Appleworks Accelerator
Appleworks Accelerator (AA) Version 1.05
Freeware from Seriously Lazy Software
Speeds up Appleworks 6 by removing old Recent Items.
If you find AA useful, pass it on to a friend and please consider providing a link to this page, www.groomsville.co.uk/sls/aa.htm, which is where you'll find the latest version.
Download Appleworks Accelerator (AA) Version 1.05 Now (Stuffit BinHex [hqx] file, 192k)
Problems downloading? Try one of these instead:
Stuffit sitx file (140k) | Disk Image (552k)
If you find yourself looking at a page of gobbledygook, come back to this page and Control-Click on the download link, then choose 'Save linked file to "Downloads"' (or wherever). The downloaded file will be called aa.dmg, aa.sitx or aa.sitx.hqx, depending on which one you chose. If it has the suffix '.txt' added to it, remove that suffix (the Finder will ask if you're sure you want to remove the suffix: yes, you do) and the file should then be recognisable as an archive. Open the archive and away you go...
About Appleworks Accelerator
If you've been using Appleworks 6 for any length of time you'll probably have noticed it slowing down. This is caused, in most instances, by what's become known as the "Recent Items bug" - Appleworks doesn't simply remember recent items: left to its own devices, it remembers EVERY item you ever open with it FOR EVER, regardless of your settings in Appleworks' own preferences, and regardless of how long ago it was. And it tries to keep track of them all, so that eventually it seems to spend more processing power dwelling in the past than in the present, seriously affecting overall performance... kinda like going senile. Dumber still, it lists the files it remembers alphabetically instead of in date order, but that's another story.
Apple themselves are unlikely to offer a fix, so here's my solution: Appleworks Accelerator, an automated Appleworks Recent Items remover. It's more accurately a rejuvenator than an accelerator, but if you're suffering from the Recent Items slowdown effect you'll certainly notice Appleworks getting back up to speed afterwards.
More info about the problem can be found in the Apple User Discussions Forum and in the Apple Knowledge Base
AA removes the excess aliases that Appleworks faithfully creates for you by identifying any that are older than your preferred time limit and dumping them in the Trash. It doesn't empty the Trash, so if you want them back, just go get 'em... but hey, they're only aliases: AA does not touch your original files.
On AA's first run you'll enter a time limit for "recent" (anything from 0 to 365 days), then you can click the buttons or simply sit back and watch as AA gets on with its job. I've set the default to 30 days because that works fine for me; if you're a heavy Appleworks user you may wish to set a shorter time limit. At the end your settings for "recent" will be saved unless you choose otherwise; next time around it will run with no further interaction from you, although it will always warn you if Appleworks is running and give you the opportunity to quit Appleworks first.
If you would prefer to supervise AA's activities in future, choose "Don't Save" when you reach that point. If you want to reset AA's settings, either (1) install a fresh copy or (2) open it in Script Editor, change something, change it back and save.
How you work after that is your decision, of course. Since I tend to reboot about once a month, I run it as a Start Up item on my Macs, but if you reboot less frequently or are a particularly heavy AppleWorks user you may be better off setting up an iCal repeat alarm to fire it up every week (or month - whatever). Either way, if you've allowed it to save your settings it will run, remove old Appleworks recent items, and quit.
To find your Appleworks Recent Items folder manually, go to:
Documents/AppleWorks User Data/Starting Points/Recent Items
in your Home folder.
Finally, thanks to all the good folk on the Appleworks Discussion Forums who pointed me in the right direction when I first encountered this problem. If there's anyone out there who'd like to donate a custom icon for AA, please get in touch. Here's to a smoother Appleworks experience!
Phil Groom
Updated Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Appleworks Accelerator System Requirements
Appleworks 6, Mac OS X. Tested on systems running Appleworks 6.2.4 - 6.2.9 under Mac OS X 10.3.8 - 10.4.8. It should run on earlier versions but no tests have been carried out. If you're running Appleworks 6 under Mac OS 9, check out Dale M Gillard's Applescripts for Appleworks; for a more sophisticated solution for Appleworks 6 under OS X or 9, check out his shareware app, Sidekick ($10).
Disclaimer
All the usual disclaimers apply: use of Appleworks Accelerator is entirely at your own risk. No warranty is offered and no liability is accepted. Your life is in your own hands: handle it with care.
© 2005 Phil Groom, Seriously Lazy Software
Version History
1.05 Changed generic error message; changed default to 30 days (was 90 days).
1.04 Added routine to delete "tmp" files that may clutter up the Recent Items folder
1.03 Added error trap routine to catch occasional error noted on some iMacs
1.02 Checks specifically whether Appleworks 6 is running (v.1.01 checked for any app with Appleworks in its name).
1.01 First public release under the name Appleworks Accelerator
Previously released as Appleworks Recent Items Remover (ARIR), versions 1.01 to 1.05 - see the ARIR info page for details.
