Macbook Pro running slow and HOT!

[Degudodger]

Ok Guys,

I have had my Macbook Pro for 18 months now and recently it has been running slow with a fair amount of pinwheeling and at pretty much a constant 80c.

Spec
2.53 Ghz Core 2 Duo
4GB Ram
500GB Hard with over 100GB free
Running OS X 10.6.5

It has been a gradual deterioration and i would rather not do a system restore  but if needs be i will.

Any thoughts as to what could be causing this?

[vRS Carl]

Go into Apps >Utilities>Activity Monitor.

Look at the running processes and see what is using the CPU.

Also click on Settings>User Accounts>Login Items. See if there are any programs that are running at startup that you don't need.

Lastly download a program called Onyx (used to be free I think it still is) run that program before you go to bed and let it run overnight. Then just run that once every 3-4 months and it should be fine

[Degudodger]

Activity Monitor isn't showing anything obvious. Looks I'm about 15 pages into the Apple Support Discussions and i'm beginning to loose the will to live!

[Garth]

Activity Monitor isn't showing anything obvious. Looks I'm about 15 pages into the Apple Support Discussions and i'm beginning to loose the will to live!

Should have bought a windows laptop 

[Degudodger]

Activity Monitor isn't showing anything obvious. Looks I'm about 15 pages into the Apple Support Discussions and i'm beginning to loose the will to live!

Should have bought a windows laptop 

Lets not go down the Mac V Pc road as we know Mac's are far better 

[vRS Carl]

Did you get AppleCare when you bought it?

If so take it to an Apple Store and they will look at it for you.

I would try Onyx first though

[andrewparker]

Sounds like you need to reset the PRAM

[Jules86]

My girlfriends mac died because she used it on a pillow on her lap all the time. Does it have sufficient cooling allowance?

[bacillus]

For a pc I would say that speed is being throttled because of cpu overheating.
A can of compressed air to clear out any accumulated debris on the cpu heatsink may be beneficial.

[rich83]

Ant.... does it run the same on a guest account?

A new install with "archive and install" wouldnt hurt!

[h4rdy]

Could be the HD failing.

That would make it slow as it would be trying to access data all the time.

Which in turn would make it hot as its constantly spinning and accessing.

As somebody else said try the Guest Account or set up another trial account.

If its still doing it I will put money on its the HD.

I have a Mac and PC and the PC one failed and this had the same symptoms.

Just put a 640gb HD into the Macbook Pro so if you need any advice just ask.

J

[h4rdy]

And BACKUP everything NOW!

Do not put it off, if the HD fails thats it!

[cmdrfire]

Activity Monitor isn't showing anything obvious. Looks I'm about 15 pages into the Apple Support Discussions and i'm beginning to loose the will to live!

Should have bought a windows laptop 

Lets not go down the Mac V Pc road as we know Mac's are far better 

Macs are PCs - they are personal computers. The hardware your Mac runs on is identical to the hardware on a nicely spec'd Windows machine. I think you mean "Mac V Windows".

And no, they're not.


/obvious troll is obvious?

//also, to be somewhat helpful and not make you entirely disgusted with me, similar issues on my mum's iMac resulted in eventual hdd failure. Back up everything NOW if you haven't already, and buy a replacement hdd to fit in there sooner rather than later. Avoid moving hundreds of files at once - this is what caused hers to eventually fall over. Recommend you back up files incrementally over a course of day in small batches, starting with the most important files first.

///Remember kids, HEAT results in hdd death. In a laptop resting on a duvet or a pillow or a cushion, the problem is magnified.

[vRS Carl]

If you don't use it i highly recommend Time Machine for Backup's

Saved my bacon a few times

[rich83]

Another vote for TC.... mines connected to a TM!