Update on my computer woes.

"DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!" (daft-ryosuke) 01/26/2018 at 00:18 • Filed to: None

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The other day I regaled the tale of my 2013 MacBook Pro which suddenly decided to act like there’s no hard drive available. While I wait for tomorriw’s Genius Bar appointment, I decided to boot up my grandma’s old iMac.

This thing is plagued with the issue of being obsolete. It’s a 2009 model running OSX Snow Leopard of all things. It’s next to impossible to update to to anything recent without tools I don’t have, so I’ve got to take it to a local Mac repair specialist. In the meantime I have to deal with the terrible slowness...like seriously.

Seems I can’t win. 

Dusty Ventures > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 01/26/2018 at 00:32

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My MBP of approximately the same year showed identical symptoms. Apparently the cable that connects to the hard drive has tendency to fail. Good news is that if that’s the case for you the data on the drive is fine.

Chariotoflove > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 01/26/2018 at 00:42

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I’m running Snow Leopard on a 2009 iMac in my lab. It’s slow by today’s standards, but it’s getting the job done. At the same time, I have a 2010 Mac Mini that I’ve given up on despite having maxed out the RAM. I get too much spinning beach ball. Can’t figure it out.

DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! > Chariotoflove 01/26/2018 at 00:44

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I think the memory is next to maxed on the iMac which adds to the slowness. I can barely get a simple browser to work because they’re all outdated.

Chariotoflove > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 01/26/2018 at 00:49

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Something else is wrong then. Safari for Snow Leopard should be working just fine. Could try Firefox instead. Also, the RAM could be bad. It’s not expensive to buy all new stuff. Still, if you’re taking it in, the tech will be able to tell you what you need. I just hope you don’t pay him more than the computer is worth to find out.

C62030 > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 01/26/2018 at 01:16

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My parents had a 2007 iMac with 2GB of RAM which they used every day until the hard drive finally kicked the bucket last week. Thing was a trouper.

Mercedes Streeter > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 01/26/2018 at 01:24

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If she ever wants to sell it, have her hit me up! I love old Apple gear. :3

Mercedes Streeter > Chariotoflove 01/26/2018 at 01:26

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Have you changed out the hard drive in the Mini? An old hard drive would slow everything to a crawl no matter how much ram you shove into it.

Mercedes Streeter > C62030 01/26/2018 at 01:28

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What are they going to do with it? :)

DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! > Mercedes Streeter 01/26/2018 at 01:43

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I hate to be a downer, but I inherited from her when she passed on. I do have plans for it, but if the plans don’t work out I’ll keep you in mind!

C62030 > Mercedes Streeter 01/26/2018 at 02:00

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I think they upgraded to a used 2011 or something thereabouts. Old one probably got recycled.

boxrocket > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 01/26/2018 at 06:22

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My local Microsoft Store is just across a mall hallway from an apple store. Some day when I have too much time, I’d like to watch and see how many people leave one and go right to the other out of frustration with the wares within.

My mom has a leopard (I think??)-era mbook and while I finally got it to update to the next version (snow leopard IIRC), it was even slower and clunkier than before. Trying to update it beyond that has been a trying task, so she bought herself a cheap refurbished Windows laptop (which is something I expressely recommended against doing because cheap laptops can be disappointingly semi-disposable) which now three years later is already showing its age (which I think was already 2 years old when she got it; it doesn’t even have a touch screen!). I just need to convince her that she needs to spend at least half as much as she did back when for the mbook (about $1300 new!) and she’d be much better off.

Mercedes Streeter > DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! 01/26/2018 at 08:02

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Awe, I’m sorry hun *hugs* <3

In that case, I’ll instead help you make it better!