OS X :: Using IDefrag - MacBook Giving Unsatisfying Performance?
Sep 22, 2010
I was wondering if any one got any idea about idefrag, I recently found my macbook is giving me unsatisfying performance after around a year and a half of purchase so I thought I would do a defrag for the hard disk. I understand that the mac system does not need defrag but I have been dealing with huge files, i download a lot of videos and delete them. IDefrag price looks a bit high at around $35 for an app i will use once or twice a year. Any one with experience using this app, does it really help? is it worth it? are there any alternatives. If its going to keep my mac in tip top shape I will buy, I am afraid that it will not really help.
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Oct 14, 2009
One of the first things I did when I got my new MBP was to input the command that granted a 'quit' option for Finder, and since then, I've been keeping Finder quit / closed pretty much all the time. This is in part to free up what little RAM it uses (I know it's next to nothing, but it seems pointless to use even that to keep permanently open an application that's used less than 2% of the time) but mostly because I simply cannot stand keeping applications running if I'm not actively using them. Having tried to look this up, I've come across a wide variety of different thoughts on the subject, so I was hoping for something a little more clear-cut. I've read advice stating that Finder is just another app and that quitting it does no harm... and I've also read advice that insists it's part of the fundamental workings of the OS.... so what I'm hoping for is some kind of definitive answer as to whether it's likely to damage Snow Leopard at all if I continue to keep Finder quit / closed, or whether it really is necessary to keep it running the whole time?
Unrelated, but I'm hoping just as relevant to this forum as the other question... I have the demo version of iDefrag, simply to check the level of fragmentation on my files / free space, and I'm more than a little confused by the results it's showing. The 'statistics' tab show 0.1% fragmentation of files and 0.3% fragmentation of data forks (which is obviously insignificant), but the 'layout' tab shows well over half of my used space as red (which, according to the key, translates as 'fragmented'). The highest percentage of fragmentation on any part of my system, according to the 'statistics' tab, is in my free space, but even that's only at 1.8%, so wouldn't account for such a large chunk of neon red on the 'layout' tab, and certainly not one right in the middle of my used space.
So my question is whether there's a logical explanation for what seems to be two completely conflicting pieces of information, whether I'm just being an ex-Windows moron (I've only been a Mac user for a couple of weeks, so I'm still way at the bottom of the learning curve and very much still adapting to the differences), or whether there really is a conflict there that shouldn't be. Additionally, is there a means of doing something about that free space fragmentation without running a complete system defrag on the perfectly fine state of my files? I only ask because (though it's only 1.8% at the moment) what research I've done on the subject, while it makes the repeated point that Mac OS X defrags small files on its own, also seems to imply that it doesn't do anything to defrag free space, so I'm led to assume (possibly wrongly, but that's why I'm asking) that without third-party interference, that 1.8% isn't going to be defragmented on its own and will just end up getting bigger over time.
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Jan 30, 2010
Can anyone tell me how to create a bootable disc of iDefrag using Toast Titanium? I want to run a full defrag but need to do so off of a disc.
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Mar 15, 2010
I have used iDefrag many times and it worked perfectly but now it gets like halfway and says this "Defragmentation of the disk main has finished.NOTE: Some files were skipped due to lack of contiguous free space and therefore remain fragmented." anyone know what that means?
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Feb 9, 2012
my macbook is giving just a black screen when i start it up and doesnt change,i can see the login area when i shine a light on it
Info:MacBook
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May 10, 2012
Got a new MacBook Pro and want to give my grandson old MacBook - how do I delete all info, etc on the od unit? Can I do a reset like I can on my iPod/iPad?
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Jan 1, 2011
I am fairly new to mac. I have some files on my computer downloaded. some are wmv, some are avi. for some reason, a most of the files on my computer work and open perfectly, however certain ones give me an error message that reads:
"Cannot be opened. You may need to install additional software to view this type of file"
I have a few programs already downloaded that are supposed to convert these files. (Stuffit, RAR expander, Springy(doesn't work), Flip4Mac). I even checked to see if my software needed updating but my MBP says all software is up to date. How can i fix this problem so i can view the files??? I also have a file that is .f4v HD that won't open for some reason either.
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Apr 7, 2012
I have a macbook: model - A1342 its a 2009 machine. On start up it is giving a blue screen and I am unable to do anything on the machine. I know my hard drive is pretty full and I'm trying to use an external to pull stuff off to clear up some space. Its been blue screen on me for at least fifteen minutes. I don't know the OS I'm using since I can't boot up the machine to find out.
Info:
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.6)
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Apr 22, 2012
I have got a macbook pro with 2.2 ghz AMD 6750 graphics card. Its around 8 months old. The battery used to last around 4 hours but recently I get around only 2 hours. I have tried to change settings in energy saver to improve battery life but its still the same. I ve noticed that when it shows AMD graphics in about my mac, it takes more battery life. So, I guess its using more battery at that time. Ive read it switches automatically depending on the task but is there anyway to change it in settings?
