If your case or keyboard are seriously gunky, we highly recommend attacking the filth with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, but keep in mind that they—and other melamine sponges—are slightly abrasive.
The only place I like seeing a beach ball is at a beach or in a stadium during a baseball game or concert. The one place I least like to see a beach ball is on my aging MacBook Pro, where the spinning beach ball has become an altogether too familiar a sight. If your Mac has become frustratingly slow, there are a number of ways you can speed it up again.
Before you engage in any maintenance, I would urge you to take caution and back up your data. For Macs, it's easy: grab an external drive and run Time Machine. With your Mac's drive freshly backed up, you may proceed.
1. Replace your Mac hard drive with an SSD
Moving from a traditional spinning hard drive to a solid-state drive (SSD) is the single best thing you can do to improve the performance of an aging MacBook. Follow Sharon Profis's instructions on how to upgrade your MacBook Pro with an SSD. You'll be shocked at not only how easy it is to do but also at the huge impact it has on performance.
I just performed the maneuver myself, replacing my 2011-era MacBook Pro's 500GB hard drive with the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO . The Samsung SSD and a SATA-to-USB cable kit cost me just north of $200 on Amazon. And the whole procedure took less than an hour (not counting the half a day it took to clone my MacBook's hard drive to the SSD).
Really, the hardest part of the whole thing was tracking down a size 6T torx-head screwdriver for the four torx screws that help hold the hard drive in place.
2. Add more memory (RAM)
While you have your MacBook opened to replace its hard drive, take the opportunity to add more memory. Like the replacing a hard drive, adding more memory is a straightforward, simple process.
First, you need to find the right type of memory for your specific MacBook model. The brand doesn't matter much, just be sure to buy the right amount, type, and speed. Apple has a handy support page that shows the memory specifications for a variety of models, along with an illustrated guide to replacing the memory.
In my case, my early-2011 MacBook Pro has two DIMM slots, each of which is occupied by a 2GB module. Since I don't have any free slots, I will need to replace those two modules with two 4GB modules. I need DDR3 memory with a speed of 1,333MHz.
After finding the right RAM for your MacBook, follow the photos below to install the new memory.
3. Clean your Mac's hard drive
Sometimes, all your MacBook needs is a data clean-up. Over the years, you've probably cluttered your Mac with files and applications you no longer use or need.
Uninstall old Mac apps
To get started, let's look in the Applications and Downloads folders. If there are apps in there you can't remember installing, odds are you can live without them. Move them to the Trash to reclaim some hard-drive space.
Clean My Mac Free
There are files associated with every application you install, however, and they are left behind when you simply move an application to the Trash. Since Mac OS X doesn't have a built-in uninstaller, AppZapper can uninstall apps and the related files. It's free for the first five zaps, after which you'll need to pay $12.95.
Clean up applications you still use
Next, let's clean up the applications you are keeping. When you install an app on your Mac, the piece of software arrives as part of a package of files, including permissions that tell OS X which users can do what things with specific files.
Over time, these permissions can get changed, resulting in your Mac lagging, freezing or crashing. Repairing these disk permissions, in the most basic terms, amounts to reshuffling and re-dealing these permissions so that they return to their rightful place. To address this, OS X has a built-in tool called Disk Utility that does just the trick.
Read my previous post on how to repair disk permissions for a step-by-step guide.
Find out which apps are using the most resources
If your Mac acts like it needs a nap every afternoon, when you are at the height of multitasking, there is an easy way to see which of your open applications is using the most system resources. Open the Activity Monitor.
The numbers are constantly fluctuating, but they show you the amount of CPU and memory resources each app is using. After watching the Activity Monitor for a while this morning, I see that Firefox generally takes up more CPU resources and more than triple the memory resources. Perhaps it's time for me to abandon Firefox and use Chrome exclusively. Also, I found that the sluggish iTunes isn't nearly the resource hog I thought it was. My apologies, iTunes.
Delete big, unused files
Now that you've paid some attention to your applications, it's time to look at the files cluttering your drive. You can use Finder to search for huge files. To do so, open Finder and select the volume you'd like to search. Next, choose File > Find (or hit Command-F). Click on the Kind pull-down menu and select Other. When the Select a search attribute window opens, check the box for File Size, uncheck any other boxes, and click OK. Change the 'equals' pull-down menu option to 'is greater than' and then change KB to MB. Enter a minimum files file size such as, say, 100MB. You can then delete any files that show up on the list that you no longer need -- or move them to an external drive at the very least.
