User Name
Password
AppleNova Forums » Genius Bar »

Finder and FireFox using 50% of CPU +


Register Members List Calendar Search FAQ Posting Guidelines
Finder and FireFox using 50% of CPU +
Thread Tools
Schvoo
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Burlington, Vermont
Send a message via AIM to Schvoo  
2005-03-23, 10:55

Recently, I noticed that my computer, a powermac G4 933, was running exceptionally slow. I hit "top" in the terminal and found that the Finder was using an average of 50% of my CPU. This essentially reduced me to a 400 mhz machine. I tried replacing my finder application from a different computers System folder ("/System/Coreservices/Finder.app"). This didn't work. I then re-installed mac OS X. I did an archive and install, saving all of my users and settings. Finder was no longer hogging my CPU, but Safari and System Prefrences no longer worked, probably because I had gone from 10.3.7-10.3.0. I launched FireFox and started using it as my default browser. Then after a while my computer started slowing down again, so I checked the process list ("top") and low and behold firefox was using 75% of my CPU!

I re-installed firefox, and then installed 10.3.8 so that I could use Safari again, and the problem is fixed... but i'm still curious...

Did i have a virus? I normally use a net connection from behind a router with a firewall, but after switching to dialup i forgot to enable OS X's firewall. I don't have any virus scanning software and don't intend to pay for any. Any advice?

Thanks.
  quote
Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2005-03-23, 11:25

It's extraordinarily unlikely that you have a virus. To date, there are zero known viruses for Mac OS X.

Have you installed any tools that modify things on a system-wide level? Any sort of haxie that might modify the appearance theme?

Have you tried all the general suggestions in our FAQ thread? Try running fsck and removing the caches. Try booting into Safe Mode to see if that remedies the solution. If it does, we'll know that the problem is some third party software that has been installed.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
  quote
zman2005
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2005-03-23, 15:19

What is Fire Fox?
  quote
Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2005-03-23, 15:27

Only the biggest web browser revolution since Internet Explorer overtook Netscape.

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

It's not that revolutionary on the Mac side, seeing as how we already have Camino (based on Mozilla and more Mac-friendly than Firefox), Safari, and OmniWeb, but it's still quite a big deal.
  quote
zman2005
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2005-03-23, 18:31

I am sorry, I am confused. I use Safari to browse the internet. Should I not? I went to macupdate.com and saw fire fox, do i need to DL that. Does it make my internet that much faster.
  quote
Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2005-03-23, 18:35

Eh, it's just another browser. You might want to try it out but it won't be that different from Safari. Safari is more beginner-friendly than Firefox. On the other hand, Firefox has a lot of more advanced features. Try them both and see which you like.
  quote
Wraven
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Texas
 
2005-03-23, 18:36

zman,
Keep using Safari if you are comfortable using it. OR, download FireFox. It wll NOT "make your internet that much faster."

Doing what Luca said is UP TO YOU.

[EDIT]
Damnit Luca! You typed faster than me.
[/EDIT]

Cheers,
Wraven
  quote
Schvoo
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Burlington, Vermont
Send a message via AIM to Schvoo  
2005-03-23, 22:04

Well I have fixed the problem. The only possible troublesome app was sizzlingkeysforitunes, which i've re-installed and it works now. Can anybody suggest a good antivirus program?

ZMAN - Firefox is an awesome application for people using peecee's, but you're fortunate enough to have a mac. On OS X Safari is much snappier (and less of a resource hog) than firefox. They both render all websites the same way, and both are a lot better than IE. If you do want to try firefox, like luca said, its not very user friendly, but it does have a lot of advanced features.
  quote
Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2005-03-23, 22:07

Quote:
Originally Posted by Schvoo
Can anybody suggest a good antivirus program?
Yeah. Nothing. You don't need one.
  quote
Posting Rules Navigation
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Post Reply

Forum Jump
Thread Tools

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:07.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2024, AppleNova