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Dutch Star David · 08-17-2013, 10:02 AM

Thought I was ready for a new Macbook Pro. Instead I maxed out the RAM at 16 gigabytes and replaced my hard drive with a solid state drive, then restored from my backup drive. Boots in less than 10 seconds now and opens programs in less than five seconds. Should be good for a few more years now at about 1/3 the cost of new.

Now if I could just get better internet speed.

navychop · 08-17-2013, 11:30 AM

Good fix for any platform. Max the memory, max drive or SSD and reinstall the operating system. Take an image and restore the original. I am a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer but only work on Windows Servers and workstations. Fast is good. My XP notebook is 9 years old and as fast as anything out there. Take advantage of YouTube for upgrades. Almost tossed my Nuvi600 and found extended battery, video replacement directions and tools for $23. 20 minutes and like new. Same with notebookkeyboards and screens. Glad to here it when screaming is good. You have a nice RV too.

livesound · 08-18-2013, 08:09 PM

What year and model. im still using my 07 white macbook. couldnt be happier

Dutch Star David · 08-18-2013, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by livesound

What year and model. im still using my 07 white macbook. couldnt be happier

Macbook Pro 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 processor. Still use my white Macbook, too.

vraines · 08-19-2013, 07:16 AM

I am saving my pennies for a new Mac Book Pro. I appreciate the comments on the additional memory, so I need to save a few more pennies I guess.

Wayne M · 08-19-2013, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlovitt

Macbook Pro 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 processor. Still use my white Macbook, too.

I have the same, and it is only about 1-1/2 years old. What type/size drive did you put in?

Thanks.

RWeigant · 08-19-2013, 10:35 AM

Why would a larger RAM make your MacBook any faster starting up? Ram doesn't hold any information when you shutdown. You may have had a bad Ram in the first place.

Muddypaws · 08-19-2013, 10:42 AM

De-Fragging is very bad for SSDs. Each bit in the memory array is only good for so many transitions and de-fragging will wear out the most heavily used locations. Some people have had them fail in less than a year!

Also, there is no physical reason to de-frag. There are no mechanical parts to wait for so the delay in reading/writing a fragmented file is imperceptible.

I'm not sitting at a Mac right now, but I think there's a way to disable the background defrag somewhere in settings. Our MacBook Air came disabled out of the box.

On windows based systems with lots of memory you might want to disable the page file.

spinn · 08-19-2013, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWeigant

Why would a larger RAM make your MacBook any faster starting up? Ram doesn't hold any information when you shutdown. You may have had a bad Ram in the first place.

Because the operating system will not need to "page out" if there is sufficient contiguous memory.

Dutch Star David · 08-19-2013, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWeigant

Why would a larger RAM make your MacBook any faster starting up? Ram doesn't hold any information when you shutdown. You may have had a bad Ram in the first place.

Please reread my post. Didn't say the added RAM speeded up startup. It allows me to have multiple programs running-fast.

Dutch Star David · 08-19-2013, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne M

I have the same, and it is only about 1-1/2 years old. What type/size drive did you put in?

Thanks.

Crucial m4 512GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT512M4SSD2.
Got it from Amazon.

Wayne M · 08-19-2013, 10:09 PM

Thanks.

RWeigant · 08-20-2013, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlovitt

Please reread my post. Didn't say the added RAM speeded up startup. It allows me to have multiple programs running-fast.

You said it started up in less than 10 sec.

Wayne M · 08-20-2013, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWeigant

You said it started up in less than 10 sec.

Drive seek time for the OS will be shorter with a faster hard drive. Logically thinking, additional memory should speed up the start-up time as not as much swapping is taking place. Programs that are loaded with start-up will slow down start-up time as they are running concurrently and more memory gives them the space to do so without interfering with the OS Start-up. - just a thought, and I'm not an expert on the MAC. Some searching is in order for me.