After start - up problems , the most vulgar questions I get at the Mac 911 web log are about speed — or deficiency therefrom — and passwords . If your Mac is slow , if the spinning rainbow cursor appears more often than you ’d like , or if you ’re evermore being shut up out of your account , here ’s what you require to do .
Why does my Mac run so slowly?
When distinguish a “ deadening ” Mac , it assist to focalize on exactly what it is about your Mac that ’s sluggish . If the Finder is one-horse , for example , and your Mac ’s desktop is packed with nongeneric icons , all those icons are slow up down the Finder because it ’s drawing each icon as a freestanding window , which takes time . You also want to keep the Mac from perform needless Finder calculations : Open a windowpane in the Finder in List or Cover Flow opinion , choose View - > Show View Options , and ensure that the Calculate All Sizes choice is unbridled .
If your Mac plods along when it ’s perform net - related work , it ’s likely that your wideband connection is the bottleneck . Go to a Website such as Ookla’sSpeedtest.netto see how fast your connection is . If your connection web web browser specifically performs slow , quit and relaunch it . Memory leaks that seem to be part and bundle of today ’s Web internet browser can slow down down these software . If the web browser app remains inert , empty its cache . ( In Safari , opt Safari - > Empty Cache . In Firefox , prefer Firefox - > Preferences , select the web tab of the Advanced preference , and get through the Clear Now button in the Offline Storage area . )
It ’s also potential that a particular app is manducate up a lot of your Mac ’s tending . Launch Activity Monitor ( /Applications / Utilities ) , cluck the CPU heading , and see what floats to the top . If an software takes up a large chunk of the C.P.U. and wo n’t let it go , it could be dragging down your Mac ’s performance . ( Note that some mental process can hog a passel of your CPU cycles , but they do so for only a brief clip . You ’re looking for processes that routinely raven major part of your CPU . ) If it ’s a cognitive operation or software program you could do without , discontinue it by clicking the Quit Process push button at the top of the Activity Monitor window . ( If it ’s an program , first carry through your work . )
You can free up space on your Mac’s drive by deleting GarageBand audio files you never use.
A Mac can also be dense when you have too footling RAM or free heavy - private road space . Today ’s Macs want a minimum of 2 GB of RAM but will perform better with more . And a about full grueling driveway can slow down your Mac because the Mac has to function harder to find places to store virtual memory . If your Mac shipped with a slow unvoiced parkway ( 5400 rpm , for example)—as does the Mac miniskirt — consider replacing the private road with a faster one , or charge from a degenerate extraneous drive .
I keep seeing the spinning rainbow cursor in an application. I can’t do anything with that app until it goes away. How can I get rid of it?
normally known as the Spinning Beachball of Death ( SBBOD ) , this cursor is the bane of Mac users everywhere . The Mac expose it to indicate “ I have n’t crashed , I ’m busy . Keep your shirt on , please . ” Regrettably , you may have to remain invest for minutes at a time before the cursor disappear .
Sometimes the SBBOD appears for a very estimable reason — when the Mac correctly needs to spend a fair amount of fourth dimension fulfil a particular labor . For example , you might see it when your Mac is retrieving and indexing six months ’ worth of old e - mail or pulling together a massive iTunes subroutine library . In such cases , give the Mac the time it needs to finish up its job .
If you see the SBBOD frequently and you have n’t restarted your Mac in a while , now ’s the time . Doing so can set things right . If , however , you continue to see the SBBOD after restart the Mac , launch Activity Monitor to see if a particular applications programme or process is rust up your C.P.U. . If so , again , update or do without .
You can free up space on your Mac’s drive by deleting GarageBand audio files you never use.
