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• If you want to run Windows in a virtual machine to play games that you can’t play on a Mac, then you’ll want to use Parallels Desktop 7. In my testing, it handily outperformed Fusion.
• Mar 25, 2019 How to Run Windows on a Mac. It's still a Windows world, and once in a while you need to live in it. Here's how to dual boot Windows and macOS with Boot Camp or virtualize Windows with VirtualBox.

Aug 05, 2011 Thinking of running Windows on a Mac? You can choose Boot Camp or a virtual machine, but are hidden costs in performance for both options. You might be surprised to find which one is faster.

Too often people upgrade only to find their problems begin, or persist.

If you need help with a slow Mac running a Mac operating system, please be prepared to answer these questions, or find out how to get the answer to these questions.

Etrecheck, a software written by one of our fellow contributors, is a software that has been useful in isolating many of the issues below:

Look at these troubleshooting steps. Find

1. If MacKeeper was installed, and if it is, remove it with the instructions in this tip:

2. If any other system cache cleaner is installed. If there is, contact the vendor on how to remove it.

3. If the possibility your hard drive is over 85% full exists.

4. If Spotlight hasn't finished indexing. (does not apply to 10.3.9 or earlier). Clicking on the icon in the upper right that looks like:

(it may have a different color), will reveal if Spotlight is indexing, or is ready to search. Going to Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy will show if a specific folder or drive is ignored by your last Spotlight index.

5. If you are attempting to multitask with a Time Machine backup going on. (does not apply to 10.4.11 or earlier)

6. If permissions are damaged. Often a problem when using pre-2006 Classic environment on PowerPC Macs. See #10 how to identify Macs.

7. If third party software or drivers hasn't been tested with your installed operating system.

8. If You migrated data from a different Mac CPU type. I.e. from PowerPC to Intel, or Intel to PowerPC. See 10 on how to identify Macs.

9. If energy saver isn't giving some peripheral problems, because the peripheral doesn't understand low power mode.

10. If the possibility exists that there is marginal hardware on

Intel Macs or PowerPC Macs

Use: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6413 to determine if you have PowerPC or Intel.

11. If you have had 4 language screens forcing you to restart your Mac, that's significant, and indicates what is known as a kernel panic.

Usually an issue relating to the hardware, though sometimes a directory may be damaged, or sometimes a bad or incompatible driver is installed.

Running the hardware test for Intel Macs or PowerPC Macs

will indicate if some RAM is bad, but not all RAM. Any errors found with it are significant.

12. If you don't have a current system, find out if a website you are visiting needs a newer plugin for Java, Flash, etc...(10.7.2 or earlier do not run a current Java. 10.6.7 or earlier do not run a current Flash. But updating to those is only necessary for a few websites. Check before updating to ensure you don't make yourself incompatible in other ways). Before updating to 10.7 or later, be sure to read this tip about compatibility first: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6271

13. If your data is backed up from before or after the upgrade, and we can isolate other issues. Without a backup, we can't say if the solution might be worse than the problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1992 - tells you how to backup a functional system.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-1689 - tells you how to recover a system that is not functional or able to boot so at least other issues can be

isolated.

14. Slowdown to internet applications may be due to third party router firmware not being up to date, too many machines using the router, an insecure router not using WPA2 connectivity (802.11b original Apple Airport can't use it, and it is better to get a WiFi ethernet bridge with at least 802.11g), proxy servers, and bad DNS issues which http://www.opendns.org/ can resolve. Additional WiFi related issues are documented on this tip:

15. A bad iTunes install, or one that isn't properly updated for the system may cause slow down. If you are trying to isolate that as a possibility, note the path to the iTunes Helper which is loaded in your System Preferences -> Accounts (Users and Groups in some versions of Mac OS X), Login Items (startup items in other versions of Mac OS X)

/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources

You can use the Finder's Go to Folder command in the Go menu to reload that program after removing it from your Login Items and troubleshooting the situation.

16. Peer2peer sharing software, torrent software, both make your machine into a software server. This can slowdown your overall internet. Do not get software from such sources, as most are illegal. If you have trouble finding software for your operating system, visit http://www.roaringapps.com/ if using Mac OS X 10.7 or later, or ask on this board where to find software that is legal that does what you need.

17. If your Mac is backed up, then's the time to see if a directory repair is necessary:

18. Often times, you will see the system slowdown and get a spinning color circle indicating it is busy. After a certain amount of time, if you can risk losing the data that has not been saved on the application, force quitting the application with command-option-escape key sequence is a possibility.

