Imac Starting To Slow And Increase Hard Drive Paging

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Hello,

I have been noticing that my computers seems to be getting slower, and also I am noticing much more hard drive paging, to the point where it is a concern. I do not do any graphics or high intensity CPU usage on this computer. I have run the disk utility from the Mac, and no issues found. Is this a sign that the hard drive might be failing? Or do I just reinstall operating from scratch?

If hard drive failing, on this computer, can I put one of the new solid state drives?

Thanks JR


System:
Yosemite 10.10.1
Processor 3.06 intel Duo
Memory 4gb
Graphics ATI Radeon HD

Code:
EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)
Report generated November 27, 2014 at 10:40:55 AM PST

Hardware Information: ℹ️
	iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) (Verified)
	iMac - model: iMac10,1
	1 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core
	4 GB RAM Upgradeable
		BANK 0/DIMM0
			empty empty empty empty
		BANK 1/DIMM0
			empty empty empty empty
		BANK 0/DIMM1
			2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok
		BANK 1/DIMM1
			2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok
	Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
	Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: ℹ️
	ATI Radeon HD 4670 - VRAM: 256 MB
		iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ℹ️
	OS X 10.10.1 (14B25) - Uptime: 0:8:55

Disk Information: ℹ️
	Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 disk0 : (2 TB)
	S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
		EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB 
		Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /  [Startup]: 2.00 TB (1.85 TB free)
		Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB 

	PIONEER DVD-RW  DVRTS09  

USB Information: ℹ️
	Western Digital My Book 1110 999.5 GB
		S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
		EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB 
		Time Machine (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine : 999.16 GB (508.75 GB free)
	Apple Inc. Built-in iSight 
	Apple Internal Memory Card Reader 
	Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver 
	Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub 
		Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller 

Configuration files: ℹ️
	/etc/hosts - Count: 3

Gatekeeper: ℹ️
	Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
		/Applications/SmartSwitch.app
	[not loaded]	com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.4.11 - SDK 10.6) Support
	[not loaded]	com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.4.11 - SDK 10.6) Support
	[not loaded]	com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.4.11 - SDK 10.6) Support
	[not loaded]	com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.4.11 - SDK 10.5) Support
	[not loaded]	com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.4.11 - SDK 10.6) Support

		/Library/Extensions
	[loaded]	org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.1.0) Support
	[not loaded]	org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.1.0) Support
	[not loaded]	org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.1.0) Support
	[loaded]	org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.1.0) Support

		/System/Library/Extensions
	[loaded]	com.dvdfab.kext.fabio (1) Support
	[not loaded]	com.motorola-mobility.driver.MotMobileUSB (1.2.2 - SDK 10.5) Support
	[not loaded]	com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.39) Support
	[not loaded]	com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.39) Support

		/System/Library/Extensions/MotMobileUSB.kext/Contents/PlugIns
	[not loaded]	com.motorola-mobility.driver.MotMobileMS (1.0.0 - SDK 10.5) Support
	[not loaded]	com.motorola-mobility.driver.MotMobileMTP (1.2.2 - SDK 10.5) Support
	[not loaded]	com.motorola-mobility.driver.MotMobileUSBLAN (1.2.2 - SDK 10.5) Support
	[not loaded]	com.motorola-mobility.driver.MotMobileUSBLANMerge (1.2.2 - SDK 10.5) Support
	[not loaded]	com.motorola-mobility.driver.MotMobileUSBSwch (1.2.2 - SDK 10.5) Support

		/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Sparkle/Transmit/Transmit 680 Update/Transmit.app
	[not loaded]	com.panic.TransmitDisk.transmitdiskfs (4.0.0 - SDK 10.5) Support

Launch Agents: ℹ️
	[not loaded]	com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
	[loaded]	com.citrix.AuthManager_Mac.plist Support
	[running]	com.citrix.ReceiverHelper.plist Support
	[running]	com.citrix.ServiceRecords.plist Support
	[loaded]	com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist Support
	[running]	com.hp.productresearch.plist Support
	[loaded]	com.lexmark.bmlaunchd.plist Support
	[loaded]	com.lexmark.lexnetlaunchd.plist Support
	[invalid?]	com.motorola.MDMUpdater.plist Support
	[running]	com.motorola.motohelper.plist Support
	[loaded]	com.motorola.motohelperUpdater.plist Support
	[invalid?]	com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support
	[running]	com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist Support
	[loaded]	org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist Support

Launch Daemons: ℹ️
	[loaded]	com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
	[invalid?]	com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support
	[invalid?]	com.motorola-mobility.mmcfgd.plist Support
	[failed]	com.mysql.mysqld.plist Support
	[invalid?]	com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support
	[running]	com.rim.BBDaemon.plist Support
	[loaded]	com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.backupd-auto.plist Support
	[loaded]	org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ℹ️
	[loaded]	com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
	[invalid?]	com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support
	[loaded]	com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