4. Reduce login items
If your Mac is slow to boot up, the problem may be that there are too applications to open at startup. It's likely you never set them to launch at startup -- they launch by default.
- Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups and then click on the Login Items tab to see a list of the apps that open when you boot your Mac.
- Highlight the apps you don't want to open at startup and click the minus-sign button below the list of apps.
5. Keep current with OS X
Apple releases new versions of OS X as free upgrades, so there is no reason not to stay current. New versions of OS X contain performance enhancements and security improvements to keep your Mac running smoothly and safely.
Check in periodically with the Updates tab of the Mac App Store for OS X updates, and don't ignore notifications of updates that are ready to install.
Editor's note: This story was originally published on April 27, 2015 and has since been updated to add new advice and tips for speeding up your Mac computer.
Parenting in the Digital Age
Modern kids have never known a time when they couldn't connect to the entire world via the internet. In fact, they probably spend more time online than anyone else—certainly more than their parents. If you are a parent, this presents a problem, as there are explicit, disturbing, and illegal sites on the web that you don't want your kids to encounter. Furthermore, with the ever-increasing number of devices that kids use to connect, you simply can't supervise every moment they're online on your own. That's where parental control services can help. This software gives you the ability to block unwanted web content, limit screen time, restrict the use of risky applications, and more. Basically, these services are a way to help keep your kids safer on their computers and mobile devices.
That said, parental control software is no substitute for good communication. If you don't want your kids to visit unsafe, unsavory, or inappropriate sites, talk to them about your concerns. We recommend that you also take the time to convince your older kids that you'll respect their privacy while still monitoring their online actions, a promise you should strive to uphold. We prefer software that embraces this kind of collaborative approach, rather than apps that covertly spy on kids. If your kids see you as
Monitor Your Child's Devices
Long gone are the days when a single parental control utility on the family PC was sufficient for keeping your kids safe and productive. Modern kids use all kinds of internet-connected devices, and modern parental control systems must keep up.
Before settling on a particular parental control utility, you need to make sure that it supports all the device types in your household. While all the products in the chart above support Windows and Android, compatibility with macOS and iOS varies. That said, Apple has recently announced the new Screen Time feature for the upcoming iOS 12, a set of tools for monitoring and controlling app and device usage. Taken alongside iOS' existing Restrictions settings, when iOS 12 releases Apple will offer a free set of parental controls tools comparable to these paid alternatives, with the added benefit of first-party support.
Note that some parental control utilities leverage VPN technology on iOS devices, running internet connections through a local app to enable content filtering. You'll see the VPNicon when such a utility is active, but it doesn't mean the child's connection is secured by a full-scale virtual private network, nor that the device's IP address is masked.
Check, too, that any limits on the number of child profiles or devices won't be a problem. Large families, for example, will appreciate that Norton Family works on an unlimited number of devices. Most parental control software operates as a subscription service, so pricing tiers tend to align with device limits, though some offer free versions for basic protection on a limited number of devices. If your kids are strictly smartphone users, take a look at our roundup of mobile parental control apps.
If getting parental control coverage installed on each of your family's devices starts to seem too difficult, consider a whole-network solution, such as Circle With Disney or Open DNS. These systems perform content filtering at the router level, so your settings affect every device on the network. Naturally, you don't get the same fine level of control and detailed monitoring that you get with a local agent on each device, but this is a much broader solution.
Web Filters, Time Limits, and Apps
At the very least, a good parental control tool features content filtering—the ability to block access to websites matching categories such as hate, violence, and porn. This type of filtering only really works if it's browser-independent and works with secure (HTTPS) sites. With no HTTPS filtering, a smart teen could bypass the system using a secure anonymizing proxy website or even a different web browser in some cases. Most also have the option to permanently enable SafeSearch. Of course, the most capable solutions also keep a detailed log of your child's web activity.
Access scheduling is another very common feature. Some applications let parents set a weekly schedule for device usage, some control internet use in general, and others offer a combination of the two. A daily or weekly cap on internet usage can also be handy, especially if it applies to all your kids' devices.
The best services apply these two ideas to individual desktop and mobile applications as well. Qustodio, for example, can block apps entirely and set time usage limits. This is particularly useful for children who have a habit of playing games or using social media apps when they should be doing homework.