If command-option-escape does not work, it may indicate one of the aforementioned issues is happening. Command and Option keys may look like some variation of:

On non-Apple keyboards the Windows key usually takes the place of the Command key, and the Alt key usually the Option key. Though Microsoft has made a patch for its keyboards that forces the two keys to switch their assigned Apple keystroke, since they are in reverse orientation of the Apple keyboard. The Escape key is typically just labelled ESC.

19. You may not experience any of the above issues with games or high end graphics applications. The graphics processor unit (GPU) recommended by the developer should be the one you have installed on your computer. Any others, and speed may be an issue with those programs. It is not to be confused with RAM or your CPU.

20. Migrating data from PowerPC Macs. See first #10 to see if you had a PowerPC Mac you were migrating from. If you did, you may have brought over some drivers the Intel Mac does not understand in the Migration or Setup Assistant. If there is a chance this may have happened, you should see this tip on migration which avoids the issue:

21. Notifications can slow Mac OS X 10.9 down. Go to Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Notifications to disable those notifications you don't need.

22. iCloud syncing (in 10.7.2 and later) can slow things down. Manage iCloud through the System Preferences to ensure syncing only happens when you need it. iSync in Mac OS X 10.6 and earlier can also slow things down when you don't need it.

How to Speed Up Mac? This post lists 11 methods to speed up your Mac and make it work like new.

Mac Tips & Issue Fixes

You might have the habit of wiping and dusting off your Mac screen and cleaning out keyboard and indeed, physical cleaning could make your Mac look sleek and shine as new. However, is your Mac computer working like new?

I believe the answer is a big NO. Even if you spent more than $ 2000 on one of the best Mac computers, it is still inevitable that your Mac might get slow and sluggish, even stuck on some window. How to speed up Mac? If you are troubled by this problem, don’t worry, we are here to help. Here in this post, we summarized the most efficient 11 tips to help you speed up your Mac and make it work like new.

Method 1. Make Sure Your Mac OS Is Up to Date

Apple provides free OS updates and these updates could fix bugs and glitches that slowing down your Mac. There is no reason to stay at old version of Mac OS at all! Below are detailed steps of how to update to latest Mac OS.

Step 1. Locate the version of Mac you require, check if your Mac is supported and if there is enough room for your Mac.

Step 2. Backup your Mac.

Step 3. Click on the App Store icon in the Dock and select Updates. You can also click the Apple logo at the top left of your screen and select Software Update from there. (Please make sure you have logged in iCloud account on your Mac.)

Step 4. Search Mac OS, download it to your Mac. Follow the prompts, you can have the newest version of Mac OS.

Method 2. Cleanup Your Browser like Safari, Chrome, Opera, etc.

No matter what browser you are using on your Mac, Safari, Chrome or Opera, when you are browsing some webs, the more tabs you open on your browser, the more memory storage it takes up, and more slowly your computer works. If don’t believe it, you can launch Activity Monitor (Steps: Macintosh HD > Applications > Folder of Utilities > Activity Monitor) to check it.

Close Unused Tabs in Safari/Firefox/Chrome/Opera to Speed Up Mac

1. Close unused tabs in your browser.
2. Cleanup the cookies, caches and browsing history from your browser:

– For Safari users: Click Safari on left hand of desktop > Clear History and Website Data > All History > Clear History.

– For Chrome users: Click Chrome on left hand of desktop > Clear Browsing Data > the beginning of time > Select the items you want to clear > Clear browsing data.

– For Firefox Users: Launch Firefox > Click History on the upper left corner of your desktop > Select the history you want to remove > Click Setting > Select Delete button.

– For Opera Users: Click Opera at the left hand of your desktop > Click Clear Private Data > Select the browsing data you want to delete > Click Clear Browsing Data.

Also Read: How to Free up Space on Mac >

When you clearing browsing history and cookies from some browser, you can choose to keep the password, or you will input them again when you visit the webpages you logged in before.

Method 3. Remove All Junks from Your Mac

If you want to speed up your Mac completely, it is quite necessary to find out and remove the junk files from it. Don’t think it is troublesome to open every app to clear its junks? Here we offer you an all-in-one Mac cleaning tool – MacClean that allows you to one click to remove System Junks, App junks, Users Junks, and Internet Junks from your Mac without Googling how to figure out some tough problems, how to delete history and caches from Firefox browser, how to get rid of app leftovers from Mac, etc.

