Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Shut down some running programs.
It's possible that you have too many programs running. This causes
MacBook Air to constantly swap data between RAM and the hard drive's virtual memory, which can really
slow things down.
Look for a runaway application in Activity Monitor.
In Finder, choose Applications →Utilities →Activ-
ity Monitor and look for a process that's using up a large percentage of the CPU time. If you see one, shut it
down (click the process and then click Quit Process).
Uninstall a recently installed program.
If the slowdown coincided with a recent program installation, try
uninstalling the program by dragging it to the Trash.
Repair the hard drive.
Some hard drive file system problems can cause system-wide slowdowns. Try a disk
repair (as described in Chapter 11) and see if that fixes the problem.
Gradual slowdown
If MacBook Air has been getting slower gradually, the usual cause is the accumulation over time of programs,
widgets, add-ons, and other bric-a-brac that slowly take their toll on system performance. Here are some ideas
that might alleviate the slowdown:
Applications.
Installed applications often load files at start-up, so they may take up precious resources even
when you're not using them. Uninstall any application that you no longer use.
Login items.
Remove as many as you can, as described in Chapter 11.
Dashboard widgets.
Disable or remove any widgets that you don't use.
Browser add-ons.
These take up memory, so get rid of any you really don't need.
Your Trackpad, Mouse, or Keyboard Doesn't Work
Your MacBook Air is a slick, sleek machine, but in the end it's just that: a machine. This means that it's just as
dumb and helpless as any other collection of transistors and relays, so it can't do all that much on its own. No,
your MacBook Air needs you, and in particular it needs you to use a keyboard and trackpad (or an external
mouse) to input commands, select options, and generally just give MacBook Air its marching orders.
Being the boss of your MacBook Air gets a lot harder when your tools of command — the keyboard and track-
pad — don't work. Fortunately the MacBook Air's built-in keyboard and trackpad are rock-solid components
that only rarely break down, but that doesn't mean they don't cause other types of problems.
You can't press Tab to navigate a dialog
It's usually easiest to navigate a dialog using the trackpad to select a check box or option, choose a list item, or
enter a text box. However, some dialogs lend themselves to easier keyboard navigation, where you press Tab to
move forward through the controls, or Shift+Tab to move backward. Or, I should say, dialogs that consist only
of lists and text boxes lend themselves to easier keyboard navigation because, by default, OS X doesn't Tab (or
Shift+Tab) into other types of controls: check boxes, option buttons, pop-ups, sliders, tabs, and so on.
This is odd and frustrating behavior, but you can solve it with a simple keyboard command: press Control+F7
(remember to also hold down the Fn key to get the true F7 key; see the next section). This feature is called Full
Keyboard Access, and it means you can now Tab (or Shift+Tab) into any dialog control. Note, however, that in
many cases you're only highlighting the control; you're not selecting it or choosing it. To do that, press the
spacebar.