Messaging and Social Media
As kids get older, content filtering may start to seem pointless. Hey, you let them watch Game of Thrones, right? At some point, you start to worry more about their interaction with the wider world. Sure, if their friends come over in person, you can at least meet them, but what about friends on social media and other contacts your child never mentions? Who are they, really, and what are your kids discussing with them? Although some supervision is acceptable, you still need to respect your child's basic right to privacy and encourage open discussion, rather than using parental control software as spyware.
Many services let you monitor contacts and messages and keep an eye out for potentially dangerous or unsanctioned situations. You can even block new contacts or view message content with some parental control software. Keep in mind that this primarily applies to SMS texts; messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Snapchat typically do not fall under the same scope. Social media tracking can also provide a glimpse into your child's social life, though many services now only monitor Facebook. This kind of oversight usually requires that you either know your child's login credentials or convince them to log in and install the tracker's app. Disabling this kind of data collection is a snap for the child, so here, more than ever, you need to be on the same page.
Remote Notification and Management
Most kids are on mobile devices at least some of the time, and many are almost exclusively accessing the internet on their phones. Fortunately, many parental control services offer a companion app that lets you view your child's activity, set basic rules, and view notifications as they arrive—NetNanny is a particularly noteworthy example. This kind of companion app is particularly useful for responding to access or time-extension requests on the go. Otherwise, you manage everything online, where you have fine control over activity reports and restrictions. Any changes you make should propagate to your children's devices when they connect to the internet.
When your child tries to visit a blocked site, makes a post using iffy language, or otherwise bends the rules it sends you a notification to your preferred channel, such as via the app, web, email, text, or some combination of those options.
Advanced Features
When you get beyond the basics, parental control systems start to diverge, with many advanced features to help them stand out from the crowd. Among these standout features are the ability to track your child's YouTube and Hulu viewing history, check your child's location, or even remotely lock down a device to force them to divert their attention. You'll also find advanced versions of standard features. For example, the best content filters don't just use a database of categories. They analyze page content in real time so that, for example, they can allow access to a short-story site but block the erotica.
In order to make an informed choice for your own family, check out our full reviews of these parental control solutions. If you have any suggestions for software to try or just want to sound off about a particularly positive or negative experience, please add your comments and join the discussion.
Best App For Keeping Mac Clean
Best Parental Control Software Featured in This Roundup:
Qustodio Review
MSRP: $39.95
Pros: Cross-platform support. Browser-independent content filter handles HTTPS traffic. Time scheduler for internet, device, and application usage. Location tracking.
Cons: Expensive. Social monitoring only tracks Facebook. Dated web portal. Some iOS limitations.
Bottom Line: Parental control app Qustodio is a highly configurable, easy-to-manage tool for keeping track of your child's activity on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
Read ReviewNet Nanny Review
MSRP: $39.99
Pros: Supports Windows, Mac, Android. Web-based configuration and reporting. Powerful filtering. Cross-platform internet time allowance. App control for Android.
Cons: No new updates. Expensive. No location tracking. Lacks advanced time management control. Limited iOS features.
Bottom Line: Net Nanny's web-centric and multi-platform approach to parental control makes it a useful option for the modern world, but it hasn't been updated substantially in years.
Read ReviewSymantec Norton Family Premier Review
MSRP: $49.99
Pros: Affordable. Excellent web dashboard. Settings apply across all devices. No limit on number of PC, phones, tablets, or children protected. Tracks child's location.
Cons: Does not work on Macs. No Free version anymore. Does not block HTTPS sites on unsupported browsers. Web extension is easily disabled. Platform-dependent features. Lackluster social media tracking.
Bottom Line: Norton Family's top-notch web interface and wealth of features make it easy for parents to track and manage their children's activity across their many devices, though it doesn't work on Macs.
Read ReviewKaspersky Safe Kids Review
MSRP: $14.99
Pros: Affordable. No limit on devices or child profiles. Flexible control of device and app usage. Robust web filtering. Geofencing. Extensive alert system.
Cons: Several iOS limitations. Content filtering limited to specific browsers. Social monitoring only covers Facebook and VK. Sluggish web interface.
Bottom Line: Kaspersky Safe Kids is a full-featured, affordable parental monitoring system for desktop and mobile platforms that doesn't impose limits on the number of devices you can monitor.
