Up Too Slow

I have a 15" flat-panel iMac running Mac OS 10.2.8, 800 MHz processor, and 256 MB of RAM.

I read somewhere that a Mac tests the memory each startup, and apparently on my system it is taking too long. Why must it test the memory anyway?

Is there anyway to bypass the memory testing, or is it something essential for the computer?

If it's super slow, check for viruses. I had one.

But your computer doesn't sound all that overpowered to begin with. I'd do what it wants. It probably knows best.

I have an old PowerMac that starts up faster than my iMac. And that's saying something. I'm positive that it was a ton faster when I first got it two years ago.

But should I should backup all the essential files and erase the entire harddrive, then reinstall the system?

[edit on 1/19/2005 by diehard_democrat]

Originally posted by me
I have an old PowerMac that starts up faster than my iMac. And that's saying something. I'm positive that it was a ton faster when I first got it two years ago.

By the way, when I said I was positive that it was a ton faster, the "it" was referring to the iMac.

Originally posted by RANT
If it's super slow, check for viruses. I had one.

But your computer doesn't sound all that overpowered to begin with. I'd do what it wants. It probably knows best.

You had a virus on Mac OS X

Try this... Go to Applications > Utilities and find Disk Utility. Open this and select Macintosh HD
and click on Repair Permissions. Restart after this and see if there is an improvement in performance.

Sanc'.

who here is goin to buy a mac mini ?

I doubt anybody will. They're a waste, because they will have cooling issues. Just like the flat-panel iMacs do. But these are way worse than the iMac. At least iMacs have fans

Try this... Go to Applications > Utilities and find Disk Utility. Open this and select Macintosh HD
and click on Repair Permissions. Restart after this and see if there is an improvement in performance.

Said I had to boot from the install CD and use the disk utility from there. Also said that the computer verifies and repairs (if needed) each time at boot, which I'm sure takes a long time. So the memory isn't the problem...?

By the way, so you guys know, I know a ton about computers like using applescript, unix, single-user mode and other stuff.

[edit on 1/22/2005 by diehard_democrat]

Do you have a shedload of Fonts? That can cause prob's. You would be suprised how many fonts
are corrupted. Also 256k ram isn't much memory these days.

Then that's it for sure. Appleworks takes 15 seconds to startup, and most of the time it's status is "Building font menu..." I've tried to delete them because Appleworks was to slow, but I didn't know that affected the whole system. I was not able to delete them because I couldn't find them.

256k RAM? I have images bigger than that. I think you meant to say 256 MB.

I would upgrade, but the only sticks they sell anymore are the 512 meg ones and they cost $200. I was about to buy the 256 meg when I found out they were discontinued only a few days earlier .

I just went into the Appleworks preferences and unchecked the box "display actual fonts in menu" and it started up in 1 second. But is there any way to get rid of fonts?

d_d, yeah i did mean 256mb lol...my bad. If you have a lot of extra fonts in addition to the ones that are built in to the o/s, the extra ones can slow your poota down. But i have never used 10.2.8 so i don't know how get rid of them. I only know a little bit about 10.3.4 onwards. Someone here must know though.

Sanc'.

I found this app' and a mate who is another mac user says it works well. It's only a small download 2.8mb and the price is right...free. It's shareware and compatible with 10.2 onwards.

System Optimizer X 4.5.4

www.mkd.cc...

Sanc'.

your using a mac, thats your problem :-P

sorry, i hate macs with a passion

try defragging the hard drive

I know that macs suck, but I told my parents no, and they said well we don't want you to get viruses. they think norton antivirus is spyware so thats why. And don't worry about small file size, sanctum, I've got broadband running @ 2.9 mbps. But once I save up 8 grand I'm buying a custom built system.

Edit:

Ok, downloaded the app and ran RAM compression and system cache cleaning. Actually it did start up somewhat faster that time.

But basically the frameworks of all the Mac OS X 10.0 and up are the same, Apple just integrated more features into the later versions. So if you do know how to delete fonts on 10.3.4, then it'll probably work on 10.2.8 because of the similar file setup.

[edit on 1/23/2005 by diehard_democrat]

[edit on 1/23/2005 by diehard_democrat]

8 grand for a custom built system? my bro build a fairly nice gaming commputer for only 900. i would never pay 8 grand for a computer!

And I'll bet his computer's going to be outdated within two years. Mine will be top of the line for three, average in 5, and obsolete in probably seven or eight years. That's with occasional upgrades.

It's got two Intel Xeon processors running @ 3.6 GHz, and with the liquid cooling system on there I can overclock them both to at least 4.2. Why two, you say? Well in the near future we'll have software that uses multiple-threads and takes advantage of multiple processors.

And his computer is only fairly nice.

[edit on 1/23/2005 by diehard_democrat]

Thanks for the app. Starts up at the same speed it did when I first got it. Plus I played X-Plane (the most awesome flight simulator ever created) and I could set the res to high without a major loss of frame rate, which isn't usually possible.

I owe ya one, sanc.