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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BSD Meister" data-source="post: 1419715" data-attributes="member: 257388">Whenever you have a problem, it needs to be isolated step by step. If you haven't already replaced the HD in the unit, I would:1. Use the install disks to re-format the hard internal hard drive (I assume you TM back up is external. This will give you a clean OS.2. Perform all software updates on the OS. This is critical. During this time, if the spinning beach ball appears it means it's a hardware of HD problem and you can skip the rest of the steps.3. If after doing all this, the system is still running OK use diskutil to verify all permissions on the backup, verify the disk, and repair it (if needed). The repair isn't really repairing anything, it's just correcting index problems. I'm going to assume that this will fix anything (maybe I shouldn't, but I'm going to assume so). Do not re-install the backup yet.The key here is to isolate the problem. If the spinning beach balls don't appear at all after your clean install, you might want to try and use the system for a while to see if they appear. They can be erratic and disappear for a day or two then crop up again. If they don't appear after a while, I would try to restore the system. If it's still working fine after restoring then the problem is fixed.If the system runs fine without the backup restored, then it's likely an indexing problem of some sort and you'll need DiskWarrior to fix it (if it's fixable). If the beach balls re-appear even without the backup installed, then it's a  hardware problem and you wish to try and isolate it, use Scannerz. Stay away from some of the other Mickey Mouse tools - they just give misleading results. Another tool that's good (and I always forget about) is SmartReporter (which is free). The problem with S.M.A.R.T. is that it isn't. SMART is erratically implemented from manufacturer to manufacturer, HOWEVER, if you run a SMART check on your drive and it shows absolutely nothing wrong at all then it will tend to indicate the problem is with the backup drives indexing. I'm not knocking SmartReporter, by the way, I'm knocking the erratic manner drive manufactures have implemented it.My guess (and that's what it is, a guess) is that it's probably the hard drive. If you're not experienced opening these things up, it's worth a shot to try and identify other problems before doing so.Doing OS updates is important because the way OSes operate these days, there's no such thing as a static binary (hardly, anyway) anymore. Nearly all applications use dynamic libraries and they're frequently changed from update to update. They're typically backward compatible with previous release, but they can't see into the future and are thus not forward compatible. If you tried running an application restored from your backup on a system that wasn't up to date, the results could be erratic.Hope this helps.</blockquote>

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