S4 on the way, help me prep my laptop!!! please
Hi all from Australia,
Just put a order at my local shop for a S4. Wanting some help to clean my machine up before it comes so i can just muck around on it ASAP…
my specs are:
13" Macbook pro
Processor: 2.26GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2GB 1067 MHZ DDR3
with 40GB free on my HDD
question im sure this is enough to run the s4?
super keen to be dumping my cdjs and joining the darkside 
Your MacBook Pro will be more than enough. Those specs are just fine. It’ll run without any problems. Jus pick up your s4, install the software, plug it in, re-calibrate your jog wheels, and you’re golden.
Nice one for doing some due diligence upfront!
It should do just fine
And welcome to the TS4 family, bro!
You’re getting close to the low end of hard drive space it’s not low enough to really be a problem yet though. If you can clean it up some by deleting some old files and copies of trial programs it will help with computer performance in general. Other than that make sure you follow the instructions to the tee. Don’t plug in the S4 until the software is installed and updated to 1.0.1.
How big is the hard drive? If it is 80gb you shouldn’t have any bottlenecks at that end. I would try to leave your hdd at least 1/2 empty (atleast on a PC). From what I have read, filling a hard drive can cause speed issues. With Macs, I have read that Mac OS X uses free hard drive space as virtual memory. I might think about getting an external hard drive for your tunes.
thanks everyone..
the hard drive is a 160GB
ill clean it up…
would it be worth be putting in a 500gb hard drive and 2gb of ram or slowly save for a new MBP?
i think it should be fine
The RAM should be an inexpensive upgrade and well worth doing. For instance, I just purchased 2 x 4GB of DDR3 PC8500 for $80. The additional disk would also be worth doing.
The reason you need a certain amount of free space on the disk is that the operating system will try and use a portion of that space as a back up for the RAM. i.e. when it starts to max out the RAM it starts to store data on the disk. The issue is that hard disks are far, far slower than RAM. This is likely less true for SSD disks but that’s another story for another day. The take away is: the more RAM you have the less swap space (disk) you OS will need to use. The less it uses swap space, the faster your machine will operate. Buying just another or larger disk without the RAM may solve some potential issues but won’t help with performance.
Make sense? I need a pint…
SmiTTTen
thanks, i got 60GB free now, also with the macbook model i have how much ram can it have in it eg 2x4gb sticks?
If it’s this one: Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Apple
You can max it to 8GB.
Check this out: http://au.shopping.com/CORSAIR-Corsair-8GB-DDR3-SDRAM-Memory-Module-8GB-2-x-4GB-1333MHz-DDR3-1333-PC3-10600-Non-ECC-DDR3/info
This is what I used this week. I would need to dig a little deeper to check it’s 100% compatible. Making this upgrade should seriously accelerate you machine.
thanks im going to get the ram this week, also any good programs to clean up hidden files and cookies etc?
A re-install might be worth considering. A Clean OS and substantially more RAM would be a great way to start your S4 life.
Some pretty good tips here, but the article is a little dated. There’s a couple of threads on here with some good suggestions.
One thing I just found out is that if you delete files from iPhoto you need to delete the iPhoto trash inside iPhoto as well as the regular trash to get rid of all the files.
One other thing before buying that RAM. Check in your Macbook manual to confirm the ram speeds supported (1333, 1066, 1666 etc) and the number pins (200, 204) for the new chips. You can also post that info here and I’ll go look for you.
i have the same MBP as yours, but did an after makrket upgraded of the HDD and the RAM.
the ram I have is 2x2GB, average Kingston - it just works. Most other DDR3 SODIMMs should also work. If you want 2x4GB - Traktor will not benefit from it (yet), as it’s still a 32bit application. still, if the cost is as smitten says (<$100), it’s a no brainer - 8GB is better than 4 
I also have a Seagate Momentus 500GB@7200 (7200.4 model). It gave me some performance boost, over the stock 160@5400, but I don’t like the noise and the chassis vibration it introduced. If there’s always music around you, it won’t be a problem, but whenever it’s quite and the MBP sits on a surface (table, desk, anything) the vibration is awful. I recommend against 7200 drives in the 13" MBPs (and BTW, they are not support by Apple too on the 13, although they work).
I’m buying a 640G@5400 this week to replace it. Need more room and want to get rid of this damn noise.
BTW, there’s great option for 2nd hard drive in the MBPs - OptiBay® Hard Drive and SSD Drive for MacBook Pro, MacBook, iMac, Mac mini, and PowerBook G4. The OptiBay allows you to install 2nd HDD instead of the built-in optical drive. They ship it external USB2 enclosure for the slot loading drive you have built in, so it’s a pretty good deal for 99$. I will eventually put a 128G SSD as OS/App drive and leave the 5400 spinning platter for music storage. That’s a relatively cost efficient option and will certainly give a more optimal performance. OS, Apps, settings & temp files on the fast access SSD, music files and other content on the large 5400 (I like FLACs 
).
HTH!
it’s DDR3, 240 pins @1066 by default (Apple → About This Mac has the info BTW 
). Non-ECC.
the memory i’m using is 1333 and it works fine on 1066, so any decent DDR3 module should work
the memory i’m using is 1333 and it works fine on 1066, so any decent DDR3 module should work[/QUOTE]
Good advice here!