Aug 09

How to speed up your mac with a Solid State SSD Drive

hardware 263 Comments »

prod_merc-legacy-pro

This article was originally written in 2015 but it is still relevant.  I have just updated it given that SSD prices have dropped dramatically in the last 3 years. Upgrading the boot drive on my Mac Mini to an SSD drive was by far the biggest speed enhancement I’ve experienced on any computer! The speed increase is incredible – almost hard to believe. Boot time went from 60 seconds to under 30 seconds, and applications launch instantly – no bouncing dock icon. In terms of bang for dollar, upgrading to an SSD drive is by far the best upgrade you can do.

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Oct 11

What is the ‘Other’ data hogging all the disc space on my macbook?

performance No Comments »

I have a friend who  has a 120 GB MacBook Air and his hard drive was filling up. There were lots of suggestions on the Internet as to what might be causing it – Spotify cache,  system files, movies,  but what’s the best way to find out what is using up your hard disk space?  An old but I think still the best application for doing this is Disk Inventory X.  I wrote an article back in 2010 on how to use it here: Disk Inventory X.   Seven years later disc inventory X is still the best app for this so here’s a bit of a reminder on how to use it.

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Sep 12

Resetting a drum cartridge in a printer

printing No Comments »

Many printer manufacturers have a built in counter on the drum cartridge in their laster printers. This is so that the drum cartridge will get replaced at a regular interval and remain in good condition. The drum can in many cases continue to function a long time after the counter has expired. It is possible to reset the counter in the drum cartridge to extend it’s life. Then you can wait until there are marks or faded patches on the printed pages before you replace the cartridge. In some cases I have been able to reset the drum cartridge 3 times, extending the life of my cartridge to 400,000 copies instead of the the recommended 100,000.

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Mar 08

What’s the best SSD drive for a Mac and how do I install it?

hardware No Comments »

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In 2015 I wrote this post about installing an SSD drive.  Back then SSD drives were expensive and the whole process I described was a bit complicated. Now SSD drives have dropped dramatically in price and you can just replace your existing drive with an SSD one.  I can’t think of any reason why you should not be using one. All MacBooks now come standard with an SSD drive.  If you have an older one that you’d like to upgrade you should be able to take your Macintosh computer to a local dealer and have them install an SSD drive. Otherwise you can have a go at installing one yourself.

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Apr 10

Does my mac need more memory?

hardware 137 Comments »

ram

When your computer is running a bit slowly, how can you tell if getting more memory will help?

If you run out of free memory then your computer will be forced to use some of your hard disk as memory, which is VERY SLOW because hard drives are much slower to access than your computer’s RAM.  It’s not just a matter of saying ‘8 GB’ is enough because the amount of RAM you need will vary according to your Mac model and the programs you use.  Here’s how to check if you have enough RAM.

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Jan 29

7 ways to make your Mac boot faster.

OS X 5 Comments »

timer

When your computer first turns on it needs to load the system software (OS-X) and some settings from the hard drive. This is called ‘booting’.  Boot time can slow down over time as you accumulate more software and hardware connected to your computer. Here are some tips to make your Mac boot faster.

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Mar 16

How to get your website to appear in a google search

google, internet No Comments »

google

Web pages generally  do not automatically appear on search engine results pages. To make your site appear in google and other search engines you need to manually add your site to their index. This is called submitting your site to a search engine. You don’t have to pay to do this – it’s free. Read on to find out how to submit your site to Google.

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Feb 23

How to choose which macintosh to buy.

deals, hardware No Comments »

When you are researching buying a mac there are a few things to consider, one of them is speed. There is a great site by primate labs which collates speed tests according to model and ranks them. This was useful for me when I was thinking of upgrading my Mac pro to a new Mac mini, only to find that my four-year-old  Mac pro was faster! Check out how fast the new mac-pro’s are  – insane – I wish I could justify buying one! Continue reading ⟩

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