Computer running Slow

Hello all,

I have problems with my machine running slowly and that blasted spinning wheel appearing everywhere.

iMac
Processor: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 1.5
memory : 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3

I have done:

Disc utility
Onyx repair
emptied some of the plist files
emptied Safari cache
rebooted numerous times

The wheel is appearing in Mail, on Safari, in iMovie and Aperture and Photoshop. I've assigned half the ram to photoshop.

My external Time Machine hard drive that I back everything up to is indicating that it needs repairing, but when I've disconnected it, the problem still continues. Even as I type this, the cursor is stalling.

If I search for something in google, the wheel will appear briefly.

Any help greatly appreciated.

The computer has always run fine, even with my memory hungry applications. It's just suddenly all gone slow.

Thanks! Kim

I'm assuming you mean "Core i5 at 2.66 Ghz" as opposed to "Core 1.5"..if that is the case, then with 4GB of memory the iMac should definitely be able to handle all the programs you are running with no problems..

Now when you say "assigned half the RAM to photoshop"..what do you mean? If you are running this natively on OS X, you should definitely not be assigning anything to any application, the OS will handle that for you..

Regards

Thanks for replying -

Yes sorry, Core i5 at 2.66 Ghz.

In the performance preferences of Photoshop, the available RAM is 3072 and I'm letting Photoshop use 47% - 1443.

I was told to assign as much memory as possible to Photoshop. It says the ideal range is 1689-2211.

I'm not actually using PS all the time, mostly Bridge and Aperture.

How much hard drive free space do you have?

591 gb

Would MacKeeper help?

repair permissions in disk utility.

if you have done that, boot from the OS disks and repair the volume.

Thanks, have done all that.

I'm even getting the spinning ball when I try and close applications.

well sounds like you have a failing hard drive then. check the smart status. how long does it take to boot? do you hear any noises if you listen to the right of the trackpad?

Boots up okay, but there is a constant mechanical noise, hard to describe (like when an external drive is backing up), kind of a grinding whirring noise.

Disc utility and onyx says its ok. Maybe on the way out?

A grinding noise?! back up NOW, and get it replaced!

spinning balls and slow laggy computers, are usually indicative of a bad drive. im convinced its on the way out.

if this imac is new, I would take it to Apple, and they will get it done for free (or if you have Applecare.) Hopefully it is under warranty.

before you do this though, is there any strange processes going on in activity monitor?

(on another note, assigning RAM to Photoshop isn't permanent, it is only relevant when PS is open, so its got nothing to do with that.)

Thanks, it will be out of warranty unfortunately. It must be three years old now I would guess.

What do I look out for in Activity monitor please?

is there anything taking up alot of cpu, like near on 100%? especially when doing anything that beach balls.

its only a long shot by the way.

(3 years old, with an i5 and a massive hard drive? that must have set you back a bit.)

No there's nothing taking up that much %, yes the machine cost about £2k, but I need it for my photographic work so I don't have a lot of choice.

Is the hard drive something I can replace myself do you know?

If it is an iMac, they are quite difficult to replace.

you need to remove the screen to get inside, and be careful not to damage any of the cables and so on. there are tutorials on this on youtube so you can see for yourself.

i would quite like a second opinion before you do this though.

Okay, many thanks. Kim

There was no such thing as a Core i5 processor 3 yrs ago. The Core iX line was still a glint in Intels eye at that time. That would be the Core2Duo. And no, don't believe any long timer is going to recommend you put MacKeeper on your machine.

My question would be, how long are these spinning beachballs?

If you're talking 2-5 seconds, I'd be asking exactly what portion of Onyx did you run and looking at Activity Monitor.

If you're talking 10, 20, 30 seconds or longer, I'd still be looking at Activity Monitor, but I'd be inclined to agree that you're probably looking at a dying drive.

Okay, well whenever these machines came out, I got one of the first.

I don't understand what portion of onyx? I did a full clean and repaired permissions.

Activity monitor, I'm not quite sure what I'm meant to be looking at, but there's nothing in the CPU button that's over 10%

The ball is only ever lasting 2-5 seconds. And there it is again, as I type...

May I ask, if I reset Safari, will it lose all my passwords/login details?

I think before we go any further, we need to find out for sure if that hard disk is healthy.

So, download and install the SMART Utility, available here:

Apple - Downloads - System/Disk Utilities - SMART Utility

Run this and let us know if any of the categories are not in the green zone.

Then, run the Extended Apple Hardware Test:

Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test

Once we've done and passed BOTH, we will have ruled out a hardware issue (which it certainly sounds like at this point).

Doing it now, many thanks.

Yikes!

I've opened it up and it says Overall SMART Status: FAILING (in a yellow box)

Total errors: 31546
Last error type: Uncorrectable error

I have just tried that on another iMac I have and it's given the same reading - FAILING - but not with so many errors. That's a bit weird?