This is a guide on how to accelerate your older Macintosh through the use of various methods such as good maintenance, clockchipping, program usage, accelerators, and other means.

Speeding Up Your Older Macintosh: A General Guide

Want to learn the basics of speeding up your Macintosh without resorting to an accelerator or expensive upgrade? Then read on for techniques that can help you get the most of your Macintosh without buying an expensive accelerator.

Follow these simple (and maybe not so simple) steps:

1) Get some physical RAM. Prices have never been better. Fit as much as you can afford. You'll love the benefits of it. DON'T use RamDoubler since it will slow your system down and does not have the same benefits as a RAM chip, unless you really need it to get you out of a tight squeeze now and then. You can get used RAM chips on AOL/Classifieds/Mac Board; it will be cheaper. You can also create RAM disks to also increase the performance of certain programs as well. Try it out.

Note: Some machines, like the Plus, SE, Classic, and Mac II, can't see more than 8 megs because they lack PMMU chips or are not 32-bit clean. Some companies like Sonnettech produce accelerators which contain the PMMU and extra RAM slots to compensate and expand beyond normal memory ceiling limits on certain Macs.

Some programs, especially multimedia ones like Peter's Player (Shareware that is available through AOL), uses the huge RAM to download what video clips/music you intend to play into the RAM chip and plays it from there rather than reading it from the hard drive. Playback is smooth and terrific! Other programs out there will utilize the RAM in a similar way if enough is available. Increasing RAM allocation on the preferred RAM settings will gain you some speed as well: if programs have a bigger chunk of RAM, then some will operate better and more efficiently. Try it especially with games.

2) Increase your disk cache. When you upgrade the physical RAM, go to your memory control panel and reset the DISK CACHE function. It will store frequently used data through the RAM chips, which is faster to access than the hard drive. Set it for as much memory as you can up to 1024 K of cache. Any more than this will result in little performance feedback results and you would be wasting valuable memory.

3) Use the best Mac OS for your needs and then clean it out. If you have a slower machine such as a Mac Plus, Classic, or SE, use Mac OS 7.1. Anything higher will actually slow you down, plus you don't really need the benefits of what the later versions offer, at least on your older Mac. But if you have a Mac which uses a 68020, upgrade to 7.5.5; if you have one using a 68030 or 68040, then use 7.6.1. But get rid of ANYTHING that you don't need or use (TokenTalk, Ethernet, unnecessary control panels, Worldscript, and Appleguide are the worst to slow your system down!). Get rid of extra fonts you do not use! Huge numbers of fonts will especially slow your system! Speed increase is around 5%-25%, depending on how much of the new system you will use and what you will get rid of. Put that extensions manager control panel to good use!

4) Buy a cache card for your machine if it can take it. They store frequently used instructions used by your Mac in super-fast RAM chips which can be retrieved by the processor very easily. Older Macs like the Plus, SE, Classic, and certain Powerbooks don't have a cache slot or some other way of accepting cache chips. But many models do have them. They are just beautiful to use and will increase your computer's speed enormously, sometimes doubling your computer's speed. Get as much as you can, but remember that they only go up to 1024 K (1 meg); higher cache than this doesn't work as well.

5) Install a FPU/math co-processor chip if your machine doesn't have one. It will process the math functions of any program faster, especially CAD or spreadsheets. Easy to install on most machines. Until you get the chip, download SoftwareFPU program in AOL/Computing/Utilities. It will emulate a 68881 FPU, but get the chip because it is better and works much faster (500%-1000% depending on what software you wish to run). You can get it new through Sonnet Tech or used in the AOL Classifieds section. Many of the newer graphics programs and games are using math-intensive programming and even though you may not need an FPU chip to run it, it will go much faster. Normal speed increase is around 10%-15%; much higher for math-based or other types of math-intensive programs.

All PowerPC chips and 68040 have built-in FPU chips inside of them, so you don't need to buy one if your machine uses such a processor. However, 68030, 68LC040, 68020, and 68000 chips don't have math co-processors and use slow software routines to conduct FPU operations. If you have a Quadra or Centris that just uses a 68LC040, then you need to replace the chip with a true 68040 chip because there is no separate FPU chip to attach. Most 68030 machines need a 68882 FPU running at the same frequency as your processor. For example: An LC III/Performa 450 will require a 68882 FPU running at 25 MHz, since the processor runs at 25 MHz. A LC III+/Performa 460 requires a FPU 68882 running at 33 MHz. Talk to your seller to see what you might need.

6) Install Speed Doubler. You can get it used through AOL/Classifieds; they only cost $20-$25 used; $55 new, but why pay more? This works terrific for PowerPC Macs and it was really made for them, but you can get some benefits too on your non-PowerPC Mac. However, they will not work on machines with a 68020 processor or lower, so find out first what you will speed up your system folder, disk access, copying files and the Finder on your Mac. Speed will increase by another 10%-15%, higher in Powermacs.

7) Upgrade the VRAM. In older Macs, VRAM is dirt cheap. Computer and graphics resolution will definitely improve. A big help if you like to run multimedia programs. You may even wish to consider using a graphics accelerator, but only if they are cheap. Mac II series, LC series, and many of the Performas will accept them. However, if you own a Plus, SE, SE/30, or Classics, you won't be able to do much with the VRAM. There are some cards out there that will allow you to hook up a second monitor and possibly display colors on that, but it is really not worth it.

