SillyDog701

[taitjim]

I've just upgraded my browser to Netscape 7.0 on a Mac OS 9.2, and am just getting used to it. Most things seem to be working just fine, but of late the characters have been appearing on the screen MUCH slower than I actually type them -- on both internet postings and e-mail (including this one). It had been working OK, so I must've done something. Can someone who has a Mac tell me how I can control this? (I've been told to empty my cache, but some tech person told me that Macs empty caches automatically, and mine seems to do that on a regular basis. HTML is on so text special effects are enabled.) Thanks...

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[Don_HH2K]

I think it might be a glitch in Netscape. Having different versions of Netscapes on different OSes, I have noticed that occasionally typing does slow down, even on my 2GHz machine, which is my fastest one. I think it's a RAM issue, because my 2GHz box types more slowly when this happens (128MB RAM) than my 1.4GHz machine (256MB RAM). How much RAM do you have in your Mac right now?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax)

[Antony]

Do you experience similar problems with other applications in your Mac?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/125.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/125.8

[taitjim]

Yes, I have the same problem in other applications, including right now. And it varies. Last night terribly slow, fine this AM, slow again this aft, then fine, now slow again. Very frustrating. Your help would be appreciated!

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[Antony]

Mind telling us the spec of your Mac?

If the similar problem exist in other programmes (besides Netscape) such as TextPad or others... you might need to check if lots of applications running on the background.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/125.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/125.8

[taitjim]

I've gotten in the habit of seldom running more than one application at a time, so I don't think that's the problem. Here's what "About This Computer" says: Mac OS 9.2.2, Built-in Memory 320 MB, Virtual Memory 321 MB on my main hard drive, Largest Unused Block 257.3 MB, Mac OS 29.3 MB, Netscape 34.1 MB. If you need more info, I'll be happy to share it with you. Please be as "monkey see, monkey do," though, since I'm such a novice at confronting computer glitches. Typing speed is just fine now, but will probably act up as the day goes on...

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[Antony]

How fast is your Mac? What is the model if you know?

Under Apple menu,
click "Apple System Profiler"
then you will see lots of detailed (technical information) about your Mac.
Under "Hardware overview" (you might need to click on the triangle)
Can you tell me your "Processor info:" and "Machine speed:"?

What other applications you find them slow as well?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/125.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/125.8

[taitjim]

Processor Info: PowerPC G3 / Machine Speed: 267 Mhz. The typing speed can be, as it is right now, incredibly slow in any of the following applications -- all of which I use often: Netscape 7.0, FileMaker Pro 1.0v2, WriteNow 3.0, and Finale 2004b. Sometimes it is just fine.

It's the APS file that I have to send to a company to get Finale 2004b registered. It must be something about that particular file that's giving me problems, because I just sent a WriteNow document to a relative as an attachment, and that one went through just fine.

I'm going to shut down. Maybe the typing speed will pick up when I start up again. (Netscape is the only application open right now.)

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[Antony]

Processor Info: PowerPC G3 / Machine Speed: 267 Mhz.

Sorry, I will need to disappoint you...
your Mac is just a little bit slow... for those latest applications.

Is your Mac an iMac or a Blue and White G3?

Netscape is not a very fast application running under Mac, I have to admit.

Suggestion...
* try to reduce the colour depth in your display (e.g. from Millions of colours down to Thousands of colours)
* there might have a few start up items which you don't really need.
* disable unnecessary plugins (Mac OS system plugins) (Note, be careful)

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/125.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/125.8

[taitjim]

The typing speed has been erratic just in this one session. Very slow in Netscape e-mail, considerably better right now. My mac is a component unit put together by a young friend of mind: used Power Mac G3 processor, "Quadra 610," CTX color monitor, keyboard. It's a beige unit -- not an iMac or a Blue and White G3. I'm terribly sorry, but I don't have the slightest idea how to implement your suggestions (reduce color depth, eliminate unneeded startup items, disable unnecessary plugins).

I have an Internet Explorer browser version 5.1. Would that be a better browser to use for my e-mail? If so, how do I get e-mail installed on it?

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[taitjim]

I took my computer to a repair shop today, and the technician suggested I run my Norton Disk Doctor (I have the current version). It seems to have fixed the typing speed problem I've been having -- at least I haven't encountered it since hooking the computer back up.

However, the Norton Disk Doctor found a number of minor problems that it fixed, and one major problem that it could not fix. Here's what it said: "CHECK SYSTEM FOLDER. A major error was found in the system. You have multiple systems folders. Apple recommends against this. (16, 1, 10) Norton Disk Doctor is unable to fix this problem." Can you tell me exactly what to do to fix this?

Thanks much...

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[Antony]

It's good to know.

I just have a feeling that when you first got the Mac, it must have lots of stuff installed previously. If my assumption is correct, do you have original Mac OS disc?

Do you have lots of important data in your Mac? Are you able to back up all your documents?

And do you have software installer (preferably having CD) of the applications you are using, besides the one you can download from the net.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/125.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/125.8

[taitjim]

No, I don't have the original Mac OS disk. Yes, I have lots of important stuff (at least to me) on my Mac. I haven't backed up my files for long time, then had some trouble with my zip drive, but now that that has been fixed I should be able to back up things on my zip disks.

I have the CD applications for Finale 2004 (music software), Norton SystemWorks, some fonts, and a few others that I don't use much.

But what does all that have to do with the multiple systems folders that Norton Disk Doctor couldn't fix and said I should do something about? I have two system folders (one created 10 June 2004 at 1:15 PM, the other 11 November 2003), a Previous System Folder (created 10 February 04 at 9:30 AM), and a "Previous System Folder (Quadra)" created at the same time. Then there are many other files with the word "system" in the name.

Should I just drag all the system files into one folder and be done with it? Or is that a no-no? (Typing speed seems to be just fine now.)

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0

[Antony]

But what does all that have to do with the multiple systems folders that Norton Disk Doctor couldn't fix and said I should do something about? I have two system folders (one created 10 June 2004 at 1:15 PM, the other 11 November 2003), a Previous System Folder (created 10 February 04 at 9:30 AM), and a "Previous System Folder (Quadra)" created at the same time. Then there are many other files with the word "system" in the name.

When you check the folder size ( +i ) of those "Previous System Folder(s)", about how big are there?
And what is the folder size of your current System Folder?
The computer must have been installed quite a few times. I was thinking about telling you to do a re-installation, but you will lost all your data, which is the last option.

Should I just drag all the system files into one folder and be done with it? Or is that a no-no? (Typing speed seems to be just fine now.)

If the Mac is working correctly, you don't have to do anything about those. If you really want to get rid of them, try drag one previous System Folder to "Trash" one at a time, and see what happened. However, I guess you probably don't need to do anything.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/125.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/125.8

[taitjim]

Really, the Mac seems to be working just fine now. I'll take your advice and leave the multiple folders alone for now. If I run into further problems, I'll let you know. Thanks much for all your help...

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC; en-CA; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0