Related Reading:

Method 4. Cleanup Your Desktop

Cleanup Your Desktop to Speed Up Your Mac

Contrary to Windows computer, Mac has only one hard disk, and we put all the things in the same disk. We never worry we will run out of all the storage of C drive, and never thought they will slow down our Mac. However, if you just keep your files disordered on your desktop, and keep all apps on the dock, the items on your desktop also will slow down your Mac. Because macOS treat each desktop item like a small window with its own performance boost, and your desktop plays a part in how many time it will take for you to boost the system (it is the first screen that it has to load up).

Therefore, here are several ways to clean up your desktop:

– Remove unused Apps from Dock: Select the App > Right click this App > Select Options > Remove from Dock.

When removing some App from Dock, you should quit it firstly, or you can’t find the option of “Remove from Dock”.

– Delete unless files, and put valuable files into folders.

What Software Is Running On My Mac Download

– Remove Apps from Computer. Apps take up both CPU and storage.

Also Read: How to Clean MacBook Pro Hard Drive Easily >

Method 5. Empty the Trash

You know that every file you delete and every App you uninstall are placed in Trash unless you right click and empty it. So if you ensure all your deleted files are useless, empty trash regularly and remove them from your Mac permanently.

Method 6. Close Unused but Running in Background Applications

When looking at Activity Monitory, except browser tabs take much storage, you must have noticed that some apps you don’t launch are running in the background. So close those unused apps to speed up your Mac.

Close Unused Apps with Activity Monitory to Speed Your Mac

Method 7. Close Widgets on the Dashboard You Don’t Use

Like Apps and browser tabs, the widgets on your Dashboard also take up a little bit of memory. So go to Dashboard and remove the widgets you don’t use by following the steps: Launchpad > Mission Control > Dashboard > Click “-” > Click the “x” of the widgets you don’t use. Absolutely, you also can use the same way to add the widgets you delete by mistake.

Remove Unused Widgets from Dashboard to Speed Up Mac

Method 8. Managing Startup Items

If you find it takes you one or two minutes to boot up your Mac, maybe you should check your login items on your Mac, and there have too many applications to open. When you install some applications, they automatically are added into Login Items, and they will launch automatically when you start your Mac. Without a doubt, this will make your Mac slowly. If you don’t know what Apps are added in your Login Items, you can check with steps below: Settings > Users & Groups > Current User > Login Items > Select the items you want to remove > Click “-” button.

Method 9. Add RAM or Upgrade the Hardware

If you have tried all the methods listed above, but your Mac still works slowly. At this moment, you can consider upgrading the RAM to speed up your Mac. As known to us, Mac computer is very expensive. Compared with getting a new Mac, upgrading your RAM is the simplest way to make your Mac run faster. If you have only one piece of RAM attached in your Mac, consider getting another one.

Add RAM or Upgrade Hardware to Speed Up Mac

Method 10. Add an SSD to Mac

SSD stands for “Solid State Drive”, and an SSD drive is just the same shape and size as a traditional drive. The biggest difference between them is that an SSD drive uses RAM chips instead of a spinning hard disk to store information, which makes it much faster.

We suggest you add an SSD drive to run just macOS and your applications, and keep your existing hard disk for your user files. This means your System files and Applications are on the new SSD drive, but your user data like iPhoto or iTunes stay on your old Hard Disk. This will speed up your boot time and application launching.

What Software Is Running On My Mac Download

Also Read: How to Clean MacBook Pro >

Method 11. Restart Your Mac

For most of us, especially those who are working with a MacBook Pro or Air, we won’t restart our Mac unless we meet some problem and can’t solve it. Normally we just close the lid and let it sleep. However, restarting your Mac will clear out the cache and re-initializes hardware, and rebooting regularly can have performance benefits. Moreover, nowadays the Macs equipped with SSD drivers can boost as quickly as they awake from Sleep. Therefore, if your Mac works slowly, you can restart your Mac and see if it is faster.

We also strongly suggest you make more available room for your Mac computer, especially when you are working a 64 GB or 128 GB MacBook Air. To get the most useful tips to free up space on Mac, you can refer to 4 Methods to Free up Space on Your Mac >

In addition, as every MacBook user, you also want your MacBook battery life to be good in condition because the battery of MacBook is integrated battery, which means it’s not easy to remove and install for general users. Also, the price of battery replacement is expensive. That’s why we bring you – Best Tips to Improve MacBook Battery Life >

What Software Is Running On My Mac Free

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