8) Optimize your hard drive by purchasing Norton Utilities or similar program. This will de-fragmentize your files and make accessing your disk drive quite smooth. Again, purchase a used copy since these programs cost about $100 brand new. Be sure to use the version which your computer can handle. Some newer versions don't work on older Macs.

9) Think about clockchipping your machine. Clockchipping is basically speeding up your processor to work faster, but it will also make it run hotter and decrease its lifespan. In some cases, it is very easy to do and requires no permanent modifications (like the 6100 or some Quadra models). Other machines may not be able to handle it or require some technical slight-of-hand and soldering (like the LC III). However, be careful and think it through first and read the literature before trying it. One benefit is that clockchipping is that it is quite inexpensive.

10) Use older programs to get the job done. Some people think that the latest version of any program is better to get. Not true. New versions are in many cases slower and fill your system folder and hard drive with loads of extensions, control panels, and other programs which slow your machine down considerably. MS Word 6.0 is a perfect example. Many people have bought it, used it, then went back to Word 5.1 because it was faster and easier to use. Another culprit is AOL 3.0. Many people stopped using it for a because it was way too slow and went back to version 2.7. Unless you really need the latest version, get an older one instead. Clarisworks 2.0 or 3.0 are still good to use, as well as Microsoft Office 3.x versions. Some programs are also available which are simple to use and don't require a great deal of RAM or hard drive space. Cassidy & Greene's Keep It Simple Spreadsheet and Nisus Writer are good example.

11) Rebuild your desktop and zap your PRAM every few weeks. You can secure a copy of Techtool from AOL for free which is a handy little program to accomplish these two things. Techtool will also completely wipe out your old desktop file and create a new one rather than writing over it. But be sure to start up your machine by holding down the SHIFT key first when turning on your Mac to disable all extensions. Not doing so can result in a corrupted desktop as it is being rebuilt. Doing this every few weeks will keep your Mac running smoothly and result in less program errors, slowdowns, and crashes. Also clean out your preferences folder every few weeks because pref files can become corrupted and you will also get rid of old pref files you no longer need, freeing up valuable disk space. Don't worry: your computer can easily rebuild new prefs files everytime you use your programs.

It sounds like a lot to do, but since accelerators with a FPU cost $300-$500 and are sometimes difficult to find for older Macs, this is the surest and least costly way of doing it. And if one component fails to work because it is defective, you will still have speed through the other methods. However, if you wish to add an accelerator, there are certain types to select from and different types.

CPU Accelerators: This is usually a card that fits in the PDS, Nubus, PCI, or other expansion slots. It usually consists of a faster processor and sometimes carries extra add-ons like PMMU chips, RAM slots, cache, and math co-processors. They override your old processor and do the main work. Investigate what is out there for your machine, since there is an accelerator for every Macintosh out there, including the Plus. Check out Sonnettech, Daystar, Micromac, and other companies which specialize in accelerators for more information and prices.

Graphic Accelerators: These consist of cards which contain extra VRAM so you can run thousands or millions of colors, and also contain items to accelerate 2-D/3-D Quickdraw routines. Great for graphics work, games, and multimedia.

SCSI Accelerators: These are cards which can speed up your Mac's use of internal and external SCSI ports and anything connected to them, particularly the hard drives. However, unless you use your computer for heavy-duty work or if it is a server, I don't recommend getting one.

Here are two other methods you can resort to:

Board Swapping: In many cases, you can swap the board of your old machine and replace it with the motherboard of another machine. Places like Shreve Systems specialize in this. However, it is expensive. You are probably better off buying a newer system than swapping the motherboard.

CPU Daughtercards: Some Powermacs have their processors on cards that you can remove and replace with a faster processor, especially the Powermacs 7200, 7500, 7600, and many others. Some are expensive, some aren't, so investigate this thoroughly. It may be cheaper than buying a new machine.

Hopes this helps you out. I know what predicament you are in when you have an older machine. Trust me, you will spend less money buying used equipment and there is nothing wrong by doing that so long as you are a careful shopper and can get some type of warranty or exchange/refund agreement in case something is defective. Advertise in AOL Classifieds in the Mac Computers section for the parts you need. I assembled everything in less than two weeks and I am quite satisfied with how fast and efficiently my LC III works now. It is like a new machine.

If you like to see how slow your machine is running and get an accurate idea of how fast each now improvement makes your computer, download the shareware program Speed Tester 2.0 from AOL/Computing/Utilities. This runs a series of three tests: floating-point, general processing, and graphics matrixing. When you run it, disregard the advice that you should turn off your extensions first: no one runs their Macintosh on a frequent basis with extensions turned off. Running it with your computer fully loaded will give you a clearer idea of how fast your machine is running under normal circumstances.

For more about the specifics of your machine and what you can do to expand it, the refer to T. Kelley Boylan's excellent "This Old Mac" articles that he ran in the 1997 issues of MacAddict magazine. They are also found at MacAddict's website (www.macaddict.com). He really gets into the specifics of older non-PowerPC macs, and devotes each issue to a single model or group of related models. They also make excellent specs on that one can refer to now and then for good information and troubleshooting.

Good luck! Let me know how things go for you. If you have suggestions, share them with me, please! If you know others with older Macs, let them in on the advice!

-- Christopher Sunner (Red Lambda@aol.com)

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