Cure the Spinning Beach Ball with Time Machine?

No doubt this topic has been exhaustively discussed on the forum, but I have one question: can restoring the MacBook to an earlier (presumably less encumbered) date (using Time Machine) cure the problem until I can install more RAM?

Depends on what is causing the Beach Balls to begin with. If it's a misbehaving program that is overrunning the system, and the time machine backup removes that application (unlikely), then sure. But you really should figure out what the problem is.

What are the specs of your machine?

Thanks for your prompt reply! It is a mid-2012 13inch MacbookPro running El Capitan. 2.5 GHz Intel processor, 4 GB RAM (came with 2 GB and was upgraded). The Activity Monitor shows no excessive usage. Would Safe Start help detect the problem?

Safe Start would be the first thing I would try to see if it's a 3rd party app that is causing issues or something inherent in OS X. You should also repair permissions and grab a copy of OnyX and run that.

Very bad timing for this misbehavior.... Had an important PowerPoint presentation and the MacBook froze (no cursor) when it was connected to the projector. Re-started in Safe Start... which allowed the MacBook to limp through most of the presentation before freezing again. Restored the MacBook to an earlier date and it has not helped.

Did you run the permission repair and OnyX clean up?

galvinize said:

Thanks for your prompt reply! It is a mid-2012 13inch MacbookPro running El Capitan. 2.5 GHz Intel processor, 4 GB RAM (came with 2 GB and was upgraded). The Activity Monitor shows no excessive usage. Would Safe Start help detect the problem?

Click to expand...

There's a problem with your specs. You either have the year and model wrong or you misspoke about the installed memory. A Mid 2012 13" MacBook Pro model came with 4 GB of system memory installed from the factory, not 2 GB. That particular model can take up to 16 GB of installed memory. (two slots)

Also, it's very likely that you have a failing hard drive. First thing to do is backup your data before the drive fails altogether.

galvinize said:

No doubt this topic has been exhaustively discussed on the forum, but I have one question: can restoring the MacBook to an earlier (presumably less encumbered) date (using Time Machine) cure the problem until I can install more RAM?

Click to expand...

I have a Web site that specifically (and comprehensively) addresses this issue:

Macintosh OS X Beachballs!
http://www.macattorney.com/rbb.html

Yes, after posting, it occurred to me it was an earlier model... Can't access the "About this Mac" window because the MacBook is frozen. It may be a mid-2009.

Will look into Onyx right away... Though if it requires a download, I'm not sure it will be possible.

MacBook comes back to life

A continuation of the "spinning beach ball" post. I should preface this post by saying that it is merely a report of my tinkering (and subsequent puzzlement) as a complete novice. I hope it is within the bounds of what is considered serious Mac discussion. I have decided to purchase a new MacBook, having declared my mid-2009 MacBook Pro quite dead (all it could display was the grey screen with its "do not enter" symbol). So, with some idle time on my hands,and nothing to lose, I reinstalled the MacBook's original pair of 1GB Memory sticks To my surprise this allowed me to boot up and bring up the Restore screen, from where I did a Time Machine restoration to OSX 9.1( I chose that due to the limited 2 GB RAM). The laptop has a host of limitations, (It's incapable of installing my printer software, for example) but is working. No doubt the dysfunction is still due to the original problem (logic board, presumably) and not the decrease in RAM. Is there any diagnosis indicated by this partial restoration?

Blackmail/jealousy on the part of the old machine!

Ha! Like Hal in "2001 Space Odyssey ", this laptop doesn't want to be retired!

Threads have been combined.

Thank you for combining the posts. It helps to see the history of the MacBook's issues!