Preparing to reinstall OS X

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Hi all,

I have a 2011 MBP and when I turned it on tonight it was slow, I mean really slow and considering its a Core i7 with 4Gb I think something is messed up!

I've got backups from Time Machine on a external HDD, all I care about is recovering my photos in iPhoto and music iTunes. If reload OS X and the apps from the DVDs, how hard is it to restore my data, retaining the photo albums, track names, track albums, etc.

Thanks, Chris.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro 15" 2014, 2.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSD, OSX 10.9.5 - iPhone 5s 16gb
Hi Kristo,

First off usually a re-format should only be used as a last resort as 99% of the time the problems can be sorted without a reinstall.
Have you checked that all the RAM is seated correctly and being read correctly? Also go to System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items and delete anything from that list that you don't need to start when you boot up your mac.
Also how much space is left on your HDD? You should always leave around 12-15% free space for OSX to use as temp space so your computer runs smoothly.
Also check that you have updated your OS to the latest version.

Hope this helps

- Simon
 
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Your Mac's Specs
2018 15" MBP, 2019 11" iPad Pro, iPhone 11 Pro
Hi Kristo,

First off usually a re-format should only be used as a last resort as 99% of the time the problems can be sorted without a reinstall.
Have you checked that all the RAM is seated correctly and being read correctly? Also go to System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items and delete anything from that list that you don't need to start when you boot up your mac.
Also how much space is left on your HDD? You should always leave around 12-15% free space for OSX to use as temp space so your computer runs smoothly.
Also check that you have updated your OS to the latest version.

Hope this helps

- Simon

After all this, if it is still slow, go into Applications Folder> Utilities> Disk Utility. Select your drive on the left and then click on "Verify Permissions". If anything needs repaired, go ahead and click on "Repair Permissions". And restart after that is done.
Simon is right - an OS reinstall is the last thing you want to do. Start with the simpler things first.
Please report back.
 
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Update: I downloaded Sophos and did a full scan, only found a couple of minor Flash infections which are now gone.

Buzzard2010 - Agree a reformat isn't ideal, I have checked the memory and its in nice and tight, I have turned of Skype from booting at startup, otherwise its pretty clean there. Its got a 750Gb HDD and there 630Gb odd free so more than enough breathing room there and everything it up to date update wise.

MYmacROX - I performed a Verify and it told me there were issues and to do a full scan, I did that and got this .... epic fail!

photo1-Copy.jpg


I've spoken with Apple Care as the until doesn't boot at all now and they suggested it might be a dead HDD, booked in to see Apple Genius on Monday to look at getting the HDD replaced. MAc from Apple Care said they can look at data recovery for me otherwise restoring my iTunes and iPhoto from my Time Machine backup should be straight forward enough .... might be time to get myself a Time Capsule!
 
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Your Mac's Specs
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Just about any external drive is fine. I use a Western Digital, for instance.
 

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