Upgraded From Snow Leopard To Mountain Lion: Now Having Issues

[easilyscan]

First off, let me say that this forum & it's members have never failed to help me solve my Mac problems.

I really appreciate that. Thanks!


My Mac: Purchased new on April 28th 2008

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.29f1
Serial Number (system): QP81800QZE5
Hardware UUID: 115F86BC-D956-50BC-B0E7-8824DF52FF14

In my original post (03-03-2015) http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/322374-cant-update-safari-os-x-version-10-6-8-a.html I just needed info on how to upgrade Safari.

Long story short, I received a lot of extremely helpful replies explaining I needed to upgrade the Snow Leopard OS.

I purchased & installed Mountain Lion. The installation went fine, but the actual purchase was much, much more complicated than it should have been. I'll cover that later.

The problems started shortly after installation.
Web pages freezing, screen melt, (pages look like a scrambled tv channel), spinning orb, & finally total freeze ups. It also froze up 3/4 of the way through doing my taxes (turbo tax) & I had to start over. That one really stung

On my 1st post, someone said I could upgrade to 6 GB ram.
If I did the upgrade, would these problems go away ?

Someone also mentioned Crucial as a good place to purchase memory, so I looked there.
Would the following work for 'my' Mac ? & if so, how complicated is it to install ?
4GB kit (2GBx2) DDR2 PC2-6400 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.8V 256Meg x 64 upgrades for iMac (Early 2008) Desktop/PC, CT3265324 from Crucial.com


Safari specific issues:

1- I used to use the delete key to go back to the previous page. This no longer works.

2- If I click a link that opens a new window, I can still use command + W to close that window &
go back. But if I accidentally click the red button in the upper left hand corner to manually close
it, it closes both.

3- I often leave open links on the dock. Before the upgrade, if I was working on a text file that
included links & clicked on one, it would open a new window. When I do this now, it pulls up
the furthest right open window on the dock & opens the new page with it.

4- I browsed the forum looking for similar Safari issues, & found a couple that were related to my
issues. In one of them, a guy named Nick (who helped me on my 1st post) mentioned the
'Reset Safari' option. I wanted to read the link again & possibly add a reply/request, but couldn't
find it.

Could someone please explain what changes are made if I went that route ?
I don't want to do it if it's going to reset Safari to the older version.


Preview Issues: It opens up all photo's at a reduced size ?
It wasn't this way previously. If I click view on the toolbar, then 'actual size' it shows
the proper resolution, but reverts back to 'zoom to fit' when I try again ?

I've went through preview 'preferences' with no luck. For now, I changed the 'default'
picture viewer to Safari, but would prefer preview because of it's editing features

Thanks in advance!



Earlier I mentioned that the purchase of Mountain Lion was a nightmare. None of which
was caused by me. Just trying to find the download site was a nightmare, then Apple
sent me a licensing agreement that looked like the download itself.

It took a competent tech support woman 30 minutes to realize we couldn't figure it out.
Finally she had to hook me up directly to the App store. In all, tech support & I
wasted a good 1.5 hours of our time trying to get this done.

My suggestion to Apple: Either simplify the process of ordering 'and downloading'
customers software purchases, or spend a couple bucks & make a cd/dvd available.

Your 'net' profit was 18 billion last quarter (which as a shareholder, makes me happy)
so I think you could afford it. How hard could it be to give foxconn a call & have them
stamp out a couple million cd's/dvd's ?

If you won't do that, charge me for it. Say 5 bucks. I would much rather pay the extra
than go through that again.

Steve

 

[pigoo3]

The problems started shortly after installation.
Web pages freezing, screen melt, (pages look like a scrambled tv channel), spinning orb, & finally total freeze ups. It also froze up 3/4 of the way through doing my taxes (turbo tax) & I had to start over. That one really stung

In that previous thread in one of your posts you said…"Update: I'm now upgraded to Mountain Lion. Running very smooth!"

