My iMac keeps freezing

Help Please my iMac keeps freezing

I am running Mac OS X version 10.7.5 with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

I have run the Disc Utility that comes with the machine to verify the HD and it says the volume appears to be ok.

The memory capacity of the hard disc is 999.35 GB with 808.84 GB in use and 190.51 free memory

My iMac will be operating fine for a few minutes then it freezes and the rainbow wheel appears for a few minutes then it functions normally for a few more minutes then it freezes again.

I cannot associate the freezing with any particular application or with being online or working locally

I have been also running the Activity monitor and noticed that

under the CPU tab the " % System memory " is always red

under the System Memory tab the " Wired" indicator is always red

under the Disc Activity tab the " Data written/sec" is always red

I do not know if these items being "red" are a trouble indication or a help to isolate the problem, but I thought I would mention

Any help or direction is greatly appreciated

OldIrishLad said:

I have been also running the Activity monitor and noticed that

under the CPU tab the " % System memory " is always red

under the System Memory tab the " Wired" indicator is always red

under the Disc Activity tab the " Data written/sec" is always red

I do not know if these items being "red" are a trouble indication or a help to isolate the problem, but I thought I would mention

Any help or direction is greatly appreciated

Click to expand...

A few thoughts:

- Your hard drive is getting full (about 10% free).
- You may not have enough ram.
- You do not reboot your computer enough. Which without getting into too much detail...can help with some of these issues.

Please read some of the links (speedup and beachballs) in my signature for more info.

- Nick

1st question - how much memory do you have in the machine? (RAM, not drive space)

The color red means nothing, they're always red - that's their "color code" so when you look at the diagrams that are also pictured in those tabs, you know which color in the diagram represents what.

The freezing could be related to or have nothing to do with the following - many things can cause it, but these are the 1st steps I would take.

At <20% free space, your hard drive is very likely to be heavily fragmented - especially the free space.
So, not only is your virtual memory and sleep file, but also all temp and cache files are being written to the end (slowest part) of the drive and when fragmented, that data will need to be written to possibly multiple locations on the slowest part of the drive.

I have a couple of recommendations.

First: Back up that drive if you don't have a current back up.

Then, I'd grab Onyx and head for the automation tab checking everything under cleaning and maintenance. It will also check the status of the drive when it starts up.

Next, I'd try to get that drive back up to at least 30-35% free space. Yes, I am on the extreme end of the free space recommendations you'll find and personally keep my hard drives with a minimum 40% free space. Anything less than 30%, you're going to have to live with at least some slow down.

(I am not one that is interested in how much free space is required just for my computers to be able to run, but with how much free space is required to keep my computers running as fast as possible.)

I would also highly recommend defragmenting your drive - iDefrag is the best.

pigoo3


Thanks, I will do as you say and read the links about beachball and speedup and follow the recommended process, I really appreciate the help


bobtomay


I will also get Orxy and iDefrag and use them to clean up my hard drive. I use my iMac a lot and this freezing problem is a real big problem so I really do appreciate the help. I will let you know how I make out

Tom

Nick and Bob

Gentlemen

thank you

I worked my way through your suggestions and have encountered a problem when using iDefrag

Every time I run a full Defrag on my machine, the program runs for about 20 hours ( clears/corrects many fragments of memory during this time ) and stops and displays a message that says

iDefrag has either encountered a power or memory problem at /.Spotlight-vt100/Store-V2/C0584848-866F-4AC3-84D5-850FB07C6528/0.ind exPostings


I have run the full iDefrag four time and each time the program stopped at exactly the same place and displays exactly the same message.

looks to my untrained eye like a memory problem on my machine

Any suggestions on what steps I should take next given this problem

Tom