LimeWire is slowing my computer down...
 

Having read some of the posts, this doesn't seem to be anything new. Since I've updated to Mac OSX 10.4.11 and upgraded to 4.16 Pro, I'm having a unique but continuous problem. Initially on starting limewire everything runs smoothly. However, the longer LW is running, the slower my computer gets - even if I'm not doing anything with LW. I eventually have to force quit out. It also seems to bother Safari (3.14). My computer is a Mac Mini running 10.4.11, has 512 MB sdram, and a 1.66 GHz intel core duo processor. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

This has always been an issue on mac due to apple using their own version of Java which is inferior to the java used for other systems.
The problem is Java has problems releasing memory. So the Virtual Memory (VM) builds up over time. The longer LW is on, the more VM is used and eventually starts to slow the system down.

Workarounds:

* Make sure your system drive has plenty of space.
* Close LW periodically which releases the VM used up. BTW you can check how much VM has been used via the Activity Monitor found in the Utilities folder. Keep an eye on it over a period and you will see what I mean, VM builds up gradually the longer LW is used.
* Share less than 2,000 files, or if videos, share even less. The more files shared, the greater VM will be.
* Reduce incomplete files, Tip: Purge the Downloads Queue! (click on blue link) because the more incomplete files you have, the greater VM will be.
* Keep all LW windows closed except those you need at the time. eg: Connections window.
* Disable Ultrapeer capabilities for a start. Go to Preferences Options > Advanced > Performance & disable UP. In fact, disable all options on that window as they all add to VM when enabled. Quick access to preferences is Command-Comma keys; ⌘ ,
* Set both uplds & downlds to autoclear under preferences.
* Hiding LW in the Dock may also help to reduce some ram and vm use.
* Close off old search tabs.
* Also Don't use the Resume button on all incomplete files. This can have side-fx such as affect LW's connection quality. May queue your files for much much longer. This will also stress LW & your comp. If you use Resume/Find sources then just apply it to a couple or so at one time.

Thanks!!!!
 

Hey LOTR,

I just wanted to say thanks! Most of your suggestions I had already done (I'm a tiny bit Mac savvy), but the Activity Monitor is a gem that I did not know about. LW is using about 800mb of VM and Safari is using about 500mb of VM. Is there any way to increase VM on a Mac? I have about 25G of free space on my HD. Thanks again!!!!!

OSX uses VM from the system drive, which is why it's a good idea to keep as much spare space as possible. You may also notice LW is a little ram hungry too. So having plenty of ram helps also. On my old computer I had two drives, both partitioned so I sent my downloads to a different partition to system drive. (I had 1.5 GB of ram on old system.)

Unfortunately there's no real method of increasing VM use other than more space or reducing its need a little by having more ram. The methods which I suggested for decreasing LW's use of VM is all I know of. Other than that, later versions of Java will be slightly more efficient. However Mac tend to stop developing Java on each older version of OSX. My new system uses OSX 10.5 and Java 1.5, however it also has Java 1.6SE installed. OSX 10.4 only has Java 1.5, OSX 10.3 Java 1.4, etc.

BTW OSX uses VM for all OSX applications. But it doesn't appear to have a function where VM can be increased or decreased, unlike some graphic programs do in their own preferences. Faster drives will read back VM faster I should suspect.