[DM-MUG] Slow Mac

[Matthew W.]

Just like a car, gunk can build up in the system. Disk Warrior can  
repair and optimize the directory, or catalog, on a disk and that can  
help further the reliability of the machine. If there IS a severe  
directory problem, then it could impede progress and slow things  
down, but that's not usually what happens.

If you haven't kept up regular maintenance, removed unused startup  
items and kept certain system preference items updated, you'll start  
succumbing to what I call the 'upgrade downgrade.' See, any computer  
is like a car. You have to check the fluid levels, take the barbells  
out of the trunk, lube the door locks, clean out the back window so  
you can see police cars and mobsters following you, and keep the  
engine tuned-up. If you start towing around a camper (10.4) without  
making sure the rest of the engine is at its peak, you'll start to  
backfire, burn oil, lose power, etc. Of course, some machines run for  
years before noticing any ill effect.

There is no single answer, but Disk Warrior is a fine product. Like  
changing your own oil, it helps you become more knowledgeable about  
your own machine. From your description, that problem *could* be  
directory-based as all of these things rely upon some aspect of the  
database, except 'Connecting to sever.' Your Mail.app database for  
one or more mailboxes could be a little confused, but rebuilding them  
(select a mailbox and go to the menu Mailbox and choose Rebuild)  
without verifying that your directory is fit may not help much.

It might help to know if 'everything' is slow, or just when you're  
using Mail.app? Your referenced symptoms are all Mail-specific  
problems and unless you're actually seeing the system drag across-the- 
board, then we should only look into Mail itself.

Matthew

On Sep 7, 2006, at 5:25 AM, Julie Joyce wrote:

> Hello:
>
> When I bought my PowerBook G4 a couple of years ago, it did  
> everything fast.  But for quite some time now, it slows down often  
> and quite a bit.  The problem seems to be my email (I have tons of  
> emails saved), which frequently goes through a tedious process of  
> "Writing changes to disk," "Connecting to server," "Updating  
> index," "Saving index..." etc.  Everything freezes while this  
> happens.  Is there anything I personally can do to make it speedy  
> again -- or will I have to purchase something such as Disk Warrior???
>
> Thank you!
>
> Julie Joyce


Matthew Wheeler
Acting Vice President
Des Moines Macintosh Users Group
http://www.dmmug.org