Also, how is it possible to get the best possible battery life? Should I keep charging and discharging it every now and then.? Currently I unplug the adapter as soon as it gets fully charged and the battery last for over 2 hours (surfing, listening to music, half an hour of video).
Info:
MacBook
Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
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Sep 9, 2014
my speakers are giving a blurred voice. i check online support and run a trouble shoot..program.. but no use
Info:
MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)
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Jun 21, 2014
I was working in the morning and kept it in sleep before i went to bath. After that when i again wanted to start my mac air its giving out a beeping sound and nothing else is working. Mac is not starting up
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May 27, 2007
I'm trying to burn some data using DVD+R DL using my 17in MBP w/New Toast Titanium.. Unfortunately, its giving me an error and can not burn it. Anyone experienced this issue? Any solution to this problem??
I have the following hardware: MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-846
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Jan 16, 2009
Ever since I bootcamped my Mac with Windows XP Professional, whenever I restart or boot up in OSX my time is always behind by 6 hours. I went into the settings and unchecked the set date and time automatically but it keeps giving me the wrong time.
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May 31, 2009
I have a couple of AVI clips inside of my photo albums and it's causing problems. When I try to publish it it gives me this error. I deleted all my clips and just published the photos and that worked fine. But the avi clips do not, can anyone help me? it's driving me crazy.
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Apr 8, 2012
My mac book is not starting up. It gives a "beep beep beep" sound continuously.
Info:
MacBook
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May 9, 2012
I click on check for updates, it scans, find them... then gives the options of show details, not now, or continue, I hit continue, it starts to load them up, then at the end it says error and closes out.
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Jun 18, 2012
My Apple Mac OS X 10.6.8 is ejecting SD disk and giving me an error message instead of downloading the images of the card. It also won't read a camera connect to the computer Via USB 2.0 Any answers? We shoot tethered to the laptop 100% of the time. We have an older Mac Pro that works fine but is not 2.0.
Info:
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
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Jun 3, 2014
My 1-year old MacBook Pro Retina shuts itself without giving a warning when the battery is at 5-15% of capacity. Idk what to do about it.
Info:
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)
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Apr 2, 2012
My computer is slow to load and it keeps giving me the rainbow wheel
Info:MacBook Air
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Jun 11, 2012
Downloaded last updates, iTunes and other apps and now my MBP is not booting. Not with the c key held, nor the s key, nor the control option command keys.
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Aug 26, 2014
I keep getting a pop up when using OUTLOOK on my macbook pro, that tells me I am entering invalid credentials....over and over again.
Info:
MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)
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Oct 11, 2010
I recently bought 2 4GB sticks of RAM that someone recommended on here, the brand is G.SKILL and I got them from newegg.
The thing is, since installing them I have had 2 kernel panics (gray screen of death) that I wasn't having with my 4GB before.
The thing is, I have run Apple Hardware Test and with 8GB I get this error: 4MEM/62/40000000 0x84de1318
So I take out both sticks and stick them in the reverse slots, and I get: 4MEM/65/40000000 0x84e0d318
So I am thinking it must be one of the sticks of ram. So I take them both out and put 1 in the bottom slot, no issues. Stick the other one in, again no issues. So I put one into the top slot to see if maybe a slot has a problem and I once again have no issues when running the extended tests.
So, I decide that maybe I just need to retry putting the ram in again and I get this error, slightly different this time.4MEM/66/40000000 0x84e11318
I really don't know what is going on here, nothing is plugged into the computer, and the RAM modules seem to be fine on their own. I guess for now I am going to stick the Apple RAM back in and see if it throws a similar error.
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Dec 26, 2010
This is my first post, and I apologize as it's a little long. I just wanted to get the whole story on the table and clarified.I've had one of the new Aluminum 13" MacBooks (2.0GHz C2D) since Christmas Eve. A few weeks ago, it accidentally fell off my desk at work (not a far drop , but far enough for my heart to stop for a few minutes) when I got tripped up in the power cord under the desk.
For all intents and purposes, the MacBok seemed to work fine. I had one of our IT staff, who happened to be a trained Apple repair tech, take a look at it; the only real damage was that the display hinge had been knocked a little out of alignment. Just ot be on the safe side, I took the machine to the Apple Store, where they told me not to worry about attempting to get the hinge fixed (because I'd be paying a lot of money for such minor work), and the Genius sold me a hardcover plastic Speck case for the MacBook.
