Are you using a Mac laptop or desktop and feel that it is running a bit sluggish? If so read this quick little guide on how to improve the performance. I don’t pretend to be the greatest Mac tweaker in this side of the country but I do have some tricks up my sleeve so listen up!

~ Programs you don’t need 

The first thing you should consider is the use and avoidance of unnecessary programs. This really has to do with Widgets and Widgets are like the toys you got at Christmas but never ended up using ever again. They just sat there in your room collecting dust and taking up unnecessary space. Think of all the Widgets that are available out there for free. You could spend all day downloading and installing them. To make a long story short… keep the widget obsession to a minimum because they do use up system resources and if you hardly ever use them… maybe you shouldn’t have them loaded at all This method also applies to other unnecessary programs that you may have installed in your apple computer at some point. The first step towards a faster more efficient computer is the removal of unnecessary programs.

~ Start Up Program Clean-Up

It might be time to tidy up that start up menu. In a Mac they are called Login Items. Click the Apple Button on the top left. Go to > System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items.

You will find many programs in there that you probably don’t need to start up. I can’t really go into detail here because your layout in the Login Items will most likely differ from mine but in general look at the programs listed and think to yourself… “Do I need this program to start up as soon as I turn on my machine?” If you can say no then just select the program in question and hit the [ - ] Minus button. That’s it! You’ve disabled another unneeded item.

~ Tweaking the System

You will find many useful features under System Preferences. You can enable / disable many different features that come built in to your machine. You can turn off the Bluetooth feature if you don’t really use it. You may also turn off the Universal Access features of your Mac. Go nuts in there but of course mind what you turn off. If you disable the Wireless radio and suddenly lose the internet you should be able to go back and retrace your steps. System Preferences is your buddy and through that panel you will be able to change the system as you see fit. Keep in mind that any feature that is Enabled and not used will simply use up RAM / System Resources / and Voltage which lowers battery life.

~ Hard Drive Clean-Up

Use Finder to explore different areas of your hard drive. If you see remnants of old programs you have long since removed then just drag those to the Trash. If you see old files and or large picture folders hanging around the hard drive try to organize them into folders in the desktop so that you have a neat layout of your most used files.

~ Backup and External Storage

This is actually a very good way to keep your Mac in good standing. Backup everything you need from your machine and keep only necessary files in there. The less files the machine has to load at start up, the better the performance will be. The choice for external storage has become vast nowadays because every major hard drive company is jumping on the external storage market. Pick up a nice 500GB Hard Drive with dual interface plugs [FireWire + USB] and plug it in your computer. Create a structured backup and backup often. In most cases the machine must be just about spotless with few files running around in memory. Everything you need will be in that hard drive and with a fast FireWire or USB connection, accessing the data should be fast and easy.

~ Heat Management

O.K., Heat is one of those unspoken subjects because it does not seem to interest many when it comes to their machines. Too much heat in a machine can cause all kinds of weird problems anywhere from an abrupt shutdown of the system to actual data loss and internal chip damage. Heat makes machines run sluggish so you should consider options on how to make your unit run faster. When you’re sitting in your bed and using the laptop try not to have the air outlets be covered by anything. Unfortunately beds act as ovens for the underside of the machine so their use in bed does not make it a recommended location. Try getting a cooling fan or some kind of elevated rest for the laptop so that it has plenty of room to “breathe” the hot air it warms inside. The cooler the machine runs the better it will run and the longer it will last. There are also utilities that let you adjust fan speeds like the Fan Control application found at the following website: http://www.lobotomo.com/products/FanControl/

~ Hardware

Let’s face it… Everything described above would not do much if you lack RAM in your machine. If you have it in you to purchase more RAM and a bigger hard drive then you might actually get yourself a real treat with your current machine.  I recommend that with any Mac you have at least 1GB of Ram and at least an 80GB hard drive. The more the merrier but stick to those numbers as a bare minimum if you care about performance and like to multi-task with your machine. Imagine being able to run Photoshop while listening to your favorite tune and chatting with your friends on AIM. If your computer can handle that situation without too much sluggishness then you are on the right path my friend :-).

 As always I don’t expect this article to apply to everyone but if you like what was written here and it really made a difference… write a comment and leave me some feedback. Feedback makes me happier than a case of beer… and believe you me, Mr. Tech loves his beer.