Kelly Greer Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I'm sick of my photoshop running slowly. I upgraded to CC last month and it's slower than molasses in January. (actually, my whole computer is bogging down while I use CC.) I'm wasting at least an hour a day waiting for photos to load and for spinning pinwheels. Driving me crazy. I've backed it all up, and I'm going to wipe it and reinstall. However, I just read that Mavericks is the best still for running photoshop. I know when I reinstall it will revert to my original OS and then when I go to upgrade, I'll get Sierra. So. Is this still my best option to wipe and reinstall? I have a Mac laptop running 10.9.5 and Photoshop cc. It is over 2 years old, and has 4GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 256GB free out of 750GB. The last time I shut down was earlier today. I run a cleanup program about once a month. (CC runs better when I turn the internet off, but still slow. Every day or so, the whole thing freezes, usually while I'm saving images from Bridge, and I have to hold power down to shut down. Most issues are with Bridge. It's had an error and turned the graphics processor off - figured the upgrade with sierra would make it work again, but just read that Damien says leave it off anyway.) Thank you!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 20 hours ago, Kelly Greer said: 4GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 256GB free out of 750GB. There's your problem!! Especially your 4GB of RAM. You really need 8GB or more these days. Plus, you don't want to go above 75% full on a Mac HD, internal or External. Once you cross 75%, performance takes a hit and if you cross 95% full, you are in danger of HD corruption. Now here is the kicker, you probably can't increase the RAM since it's a Mac Laptop. So even though you are going to format it, the laptop will be slightly better, but will not be earth-shattering fast when it's all-said-and-done. It's not Windows. That trick works with Windows, not a Unix-based OS like the Mac OS. Surprise! In addition, the first thing anyone should do that is having performance issues, is to clean off the Mac Desktop first. The more shit files and folders you have on the desktop, the slower a Mac runs. Got 1000 photos from the Smith-Jones Wedding? 250 photos from the Spencer Family Portrait session on the Mac Desktop? The Mac OS treats those as 1250 open "files," which kills performance. OK, back to your problem. If your Mac Laptop came with Mavericks, or you upgraded from OS Lion to Mavericks, you then can re-download the Mavericks OS from the App Store. If you can get the OS Master File, then you can create a bootable thumbdrive with a free program called DiskMaker X. You will need a clean / new / dedicated 8GB Thumbdrive for a Mac OS. If your Mac came with El Capitan, or Yosemite, I'm sorry...you are S.O.L. Mavericks won't install on a newer laptop. Well, it might, but I can't guarantee that you won't have problems. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I feel that you need a new Mac. Can I interest you in a 27" iMac? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Dang it! You buy a mac because they last forever! I don't WANT to buy a new one! Why is this such an expensive profession?! Truly, I was going to wipe the mac just because I don't have time to go through all the crap on it that I know I don't need. To free up memory. I had about 20 files on the desktop. I already switched to aliases on it, but had some screen shots hanging out there. My mac came with lion and upgraded to mavericks. So I definitely should stick with that and not worry about sierra? Are you selling an iMac? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 2 minutes ago, Kelly Greer said: Dang it! You buy a mac because they last forever! No, you buy a Mac because you naively believe that crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Well, I originally bought a mac because all of my previous windows laptops died within a couple years. These have at least lasted. I'm not sure I remember how to function on Windows to go back.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Great news! My early or late 2011 model Mac CAN have the memory upgraded! I know I did it on my last one. Will this work out for me at all? (Thank you for your time.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 YES!! There is a BIG difference between 4GB and 8GB of RAM. Max that sucker out! Crucial.com has a scanning tool that will take you to a page with your options. If you can create a Mavericks Thumbdrive, and you want to start from scratch, then it might be worth it. Honestly, stick with Mavericks if you can. Since you upgraded, the Mavericks OS should be in your App Store List. Head to the Apple Menu and select App Store... and look for it there. Now, Apple has changed things, so you may not be able to re-download it. You might have to go back to Lion and try upgrading to Mavericks but at this point and time, Apple is making things difficult, they really want you to upgrade to MacOS Sierra. For now, let's try upgrading the RAM before Nuking the HD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 You're the best! I'll order the ram and delete more files off the computer now that I have it backed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 Well - The Apple website says I max out at 8 GB, but Crucial says I max out at 16 - http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/scanview/722A392631D926C3 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201165 - I have a 13 inch late 2011 Thoughts? I'm all about the 16gb - and it's guaranteed by Crucial... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 Found online that it can take 16gb, so I ordered. Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 The worst that could happen is it doesn't recognize the extra 8GB or it locks up, but I've never come across that happening from the end-users that have upgraded to 16GB on that model. That said, I've heard of successful upgrades to 16GB, though it might drain the battery a little faster. This is the reason that the new MBP aren't 32GB and max out at 16GB. So it's a trade off. If you leave your laptop plugged in, then it's a non-issue. If you are a road warrior, then it might. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 23, 2016 Author Share Posted November 23, 2016 Ordered a new battery at the same time! HA! And I'm usually near the plug. Thanks for all your help! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Might as well replace the battery while you have it apart. There are YouTube videos demonstrating the take apart process. Tech Tip: Make note of what screws come out from where they are removed. Apple has a habit of using different sized screws, so it's best to reinstall the screw from where it came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Greer Posted November 26, 2016 Author Share Posted November 26, 2016 Yup, Did it all and it's running like a new machine! Woo hoo!!! And thankfully, the tutorial I was doing had a diagram of my screws, because the kids just couldn't leave me alone for 2 minutes, so I had to hide the screws quickly. HA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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