For instance, if you have two antivirus software packages that each have their separate methods for quarantining files, malware that is detected may continuously be flagged by one or the other as they pass the suspected files back and forth between their quarantine locations.Īdditionally, if you install a third-party firewall solution that you would prefer to use, you might want to disable the system's built-in firewall. These can be beneficial, but may also interfere with others that do the same thing. Many software companies offer their own approaches to input management, firewalls, and malware scanning services. Stick to one of each kind of background service Hiding the Dock somewhat masks this, allowing you to keep many programs open without realizing it. One tip to help with this is to keep the Dock visible instead of hiding it, as the lights under each Dock item will help you determine which applications are open.
If your system's RAM cannot be upgraded, think about quitting applications you are not using to free up RAM for other tasks. If the free memory is always relatively low (i.e., less than a quarter of the chart), consider adding more RAM to your system. Therefore, be sure to open the Activity Monitor utility periodically to check how much free RAM you have in the "System Memory" chart. In general, newer versions of software require more RAM and increase the possibility of your system running low on resources and becoming sluggish.
RAM is the "desk space" that programs use to work.
In addition to the hard drive space, be sure you have adequate RAM for your uses, especially as you upgrade your operating system and software versions over time. Sorting processes by memory usage and checking the colored pie chart will help you determine how much RAM your applications use. If you do not remove these, the hard drive may be clogged with many gigabytes of wasted space.
Similarly, when you download an installation disk image or other files from the Internet, they will go to your Downloads folder by default. Often people place items in the Trash thinking this will remove it from the system, but the files remain on your disk until the Trash is emptied. As a rule of thumb, be sure to keep available space above about 5 to 10 percent of the drive's overall capacity.Ī couple of the leading culprits for hogging hard drive space are the Trash and Downloads folders in OS X. If the space ever becomes too low, the system will not be able to manage virtual memory which can lead to drastic system slowdowns. One easy way to do this is to enable the Finder's Status bar in the View menu, which will show up at the bottom of every Finder window and displays the space available on the current hard drive. (Click to enlarge image.)īeyond limiting the use of background services and third-party utilities, make it a habit to monitor the free space on your hard drive. The Finder status bar (hidden by default) will show you the space available on the current hard drive. Overall, just be mindful of what you have installed on your system, especially with regard to drivers, monitors, scanners, and other programs that run in the background, and if you do not need it, then turn it off or uninstall it. If you rarely use these, then disabling them will not only help security, but it will reduce the potential for odd slowdown or other problems, should they encounter issues. This applies to Apple's built-in services as well, which include features like file and printer sharing that can be set up in the system preferences. At times these tools include background tasks like scanners, monitors, syncing routines, or other functions that simply increase the potential for problems, so consider removing them or disabling their services if you do not use them. Often people install a number of utilities and tools that sound useful but which they rarely or never use. Having numerous menu extras and other background tasks running can lead to odd slowdowns or hangs if one or more of them are experiencing problems.