While the Speck case certainly looked nice and madethe already sturdy laptop feel sturdier and "protected", I was a little concerned about the amount of heat the machine was giving off within the case. On Sunday, I unplugged the machine from the MagSafe charger for a few hours and left it closed in sleep mode. When I woke it back up, the fan on the left continually gave off some sort of high-pitched whine whenever the computer was in idle mode.
I Googled, searching this site and others, and read about the "CPU whine" in the previous generation MacBooks and MacBook Pros. I also saw where a few people with new Aluminum MacBooks were having this same issue or something similar:
URL
It seems to only make the noise when the computer is running off of the battery - plugging in the MagSafe charger makes the noise quiet 85% of the time (I've found that plugging, unplugging, and replugging will not stop the whine from occurring).
I tried installing QuietMBP as was recommended in some posts, but the only setting that will stop the computer from whining is the "highest" setting (that is, allowing the processor 0 seconds of idle time), which causes QuietMBP to eat up 30% of my processor usage in Activity Monitor and to start the fans going (and, presumably, to significantly lower my battery life).
I don't know whether all of this was the result of the MacBook falling, from it overheating in the case, or something that "just happened". I set up an appointment with the Genius bar for today at 4 PM, but Idiscovered another odd occurance when I set up a new account for the Apple Store (rather than give them my password)
The noise never happened under the new account. Never. I left the machine idle until any and all initial processes were done. No noise. I checked Activity Monitor for stray processes. None. And no noise.
Now I'm bewildered. Could something have gone wrong somewhere in my account, leading to a corruption of a power management utility or process? I'm not canceling my appointment, but I am going to try a few things before I leave. I've already repaired disk permissions, and I'm about ot reinstall the 10.5.6 OS X combo update. Should I try to reset the PRAM too? What other options should I be looking at?
Or should I just wait, and let the Genius Bar folks look into it? As a note, I'm aware I may have to pay for any repairs because they may or may not blame them on the MacBook having dropped (despite two to three weeks passing between the fall and this issue arising), and I'm okay with paying for reapirs (though I will try my best to argue my case, of course).
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May 2, 2009
I just hooked up my TV to my Mac using an ADC to DVI converter and a very long DVI to DVI. I'm getting a no signal message from my TV. I'm really new to Macs and therefore I'm sure I'm just missing a really simple way to change the display settings to output to both monitor and TV. I can't find any advanced display settings of any kind. I swear I tried to search the forums, but I couldn't find a thing.
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Jun 5, 2012
I want to give my old generation to my GF kids.She has a MBA with Lion They have apple id's but will be first mac for the kids I have the original discs and snow lepord upgrade
I purchased lion from mac ap store I also have Iwork as does their mother How or can I do this without any issues?? ie so they can use Moms account for software updates etc. all other software will be removed. Info:Mac mini (Early 2009), iOS 5.1.1
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Jun 5, 2009
I'm running 10.5.7 on my MacBook Air and while browsing the Console System Messages I came across the following lines which seem odd.
I have tried to understand what is going on and validated all my fonts using FontBook with no errors. I have not installed any fonts apart from those that come with the system and iWork 09.
I presume that these messages should not happen as they are errors and must be the result of something being wrong.
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Apr 4, 2010
Have a macbook pr 17 with bootcamp.
the osx 10.6 partition is giving errors (the black and white multi language message that tells you to hold down the power button..)
have done a permissions repair, run techtool from a boot disc, all have failed to repair.
next step is for me to reintall snow leopard, and as i have no dual layer disks or usb keys i intend to install from external usb drive using the instructions here:
http://osxdaily.com/2009/09/02/insta...t-a-dvd-drive/
But how do i format the drive from within windows as boot recognisable from mac?
i have partition magic and cannot see ny option for osx extended or �GUID Partition Table?
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Jul 26, 2010
I've been using my MacBook Pro for about five months with no problems. It's equiped with VMWare Fusion, and I do most of my work there in windows. Saturday, morning, all of a sudden, I started getting the "application quit unexpectedly message" with nearly every application I tried to open in both platforms (Safari and the entry to VMWare). I haven't added any software/hardware lately, and the computer worked well Friday evening.
Any clues as to how I might resolve the situation from here would be greatly appreciated.
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Dec 31, 2010
My Mac G5 tower's boot drive just conked. I can't even boot the machine with it hooked up -- I was able to start up with the install DVD once the boot disk disconnected, and it sees the secondary internal (non-boot) and external backup (FireWire) drives okay, through Disk Utilities. I have a ton of important files and programs on the boot drive that I'd like to retrieve if possible. I'm presently installing OSX on the secondary drive so I can at least have a hard disk to boot from.
Again, I can't start up with the damaged drive hooked up.
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Jan 28, 2009
Ok, so the email program on the mac is not working with me. I have set it up to retrieve email from (URL)
I can receive emails with it but, anytime i try to send out emails it gives me and error.
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