In this thread you said that…"The problems started shortly after installation."

This seems to be a mixed message. What the heck happened?

On my 1st post, someone said I could upgrade to 6 GB ram. If I did the upgrade, would these problems go away ?

More ram may help with some of the problems you mentioned…but not all of them. 2gig of ram these days is not the best…and now that you upgraded to Mountain Lion (from Snow Leopard) more ram would be even better. You could either upgrade to 4gig or 6gig. The 6gig ram upgrade is usually about 2x the price of the 4gig upgrade. So the 4gig upgrade is the better cost/gig upgrade.

Also regarding the problems. Are you absolutely sure none of these problems existed before upgrading to Mountain Lion? We don't want to possibly confuse things…and kind of point fingers at the OS upgrade to Mountain Lion as the source of the problems...if some of these troubles were preexisting conditions when running the previous OS (Snow Leopard).

- Nick

 

[easilyscan]

In that previous thread in one of your posts you said…"Update: I'm now upgraded to Mountain Lion. Running very smooth!"

In this thread you said that…"The problems started shortly after installation."

This seems to be a mixed message. What the heck happened?

Plain & simple Nick, I spoke too soon. I posted the reply almost immediately after installation.

"The 6gig ram upgrade is usually about 2x the price of the 4gig upgrade. So the 4gig upgrade is the better cost/gig upgrade"

This is going to show my ignorance, but I'll say it anyway. If I already have 2 gig memory, I thought I could buy the 4 gig shown in the link, install it in an expansion slot & then have 6 ?

Apparently it has to be 'new' ram ? No expansion slots ?

Are you absolutely sure none of these problems existed before upgrading to Mountain Lion?

Other than getting the spinning orb occasionally, absolutely none of the problems I mentioned in the post happened before Mountain Lion.

"kind of point fingers at the OS upgrade to Mountain Lion as the source of the problems"

If I made it sound that way, I didn't mean to. The only time I pointed fingers was at the end of the thread, when I summarized how much of a hassle it was to actually get the new OS downloaded & ready for installation.

BTW: Thanks for the reply

 

[pigoo3]

Plain & simple Nick, I spoke too soon. I posted the reply almost immediately after installation.

Ok no problem…it happens.

This is going to show my ignorance, but I'll say it anyway. If I already have 2 gig memory, I thought I could buy the 4 gig shown in the link, install it in an expansion slot & then have 6 ?

The ram in your computer currently is 2gig…and the computer has 2 ram slots. More than likely that ram is 2 x 1gig sticks of ram (both slots full). So if you purchased a 4gig stick of ram…you would end up with a total of 5gig (4gig + 1gig).

Check out the ram upgrades on this page:

Apple iMac Memory upgrades for Aluminum 20" and 24" models with Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz, 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz, or 3.06GHz processor

You'll see that 4gig sticks of ram are very expensive.

- A 4gig ram upgrade (2 x 2gig) costs $52.79.
- A single 4gig stick of ram by itself is $107.99
- The 6gig upgrade (4gig + 2gig) is $134.59

So as you can see…a 4gig upgrade is $52.79…and a 6gig ram upgrade is a MUCH higher $134.59. This is why I said that the 6gig upgrade is VERY expensive compared to the 4gig upgrade (2 x 2gig).

Other than getting the spinning orb occasionally, absolutely none of the problems I mentioned in the post happened before Mountain Lion.

Ok good deal. Since you just did this OS upgrade…it's very very strange you are having these problems.

If it were me…I would either completely reformat & erase the internal HD (but you would lose your installed stuff)…so you would need to back everything up. Then do a fresh install of the OS.

Or...boot the computer from an external HD…with only a fresh OS install on it…and see if that helps.

All I can say is…with the problems you are describing (which weren't there before)…that you may have some sort of a software issue at the moment.

- Nick

 

[easilyscan]

The ram in your computer currently is 2gig…and the computer has 2 ram slots. More than likely that ram is 2 x 1gig sticks of ram (both slots full). So if you purchased a 4gig stick of ram…you would end up with a total of 5gig (4gig + 1gig).