User Login Items: ℹ️
	GrowlHelperApp	UNKNOWN (missing value)
	Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX	UNKNOWNHidden (missing value)
	Dropbox	Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
	TwonkyMediaServer	Application (/Applications/TwonkyMediaServer.app)
	KiesAgent	UNKNOWNHidden (missing value)
	fuspredownloader	UNKNOWNHidden (missing value)
	Android File Transfer Agent	Application (/Users/[redacted]/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app)
	Music Manager	UNKNOWNHidden (missing value)
	Google Chrome	ApplicationHidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)
	Music Manager	ApplicationHidden (/Users/[redacted]/Library/PreferencePanes/MusicManager.prefPane/Contents/Helpers/MusicManagerHelper.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
	Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.3.5.4 Support
	FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.239 - SDK 10.6 Support
	Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
	Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.239 - SDK 10.6 Support
	AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.2 Support
	QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
	CitrixICAClientPlugIn: Version: 11.8.2 - SDK 10.7 Support
	nplastpass: Version: 2.5.5 Support
	OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 Support
	Silverlight: Version: 4.0.50826.0 Support
	iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

User Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
	CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0 Support
	WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Safari Extensions: ℹ️
	LastPass 

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
	Flash Player  Support
	MacFUSE  Support
	MusicManager  Support
	MySQL  Support
	Web Sharing  Support

Time Machine: ℹ️
	Skip System Files: NO
	Mobile backups: OFF
	Auto backup: YES
	Volumes being backed up:
		Macintosh HD: Disk size: 2.00 TB Disk used: 146.80 GB
	Destinations:
		Time Machine [Local] 
		Total size: 999.16 GB 
		Total number of backups: 154 
		Oldest backup: 2012-11-02 01:12:05 +0000 
		Last backup: 2014-11-27 15:20:34 +0000 
		Size of backup disk: Adequate
			Backup size 999.16 GB > (Disk used 146.80 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
	    17%	App Store
	     9%	WindowServer
	     8%	Google Chrome
	     4%	twonkymediaserver
	     4%	com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
	219 MB	Google Chrome
	193 MB	thunderbird
	190 MB	mds_stores
	90 MB	ocspd
	82 MB	Dropbox

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
	959 MB	Free RAM
	1.85 GB	Active RAM
	912 MB	Inactive RAM
	569 MB	Wired RAM
	7.43 GB	Page-ins
	16 KB	Page-outs
 
Joined
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Location
Western Washington (USA)
Your Mac's Specs
MacPro 3.2Ghz Quad-Core, Mid 2010
If you haven't found anything yet,

4gigs of ram is really low for todays apps and OS's. Just adding another 4gigs should help out on slowing down the Page Outs. The extra ram also helps out when using multiple apps at the same time or having a lot of open windows in the browser for example. From what I understand the OS is resorting to using the HD as a "Ram disk" because it ran out of dedicated ram. The rainbow spinning curser is another sign of low ram.

There are a fair amount of things that happen when a HD starts to die. It seems like no two HD will give the same clues. Usually you will start to get corrupted files or it will take a long time to boot up or just die and not be useable at all. I believe HD's have a 3 to 5 year average life span. I've had some, from every brand, die in 6 months and yet my SCSI drive in my old Sawtooth G4 tower was still going strong after 10 yrs before I retired it. If your drive is 4 or 5 years old I would probably think about retiring it to an external HD housing and using it as a temporary drive for odds and ends.

I believe you can use an SSD but for the most bang for your buck the OS should really be the only one on the SSD drive and keep a standard HD for your applications and storage. From what I understand the SSD is not happy with a lot of writes/erases, it shortens the life span.
You may need a "caddie" in order to use the SSD in your HD spot as the SSD is much smaller then a standard HD. OWC (Macsales.com) and others have a lot of information and other goodies that you can use.

If you upgraded 10.10 over 10.9 it may have left some old files that 10.10 may not like? It's usually suggested to fresh install (erase/install) the new OS instead of upgrading over the old one, then use your backups to install the files you need. It's not as big a problem as it used to be but it can make it buggy for some. Another thing that helps when reinstalling the OS is to use the "Combo" updater instead of updating it one by one.

Hope this helps,,,,
 
Joined
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OSX likes 20% of the hard drive to be free.

If you have less than this the amount of paging and rewriting to disk increases to the point your Mac can grind to a crawl.

Simply back up as many non-essential files to an external WD Passport hard drive, or replace the internal HDD with a much larger one. Swapping them in all but the very latest Macs is a simple procedure, you just need some small screwdrivers for the tiny screws.

A SSD drive is just as easy and doable, just the capacity will be much smaller for your money and if your HDD is too small now, an SSD will be even smaller so still be paging, just paging faster, not a solution.

You can determine the S.M.A.R.T. status of your selected internal hard drive at the foot of Disk Utility. This is no guarantee of predicted failure however, it just may give some warning.
 

Slydude

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Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
I don't think the increased paging indicates a dying hard drive. That is usually a good indication that more memory is needed.

Apple officially says 2 GB is the minimum amount of memory needed. Many of our members myself included think that number is a bit light. Most of our members suggest 8 GB is needed for good performance.
 
Joined
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Location
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Your Mac's Specs
late 2012 mini w/SSD
I don't think this will slow your Mac down, but your /etc/hosts file is listed by etrecheck because it's been modified. Have you done this to simplify access to other computers on your local net? If not, you should investigate what change was made (& was it by malware, for example).
 
OP
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Hello,

Thank you for all the great info. I think I might try doing a fresh install of the latest Mac Operating System. Is it best to format the drive then a install, or if installing from scratch, does the software first start with that procedure?

Thanks Jr
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
gaspower your iMac can run up to 32GB of memory. It is being throttled. Just increase to 8GB before you consider a clean install.
 
OP
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Hello,

Just a quick note. I reinstalled from scratch Yosemite and it works great. I think from all the years of updates and upgrades it just needed a fresh install.

Thanks JR
 

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