My Mac is really really slow

I'm using a power mac, am running OS x 10.6.2 and its really slow. The beachball just keeps spinning and it takes forever to open a file. It also makes a grinding sound. Theres 1TB hard drive and only 200GB used. It has 4GB ram. I use my mac all the time and it is constantly on. I'll usually have a lot of webpages open along with 2-3 programs running, but it has always ran smooth.

Not too sure what to do. Is this a virus? spyware? or maintenance issue. Somebody please give me some advice. Thanks.

#1. A PowerMac is a PowerPC Mac and will not run 10.6. I'm going to assume you mean a Mac Pro.

#2. It sounds like your Hard Drive is about to die. Make a back up of all of your information immediately. Check the application Disk Utility, and look at your drive's S.M.A.R.T status. If it doesn't say verified, odds are it's about to fail.

I am sure he means Mac Pro. A lot of people call them Power Macs because the G5 Power Mac looked the same.

It could the the hard drive going. I would run Disk Utility. Click on the drive and check the bottom of the window in DU and look for SMART. Does it say Passed?

Also you can download and run Onyx and have it repair permissions and run the maintenance scripts.

Report back with what you find.

Thanks for the quick reply. My bad, I meant to say it is an iMac. Intel Core 2 Duo. Processor speed 3.06GHz. L2 Cache 3mb. 4GB ram.

I'll try and do what you guys have said. However, it is really slow and i don't even know if it can handle me copying and saving files.

That really sounds like the hard drive on it's way out. Loading Disk Utility should not take much and you can verify the SMART status of the drive. A lot of times if a drive is failing, SMART will report errors.

Do you have the OSX DVD that came with your machine? If so boot with the DVD in the drive and hold down the C key after the Startup Chime till you see the loading screen. You can run Disk Utility from there and check the SMART and also repair permissions. Then reboot to the hard drive and see how it works.

If you see it's not passing SMART, it's the drive dying for sure.

Aw man. This is brutal. Since my last post, I have been trying to open up utility disk but my mac is just too slow. I'm going to keep trying. Its still beach ball on screen and the sound that my mac is making is as though its reading a cd. I'm going to shut off turn it back on.

What can I do to back up my files? I doubt I can copy and save them.

rushai said:

I'm going to shut off turn it back on.

Click to expand...

Would NOT recommend that as it may not be able to reboot as it sounds as though your HD is hanging on by a thread.

rushai said:

What can I do to back up my files? I doubt I can copy and save them.

Click to expand...

Do you have a UBS flash drive? If so, just try to save the absolute bare essentials and most important stuff.

Like I said, boot from the OSX DVD if you have one. Run Disk Utility from the Utility Menu. As far as backing up, not sure if you can't get anything to happen.

MacDude it right, if you totally shut down, it might never get to the desktop again! It really sounds like the Hard Drive is dying. That sound it's making says a lot.

ok. finally. i managed to check it and it says that the S.M.A.R.T Status is: "Failing"
It also says,

"This drive has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. Back up as much of the data as possible and replace the disk. See an authorized Apple dealer for more information."

Does anyone know the best way to back up my files? I have about 200GB that I haven't backed up.

I got a whole of photos I want to save + all these projects working files. Aw man. I guess I'll try and salvage the photos first.

rushai said:

ok. finally. i managed to check it and it says that the S.M.A.R.T Status is: "Failing"
It also says,

"This drive has a hardware problem that can't be repaired. Back up as much of the data as possible and replace the disk. See an authorized Apple dealer for more information."

Does anyone know the best way to back up my files? I have about 200GB that I haven't backed up.

Click to expand...

Yup, not good. I highly doubt that hard drive is going to survive a 200GB file transfer. Like I said earlier, just try to back up the bare essentials to a flash drive or whatever you use for back ups.

I wish I never put all off backing up my files. This is horrible. Never happened to me before unti now. I didn't expect my mac to fail like this. I only had it for 2 years. 2K down the drain.

Does anyone know the life expectancy for imacs?

Do remember one thing, Apple does not make hard drives. My iMac 2007 had a 320 GB Western Digital. A standard drive, like in any computer. Hard Drives die. The drive died after 4 years constant use. I replaced it with another Western Digital as normally they last longer. The WD in my iMac G5 is still good after around 6 years 24 hours a day.

You might try and download Carbon Copy Cloner. Do you have an external drive that can accept the 200GB you need backed up? If so, give it a try. 10.6.2 has Time Machine. If you have a large enough external drive, plug it in and enable time machine and have it back up.

Later when you get your new drive installed and the OS installed, you can migrate from the TM backup and get it all back.

I am wondering with your drive in that shape though if it will last through that large backup like MacDude said!

I do have a external hard drive and right now i'm trying to save photos, then i'll move onto current projects and other working files. idk tho. its extremely slow, and macdude said it prob won't survive a major backup. I just hope i can save the bare essentials, if i can manage to do that I promise to never surf the net for porn again.

Good idea. I doubt that killed your hard drive but it can cause other dangers to happen to a computer.

Keep us posted. Do you still have Apple Care on that iMac or is it long gone? Putting in a new Hard Drive is a pain mostly getting off the front glass. I can help you with a tutorial if you need help. Let us know.

Well guys, I managed to save all the bare essentials and more. Most of the GB's is the music and movies. So I'm happy the loved ones are out and safe. I guess I am lucky. The mac is sill alive for now, but I'm gonna try and salvage the rest tmrw when I wake up.

I think I do have my applecare. I will have to go and find it.

rushai said:

Does anyone know the life expectancy for imacs?

Click to expand...

I have an iMac G3 from 2001 with the original 20GB hard drive. It's totally random when hard drives decide to die, brand new ones can fail right out of the box, or they can last 10+ years as in my case.

rushai said:

Well guys, I managed to save all the bare essentials and more. Most of the GB's is the music and movies. So I'm happy the loved ones are out and safe. I guess I am lucky. The mac is sill alive for now, but I'm gonna try and salvage the rest tmrw when I wake up.

I think I do have my applecare. I will have to go and find it.

Click to expand...

If you can find your Applecare, that would be great as replacing the HD's on those iMacs can be pretty difficult. Glad that you managed to save the most important stuff as well.

I found receipt and no I do not have Applecare. =(