2.05GB of page outs, among other problems

JoelleJay

Registered
I've been having issues with my computer for a while now. So I'll just list out some of the issues and maybe someone can help.
1. Console does not work. It crashes everything if I try to open it.
2. Chrome doesn't work either.
3. Safari either crashes or stops responding (resulting in a force quit) at least once every 2-4 hours.
4. Safari also is unable to do anything quickly anymore. I have a feeling that this has something to do with my wireless N router since it's generally faster (i.e. facebook doesn't take 25 minutes to load) on other networks.
5. Every couple hours or so, my computer would freeze all of its activities (including activity monitor) and make a strange noise for about 30 seconds. It wasn't mechanical--more like its "thinking" noise. I noticed that ocspd always showed up right before this would happen, so I decided to delete the CRL databases and I didn't have that problem anymore. However, I would like to know what was going on/if deleting the CRL was a good idea.
6. My menu bar sometimes goes black, but it goes back to normal when I quit whatever app I had been using. It doesn't go black very often but it's annoying when it does.
7. I have a lot of page outs. I've heard that's not great. But I've had so many problems with my computer I don't know if it's worth it to buy more RAM.

These issues are probably unrelated but if people could address any one of them that would be great.
I don't know what info I should include about my computer so I took a screenshot of the System Memory and of my Harddrive Overview.
 

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Get more memory. The pageouts means you are using virtual memory with you using only 1GB of memory.
 
Absolutely - upgrade your RAM memory!
I always say that there is NO downside to adding more memory (other than the expense! :D )
Your MacBook can be upgraded to as much as 6GB. Even doubling to 2GB would make a huge difference in the stability of your system, and 4GB would allow you to (mostly) forget about RAM issues that affect your system performance.
What version of OS X are you running now?
Do you have your OS X installer DVD?
 
Well, I don't really know if it would be worth it to buy more RAM since my computer's almost five years old and I'd prefer to get a new one rather than spend a lot of money upgrading this one.
I clicked on the "Mac OS X Software" button under the  but it took me to Chrome, which is bad! Luckily I was able to close the window before it started freezing things. I did notice that when Chrome came up, my free memory dropped from 100MB (so good!) to 20, even after I closed the window. Anyway, I'm running 10.5.8.
 
Your issues are (probably) the result of just not having much spare RAM.
It wouldn't cost a lot to at least double what you have now, which would alleviate your problems. Here's a site that's great for RAM. They know what they are doing with Macs, and the prices are reasonable. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/
One single 2GB chip (although not an ideal upgrade) for about $30, 2 chips (gives you 4GB for about $60). That additional memory will make an enormous difference (and lots less than replacing your MacBook, eh?)

There's very little that you can do by clicking the "Mac OS X Software" button under the Apple menu. You CAN probably change the default browser by starting up Safari, go to Safari's preferences, and under the General tab, change the Default Web Browser to Safari. It may be set for Chrome, I suppose.

Another thing to consider is your hard drive. How much free space do you have now? If you have less than 10% of the total space free, that can also contribute to poor system performance.
 
I have ~65GB of space left on my HD, which seems fine.

I ran a SMART Utility test once, and this was the info it gave me on the hard drive...
 

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That's not good!
The strange noise that your Macbook has every few minutes - is likely the hard drive. The SMART failures tend to confirm a hard drive that is going down hill.
I do suggest that you (soonest) boot to your OS X installer DVD, and run Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. A HD that is not passing a SMART test may not be repairable, and if it also fails in Disk Utility, then you should do SOMETHING soon. Next is to make sure you have a good back up, and then replace the hard drive. You're having problems with software, and also short on RAM memory. The combination of both will definitely work against you. You can get replacement hard drives from the same OWC site.
You'll see that the same access to replace the memory, also gives you easy access to the internal hard drive. You can easily replace both the memory, and the hard drive in less than 5 minutes. Then, it's just a reinstall, and transfer your backed up data to the new hard drive.
IMHO, still not an unreasonable cost, compared to replacing - but I also understand that you may already be thinking of going to a new system, and that's your choice.
Just thought I should point out options that you can do easily, and may turn out to be a lot of fun...
 
If you don't have it already, try to make a backup of your personal files, at least. New internal disk or new system, it will start empty.
 
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