Read ReviewCircle With Disney Review
MSRP: $99.00
Pros: Easy setup. Manages every device on your home network. Category-based content filtering. Can cut off Internet access at bedtime. Pause button for the Internet.
Cons: Circle Go subscription surprisingly expensive. Matching names to devices can be difficult. Can cause alarming error messages in the browser. Minimal reporting.
Bottom Line: The Circle with Disney security appliance, controlled by a simple mobile app, provides parental content filtering and time limits for every device in your home network.
Read ReviewClean Router Review
MSRP: $149.99
Pros: Parental control and monitoring for every device on your network. Enforces Safe Search. Device-specific Internet time scheduling. Reports all sites visited and blocked. Optional daily activity email.
Cons: Reports can't identify activity by specific users. Content filter missed some porn sites and secure anonymizing proxies. Performance as a router lags behind competing 802.11ac devices.
Bottom Line: Have kids on the Web? Clean Router replaces your home router to apply parental control and monitoring to every device on your network.
Read ReviewMobicip Review
MSRP: $39.99
Pros: Online configuration and management. Can apply child profiles to multiple devices and user accounts. Powerful content filter. Weekly Internet schedule. App control on Android. Available for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Kindle and Nook.
Cons: Testing turned up some communication problems and delays between online console and local app. Initial configuration slightly awkward. No daily/weekly cap on Internet use. No real-time parental notifications.
Bottom Line: You configure Mobicip's parental control options online, and a local agent enforces the rules on your children's devices. In testing, we hit a few communication problems, but overall it's a good choice for the modern multi-device family.
Read ReviewSafeDNS Review
MSRP: $19.95
Pros: Filters dangerous and objectionable websites for all devices on your home network. Optional local agent for Windows PCs. Multiple profiles available, with time scheduling. Reports on sites visited and blocked.
Cons: Using time-scheduler to actually limit Internet use is seriously awkward. Usage reports include every URL accessed, many of which aren't websites. Usage reports can't match sites accessed with device or user. In testing, did not block phishing or malware-hosting URLs.
Bottom Line: When you configure your router to use SafeDNS, you can filter out dangerous or objectionable content for every device that connects using your home network. Just don't expect a full range of parental control features.
Read ReviewOpenDNS Home VIP Review
MSRP: $19.95
Pros: Filters Web content for all devices on the network. All essential features found in free edition, including dynamic IP handling. Report on sites visited and blocked. Can block or allow domains from within stats report.
Cons: Stats reports include every URL accessed, even those that aren't websites. Stats reports can't match sites accessed with device or user. In testing, did not block malware-hosting URLs and blocked few phishing URLs.
Bottom Line: OpenDNS Home VIP applies parental control and monitoring at the network level, for all your devices, and its essential features are available for free. Consider using it in conjunction with a more conventional parental monitoring tool.
Read ReviewuKnowKids Premier Review
MSRP: $100.00
Pros: Unusually comprehensive iOS support. Tracks Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and mobile device use. Notifies parents of risky posts. Tracks child's location, with optional geofencing. Finds hidden social media accounts. Tracks calls and texts on mobile devices.
Cons: No support for Android tablets, only smartphones. iOS tracking ineffective without regular iCloud backups. Geolocation proved unreliable in testing.
Bottom Line: A uKnowKids Premier subscription gets you comprehensive insight into your children's social communication via smartphone and popular social networks.
Read Review
Best Parental Control Software Featured in This Roundup:
Qustodio Review
MSRP: $39.95Pros: Cross-platform support. Browser-independent content filter handles HTTPS traffic. Time scheduler for internet, device, and application usage. Location tracking.
Cons: Expensive. Social monitoring only tracks Facebook. Dated web portal. Some iOS limitations.
Bottom Line: Parental control app Qustodio is a highly configurable, easy-to-manage tool for keeping track of your child's activity on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
Read ReviewNet Nanny Review
MSRP: $39.99Pros: Supports Windows, Mac, Android. Web-based configuration and reporting. Powerful filtering. Cross-platform internet time allowance. App control for Android.
Cons: No new updates. Expensive. No location tracking. Lacks advanced time management control. Limited iOS features.
Bottom Line: Net Nanny's web-centric and multi-platform approach to parental control makes it a useful option for the modern world, but it hasn't been updated substantially in years.
