Finder not responsive

Lately I have noticed that Finder is not responding as quick as it once did. Now I get the rainbow wheel often when I insert USB drives, or even start my computer from sleep. I have 457.82 GB of free space on my internal hard drive and more than that on my external drive. I have 4GB of ram and try not to use too many programs at once. I also bought my iMac in the summer of 2009 so it's not that old. What can I do to allow finder to function smoothly?

*Also when I access my external hard drive every time a new finder page appears it takes a while (anywhere from 1.5-4 mins) to load the icons on it, along with running the actual files - a lot longer than before.

hemispheres said:

What can I do to allow finder to function smoothly?

Click to expand...

Three things:

- I've heard that it's not the best idea to store too many items/stuff on your desktop (just in case you do)
- Repair permissions (need to launch Disk Utility)
- quit all your open programs & restart the computer every so often

One additional long shot possibility (and not very desirable)...is this could be a sign of a failing hard drive. Not likely on a 2009 computer...but just wanted to mention it as a long shot possibility.

HTH,

- Nick