The rainbow wheel on my computer spins every 5 or so minutes. When it spins, it spins for a few seconds too long: to the point where it's very frustrated because I have to wait for it to go away so I can continue typing my emails. I’m not running many programs when this happens. I’ve had this computer for quite a while and it just started doing this within the past 2-3 weeks.
I’ve looked into some of the reasons this may be happening:
• One could be that the program you are trying to open is requiring more RAM than your system has available
o The only programs I’m really running on this computer lately are Final Cut Pro, Mail,
Microsoft Word 2004 and Safari. Even without FCP it’s still giving me these issues
• If your Mac is old and you are trying to run multiple new applications, these can take up a lot of RAM.
o I don’t think my computer is THAT old. Maybe 2009? It’s one of those iMacs with a
J-looking stand. It’s this one but with a larger display:
http://media02.hongkiat.com/macicons/maoos.jpg
• You could upgrade your RAM
o I called Apple and asked to do that. They had me read some specs on the computer
and determined that I already have 4gb of ram in the computer which is the maximum
amount
• I’ve run disk warrior several times, I’ve ran Disk utility several times, I’ve even cleared out 100gb worth of space in my computer. (The hard drive now says 226gb available). None of these things have helped.
• I’m running Snow Leopard 10.6.8
• Everyone is saying okay time to wipe the computer. I’d like to avoid doing that.
What else can I try on my mac that might fix this problem? Please help!
I’ve looked into some of the reasons this may be happening:
• One could be that the program you are trying to open is requiring more RAM than your system has available
o The only programs I’m really running on this computer lately are Final Cut Pro, Mail,
Microsoft Word 2004 and Safari. Even without FCP it’s still giving me these issues
• If your Mac is old and you are trying to run multiple new applications, these can take up a lot of RAM.
o I don’t think my computer is THAT old. Maybe 2009? It’s one of those iMacs with a
J-looking stand. It’s this one but with a larger display:
http://media02.hongkiat.com/macicons/maoos.jpg
• You could upgrade your RAM
o I called Apple and asked to do that. They had me read some specs on the computer
and determined that I already have 4gb of ram in the computer which is the maximum
amount
• I’ve run disk warrior several times, I’ve ran Disk utility several times, I’ve even cleared out 100gb worth of space in my computer. (The hard drive now says 226gb available). None of these things have helped.
• I’m running Snow Leopard 10.6.8
• Everyone is saying okay time to wipe the computer. I’d like to avoid doing that.
What else can I try on my mac that might fix this problem? Please help!