Read ReviewSymantec Norton Family Premier Review
MSRP: $49.99Pros: Affordable. Excellent web dashboard. Settings apply across all devices. No limit on number of PC, phones, tablets, or children protected. Tracks child's location.
Cons: Does not work on Macs. No Free version anymore. Does not block HTTPS sites on unsupported browsers. Web extension is easily disabled. Platform-dependent features. Lackluster social media tracking.
Bottom Line: Norton Family's top-notch web interface and wealth of features make it easy for parents to track and manage their children's activity across their many devices, though it doesn't work on Macs.
Read ReviewKaspersky Safe Kids Review
MSRP: $14.99Pros: Affordable. No limit on devices or child profiles. Flexible control of device and app usage. Robust web filtering. Geofencing. Extensive alert system.
Cons: Several iOS limitations. Content filtering limited to specific browsers. Social monitoring only covers Facebook and VK. Sluggish web interface.
Bottom Line: Kaspersky Safe Kids is a full-featured, affordable parental monitoring system for desktop and mobile platforms that doesn't impose limits on the number of devices you can monitor.
Read ReviewCircle With Disney Review
MSRP: $99.00Pros: Easy setup. Manages every device on your home network. Category-based content filtering. Can cut off Internet access at bedtime. Pause button for the Internet.
Cons: Circle Go subscription surprisingly expensive. Matching names to devices can be difficult. Can cause alarming error messages in the browser. Minimal reporting.
Bottom Line: The Circle with Disney security appliance, controlled by a simple mobile app, provides parental content filtering and time limits for every device in your home network.
Read ReviewClean Router Review
MSRP: $149.99Pros: Parental control and monitoring for every device on your network. Enforces Safe Search. Device-specific Internet time scheduling. Reports all sites visited and blocked. Optional daily activity email.
Cons: Reports can't identify activity by specific users. Content filter missed some porn sites and secure anonymizing proxies. Performance as a router lags behind competing 802.11ac devices.
Bottom Line: Have kids on the Web? Clean Router replaces your home router to apply parental control and monitoring to every device on your network.
Read ReviewMobicip Review
MSRP: $39.99Pros: Online configuration and management. Can apply child profiles to multiple devices and user accounts. Powerful content filter. Weekly Internet schedule. App control on Android. Available for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Kindle and Nook.
Cons: Testing turned up some communication problems and delays between online console and local app. Initial configuration slightly awkward. No daily/weekly cap on Internet use. No real-time parental notifications.
Bottom Line: You configure Mobicip's parental control options online, and a local agent enforces the rules on your children's devices. In testing, we hit a few communication problems, but overall it's a good choice for the modern multi-device family.
Read ReviewSafeDNS Review
MSRP: $19.95Pros: Filters dangerous and objectionable websites for all devices on your home network. Optional local agent for Windows PCs. Multiple profiles available, with time scheduling. Reports on sites visited and blocked.
Cons: Using time-scheduler to actually limit Internet use is seriously awkward. Usage reports include every URL accessed, many of which aren't websites. Usage reports can't match sites accessed with device or user. In testing, did not block phishing or malware-hosting URLs.
Bottom Line: When you configure your router to use SafeDNS, you can filter out dangerous or objectionable content for every device that connects using your home network. Just don't expect a full range of parental control features.
Read ReviewOpenDNS Home VIP Review
MSRP: $19.95Pros: Filters Web content for all devices on the network. All essential features found in free edition, including dynamic IP handling. Report on sites visited and blocked. Can block or allow domains from within stats report.
Cons: Stats reports include every URL accessed, even those that aren't websites. Stats reports can't match sites accessed with device or user. In testing, did not block malware-hosting URLs and blocked few phishing URLs.
Bottom Line: OpenDNS Home VIP applies parental control and monitoring at the network level, for all your devices, and its essential features are available for free. Consider using it in conjunction with a more conventional parental monitoring tool.
Read ReviewuKnowKids Premier Review
MSRP: $100.00Pros: Unusually comprehensive iOS support. Tracks Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and mobile device use. Notifies parents of risky posts. Tracks child's location, with optional geofencing. Finds hidden social media accounts. Tracks calls and texts on mobile devices.
Cons: No support for Android tablets, only smartphones. iOS tracking ineffective without regular iCloud backups. Geolocation proved unreliable in testing.
Bottom Line: A uKnowKids Premier subscription gets you comprehensive insight into your children's social communication via smartphone and popular social networks.
Read Review