Take the Lag Out of Your Load (Apple Remix)

Last week, Stephanie posted about speeding up the start up time on Windows computers, so I thought I would do the same for my fellow Apple fans. When turning on a computer, some applications will attempt to open on start up or log-in. These applications can be a major part of why it takes so long for your computer to start. If you're getting frustrated with how slow your computer is when starting it or logging in, here are some tips to speed it up by removing these applications.

Step 1: Remove Unwanted Start up Items

Besides log-in items which run when every time you log-in to your Mac, there are system wide start up applications and daemons which run when the system boots (before you actually log-in). These items can be found in the folder /Macintosh HD/Library/StartupItems/.

This folder is usually hidden, so the best way to view it is to use SHIFT + COMMAND + G from Finder and just type in /Macintosh HD/Library/StartupItems/. Move any of the items which you feel are unnecessary or might be causing problems out of this folder, reboot and check to see whether the start up time has improved. Remember not to delete them in case you need to copy them back later on and, are absolutely sure they are not critical applications.

Step 2: Remove Unwanted Log-in Items

One of the simplest ways to get to your desktop more quickly is to remove applications and processes which automatically start when you log-in. While removing these items may not decrease the actual start up time, you’ll see your desktop more quickly once you've logged in as normal.

It’s worth creating a copy of the log-in items preferences file first, which is at ~/Library/Preference/loginwindow.plist. The reason is that if you subsequently want to re-add any of the items, simply copy the original loginwindow.plist file back into its original folder.

To prevent log-in items from running, follow the steps below.

1. Open System Preferences and select Users & Groups
2. Click on your user name in the left hand window pane and the Login Items button on the right hand side
3. Remove any items (such as iTunesHelper, Spotify, Skype, etc.) from the list using the - button to prevent them from running

If you have lots of applications in the list, removing them from the Log-in Items list should speed up your Mac considerably.

You can also prevent any application in the Dock from running at login as follows.

1. Right-click on the application icon in the Dock
2. Expand the Options menu and uncheck Open at Login

Good luck, and speed be with you.