Legacy software runs on some modern Macs, not others

[grhafer30]

As a teacher, I am stuck with a great but legacy gradebook app--the app was bought by a large company and then killed-- that runs so slowly on my MacBook Pro for no reason I can determine. It runs fine on my modern iMac. Both Macs run the same system software, but the performance of the app on both is drastically different.

I've tried using Appdelete, CleanMyMac, and other apps that search for hidden files and library files, etc., but no results.

The only thing that solves the problem is a complete disk wipe. That would take days to restore, and I would need to get IT services at my school involved--it's their MacPro--and they're already on a backlog. Last time I did a wipe, the next system update undid it and I'm back to the slow app!

Any ideas of other things I might try?

 

[Rene Ritchie]

That sounds weird. Any major hardware differences between the two? RAM, graphics cards? Do other teachers you know running it on mac have the problem?

 

[grhafer30]

Thanks, Rene. No, no one has the identical problem. And I cannot reproduce the problem on my iMac.

I'm really stuck with this program because there are no longer any viable competing products. They have all been swallowed up by Blackboard and competing learning management systems, which in effect have squashed competition and do not develop the products they swallowed up.

Could it be related to virus protection? The IT department installs the Bradford Persistent Agent--I have no choice but watch it update every few days.

Gary

 

[Rene Ritchie]

If it's only that machine I'd be curious about anything different on it, including AV. Is there a way for you to quit AV or boot into safe mode and try running the software without AV on?

 

[grhafer30]

Thanks, Rene. Yes, I'll try that, although after a disk wipe, the application works just fine. It somehow migrates to that slowness midway through the academic year, with spinning beachballs and delayed switching to other windows that only takes a second or two on my other machine. Thanks