Slow iMac Recently... Upgrade OS or... ???

Hi, long time no post, but anyway... I bought my iMac back in June 2010, and I've recently noticed it seems to have slowed down... Both browsers (Chrome & Safari) seem to take ages to load pages now, (Despite a VERY Fast Broadband Connection) and when I ask it to open a program I find myself waiting watching the spinning beach ball... I'm NOT talking about it being a snails pace - But its defiantly got a lot slower in the last few months - Noticeably slower...

So I have a few questions if thats OK?

1) Are there any programs that will help (for want of a better word) 'Defrag It' (Clean It Up a bit..) so to speak? I don't mind paying if theres one that will help

Or...

2) Would it be worth upgrading the OS to Yosemite as available in my app store improve the speed and give the cobwebs a good flushing out?

& Finally...

If I do upgrade, will I need to reinstall my paid for programs (Example cute FTP) etc, and will it still have all my calendar and address book safe, & passwords and history in my browsers ?

Thanks in advance for any guidance - You were all a great help back when I switched, but now could use your advice again

My specs are: It is a 21inch iMac, bought on June 14th 2010 from an apple store
Currently running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
I also have about 200G free on my main drive 1TB and 97gig free on my boot camp partition of 300gig

Thanks

TGITC said:

1) Are there any programs that will help (for want of a better word) 'Defrag It' (Clean It Up a bit..) so to speak? I don't mind paying if theres one that will help

Click to expand...

I would run the free maintenance app that we recommend often called "Onyx". Just click on the "Automation" button after install & launch.

TGITC said:

2) Would it be worth upgrading the OS to Yosemite as available in my app store improve the speed and give the cobwebs a good flushing out?

Click to expand...

I doubt it!

TGITC said:

I also have about 200G free on my main drive 1TB...

Click to expand...

Your main drive is about 80% full. So it may be entering an area to be watchful of. But try running Onyx first before being concerned about the HD filling up.

And lastly. Ya never know. The slowness could be the sign of a starting to fail HD.

- Nick

Thank you very much. I have just d/l Onyx which I will give a try in a next.
Understand what you say about disc space - May well remove bootcamp (Only put it on there as a failsafe when switching) but I will need to find out how to do that But thats another thread!
Glad you didnt recommend the upgrade - I like what I know, and I know what I like lol

TGITC said:

Understand what you say about disc space - May well remove bootcamp (Only put it on there as a failsafe when switching) but I will need to find out how to do that But thats another thread!

Click to expand...

Maybe I thought we were talking two drives...but it sounds like you were talking two partitions (700gig and 300gig). If you've got 200gig free on a 700gig partition...that should be ok. We usually say (as a general guideline) don't let the drive get more than 80% full. Some folks don't even like it to get more than 50% full.

TGITC said:

Glad you didnt recommend the upgrade - I like what I know, and I know what I like lol

Click to expand...

Some folks would say Snow Leopard is getting OLD...and you should upgrade. Maybe not all the way to Yosemite (10.10)...but maybe 10.7, 10.8, or 10.9. But if things are going smoothly...maybe we shouldn't "rock the boat"!

Also (I can almost guarantee you)...that if you upgraded all the way to Yosemite (4 OS versions newer)...you would be shopping for newer versions of your "paid-for" apps. Since you can't expect to upgrade the OS to something 4 versions newer...and have 100% compatibility with these older apps.

- Nick