Optimising Your Mac - Part 1

Technology is moving so fast today that you can walk out of Dixons with a computer that is out-of-date by the time you get it home - you need to stay up to speed with the goings on when it comes to technology otherwise you’ll find that you aren’t compatible any more and you’re working on a computer slower than a piece of wood…

There are a few key ways to make sure that your Mac doesn’t suffer such a demise - you need to stay on top of your system to make sure that it doesn’t get too sluggish and eventually die…and this is how to stay on top of it all!

RAM - RAM is a great way of boosting the speed of your computer without spending too much money. RAM allows you to do more than one thing at the same time so the more RAM you have the more things you can do at once without slowing the computer down.

Before upgrading you should check how much memory you have and how much your computer can handle - apps such as MacTracker are able to tell you what you need to know.

You should also remember that you should install RAM in pairs - by installing matching RAM modules you’ll experience a speed boost!

Hard Drive - A faster hard drive will speed up your Mac. Your system can only go as fast as your hard drive allows it so try upgrading if possible and you’ll experience a boost in speed.

Graphics - Faster graphics cards can also be put down to faster speeds on your computer so check to see if you can upgrade your graphics card. However this will only really apply if you like to spend your time playing on graphic-laden video games that demand more from graphics cards.

External HDD - Having an external hard drive will be greatly useful especially working with applications like Final Cut Pro, Garage Band and iMovie which use large file sizes. Having an external hard drive will be able to take some of the load off the boot drive making the computer run more smoothly.

Keyboard Productivity - If you waste time looking for apps on your dock or in your applications folder then you should think about getting external keyboards and mouses that work specifically with Macs. Some provide buttons that open applications like iPhoto and iTunes making your Mac experience much more productive.

Connections - Try, where possible, to disconnect anything from the computer that isn’t being used. If you aren’t using your external hard drive then disconnect it, if you aren’t going to print then disconnect the printer. This will allow your computer to concentrate on what you’re doing rather than wasting power and speed sharing it with others.

Speeding Up Your Mac?

Are you looking to speed up your Mac? What do you do to get a faster computer? Leave us a comment…