The SBBOD can also appear when you have too little RAM or gratuitous heavy - movement outer space . In such event you may see the SBBOD anywhere — even in the Finder . And , of trend , if an app is wholly cling up , it can exhibit this loathsome ball . Force - quitting the software will take care of a hung - up app . ( you’re able to force - quit program from within Activity Monitor by select the program and clicking the Quit Process button at the top of the window . Or but press Command - Option - Escape ; take the misbehaving software in the Force Quit Applications window , display in red ; and then come home the Force Quit clit . )
My hard drive is almost out of space. What’s taking up all that room?
Start with the usual suspects . If you ’ve installed iLife but you ’ll never use GarageBand , go to /Library / program Support and slash out the GarageBand booklet ; it contains nearly 5 GB of audio file . Move to the Audio booklet in that same Library folder and you ’ll discover an Apple Loops folder that may have another G of audio single file . you’re able to toss that too . Similarly , the iDVD leaflet , within the program Support folder , weighs in at just over 2 GB . If you do n’t use iDVD , out it goes .
Next , site your iPhoto Library file , or Aperture Library single file if you use Aperture ( found by default inyouruserfolder / Photos ) , and Control - tap it . Select the iPod Photo Cache pamphlet and constrict Command - I to get the Info window . You may be surprised at how much data it holds . Inside this booklet are images you ’ve converted for display on an iPod or iOS machine — even those files that you no longer synchronise with your twist . Toss out the images to justify up a lot of space . When you later synchronise look-alike to your machine , iTunes will make newfangled reborn copies .
you could free up space on your Mac ’s drive by deleting GarageBand audio files you never use .
To turn up very large Indian file ( rather than folders brimming with files ) , move to the Finder and press Command - F to bring up the Search window . Click the positive - sign ( + ) clit and configure the pop - up carte near the top of the windowpane to read Size Is Greater Than 1 G . All the individual files that exceed 1 GB will seem in the list . Find any you do n’t need and cast away them out . Save this search in the sidebar by clack the Save clitoris near the top of the window so you could easy overstretch it up after .
I’ve forgotten my administrator password and can’t log in to my account.
Insert either the installation disc that come with your Mac or a compatible OS X disc , and set out up the Mac while support down the C headstone . When the Mac finally starts up , prefer Utilities - > Reset Password . In the Reset Password window that look , opt the exploiter account for which you desire to reset the password , go into and verify a new parole for that exploiter bill , and click Save . reset your Mac , and you ’ll be able to practice the new parole to enter and get at your files .
Note that change this password does not change the word of the login keychain — the file where personal information such as Website and e - post explanation name and passwords are hive away . To unlock the keychain and use this hive away info , you must have the original password you assigned to the administrator explanation .
If you ca n’t use this keychain ( because you ca n’t call in its watchword ) , go toyouruserfolder / Library / Keychains and move the login.keychain file out of the Keychains folder . leave of your accounting and lumber back in . A fresh login keychain will be create for you — one bond to your current password that you could start using .
As for the old keychain , keep it around in case you suddenly recall your old watchword . If you do , you could take the current login.keychain file and supersede it with the old one take your older news report and countersign . exit and then back in . you’re able to now update the old password to the new one by launching Keychain Access and choosing Edit - > Change Password For Keychain Login . You ’ll be prompted for your old password and a fresh countersign .
I routinely forget passwords for e-mail accounts and Websites. Where can I find them?
Launch Keychain Access ( in /Applications / Utilities ) , place the entry for the e - mail account or Website for which you ’ve forgotten the countersign , and double - fall into place on it . In the window that appears next , select the Show Password selection . You ’ll be prompted for your executive parole . move into it and get through Allow . The password you ’re calculate for will come out in the Password field of honor .
Keychain Access is a really useful tool and a desirable part of the Mac OS . But if you create and store a raft of passwords , you should turn over investing in Agile Web Solutions ’ $ 40 1Password ( ) . It not only easy lay in all the passwords you need for Websites , but can also yield , store , and recall complex passwords — the form of countersign that , although they ’re darned near inconceivable to crack , are also windy because it ’s so hard to memorize them .
