Diagnose a slow Mac using activity monitor

4 Parts:

Instructions

Tips Tricks & Warnings

Question and Answer

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Most of the time we encounter some problems with our computer, a lot of people are always complaining about their computer being slow and sometimes hanging and getting locked up. We find it annoying when this happens especially if we are in the middle of something important.

In this article I will show you on how to use Activity Monitor to check the usage of your MAC.

1. 1
   Open Activity Monitor

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   In your MAC desktop, the easiest way is to click on Spotlight search tool and then type Activity Monitor, when it shows click on it.

   

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2. 2
   Click on System Memory Tab

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   You should then see a list of processes running in your MAC, these processes are not only those applications that you are using but also the processes that your MAC needs to run.

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3. 3
   From here on you can check which application is running and have a high percentage of usage by checking the percentage of each application

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   Sometimes there are applications running in the background that we are not aware off, some applications that you do not need and yet using a large percentage on your CPU process.

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4. 4
   If you experience a slow activity in your MAC always check your Activity Monitor and close the unnecessary applications.

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5. 5
   If after checking and you really need all the applications to run in the background then what you can do is upgrade your memory.

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6. 6
   By using Activity monitor you can analyze what is causing the slow activity or responses in your computer so it is always best to check the activity monitor every time your computer becomes slow or you see the beach ball spinning all the time.

   

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• Above approach is not to be taken lightly, you might close/kill a needed process for a program that you are using, which might cause it to hang or stop working.
• If you are not sure what is that process for, leave it intact.
• It is always useful to write down the full name of the process you are planning to kill or close, for future roll back.
• It is always a very good practice, Not to install a program unless you really need it, sometimes you install an application, and find out later, that it is not what you wanted, promptly uninstall it once you decide it is not what you need. That will keep your resources neat and clean.

I can not find it. The Activity monitor

There are two ways for you to find the Activity monitor on your Macintosh computer. First, you can go to your Spotlight instead and type in Activity Monitor and search it and select it from the list of results that your computer found. Another way for you to get the Activity Monitor on your computer is by going to a series of applications that you need to open. Make sure that your computer screen is empty and no apps or program, if you look at the top screen of your computer click the "Go" then click the "Application" from the list of items then go to the "Utilities" then click the "Activity Monitor" that is located on top of the screen. You should be able to see there the "Activity Monitor" for you to close the running applications that are running in your computer that was not properly closed.

Aside from the activity monitor for you free space and to help your computer to run smoothly. There are other ways that you can perform for you to have the computer be strong again and to run smoothly. Such as:

1. 1
   Upgrade the operating system

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   You need also to take consideration of upgrading your computer's operating system as computer tends to work slow every year. This is due to support for applications and files that becomes heavy and needs to have new OS for faster support for read and write. Think of a small backpack that you have loads of items you placed inside to carry them which you may need to purchase a bigger backpack to get all your stuff in to it and carry.

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2. 2
   Managing Applications running in your computer

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   If you have a lot of applications or program installed on your computer which your no longer using it, you might as well to remove or uninstall those applications to free up space and to stop it consuming the memory in your computer. If there are applications that are running in your computer it will consume some space in the memory which the next application or actions you are going to do will become slow. If will make your computer's performance slow as well.

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3. 3
   Hardware upgrade

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   This is a bit pricey, where we all know that Macintosh products are totally expensive which you will find it worth as well. But if you find it not yet the right time to upgrade your Macintosh. Upgrading Macintosh computer needs to be the whole set that you need to purchase it. Unlike Windows based or PC's that you can change hardware components manually to which suits your needs.

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4. 4
   Cleaning up your Macintosh's Hard Drive

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   This will remove or delete un-necessary files and junks that are in your computer for free up some space. This is not like uninstalling applications which specifically targeting apps to be remove, where this method remove apps and junks. You can download CleanMyMac 2 to clean it up, you can go to this link for you to download it:

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http://macpaw.com/download/cleanmymac

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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