Check out the ram upgrades on this page:

Apple iMac Memory upgrades for Aluminum 20" and 24" models with Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz, 2.66GHz, 2.8GHz, or 3.06GHz processor

You'll see that 4gig sticks of ram are very expensive.

- A 4gig ram upgrade (2 x 2gig) costs $52.79.
- A single 4gig stick of ram by itself is $107.99
- The 6gig upgrade (4gig + 2gig) is $134.59

So as you can see…a 4gig upgrade is $52.79…and a 6gig ram upgrade is a MUCH higher $134.59. This is why I said that the 6gig upgrade is VERY expensive compared to the 4gig upgrade (2 x 2gig).

Just so I'm absolutely sure I have this right. You would recommend I buy Two 2 GB sticks & effectively double my current memory for $52.79

Ok good deal. Since you just did this OS upgrade…it's very very strange you are having these problems.

If it were me…I would either completely reformat & erase the internal HD (but you would lose your installed stuff)…so you would need to back everything up. Then do a fresh install of the OS.

Or...boot the computer from an external HD…with only a fresh OS install on it…and see if that helps.

All I can say is…with the problems you are describing (which weren't there before)…that you may have some sort of a software issue at the moment.

- Nick

I did a reformat with a HP pavilion in 2004. Worked well. Would it be a similar process with my Mac ?
Also, when you say "Then do a fresh install of the OS" do you mean the 'Original' OS, or Mountain Lion ?

If I decided to reformat, would it be best to upgrade the memory before or after ?


Steve

 

[Dogbreath]

Steve . . . my advice is to install all the RAM you can afford...max it out if you can. I feel your performance will improve substantially.

 

[easilyscan]

Steve . . . my advice is to install all the RAM you can afford...max it out if you can. I feel your performance will improve substantially.

I can afford it, but I'd like to get the other issues figured out 1st

Thanks for your input

Steve

 

[Dogbreath]

It sounds like downloading/installing/running Onyx (excellent maintenance software) may help with a lot of your issues. It surely couldn't hurt and Onyx comes highly recommended on this forum. Hopefully others will share their experience with Onxy. If you decide to do this, make sure you get the correct version for your OS.

 

[pigoo3]

Just so I'm absolutely sure I have this right. You would recommend I buy Two 2 GB sticks & effectively double my current memory for $52.79

What I'm saying is the 2 x 2gig = 4gig ram upgrade is the best value ($13.20/gig). But if you don't have a problem paying the $134.59 for the 2gig + 4gig = 6gig upgrade ($22.43/gig)…then go for it.

I did a reformat with a HP pavilion in 2004. Worked well. Would it be a similar process with my Mac ?

With a Mac you boot the computer from the OS install media you have. Then open Disk Utility…then do the formatting & erasing.

Also, when you say "Then do a fresh install of the OS" do you mean the 'Original' OS, or Mountain Lion ?

This is up to you. Whatever you prefer.

If I decided to reformat, would it be best to upgrade the memory before or after ?

It doesn't matter. The ram upgrade will not effect fresh OS install process. If you order the ram…it will probably take a couple days to receive it. You can do the whole hard drive & OS install stuff in the meanwhile.

Then when you get the ram…it will only take you 5 minutes to install…and you will be good to operate.

- Nick

 

[easilyscan]

It sounds like downloading/installing/running Onyx (excellent maintenance software) may help with a lot of your issues. It surely couldn't hurt and Onyx comes highly recommended on this forum. Hopefully others will share their experience with Onxy. If you decide to do this, make sure you get the correct version for your OS.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[easilyscan]

Nick, for personal reasons, I'll have to wait until early May to do anything more.

I've found that if limit my 'session' time online, & avoid 'extended' amounts of time @ sites that use a lot or ram, (U-Tube, etc) I can get by.

Of course the issues with preview & safari still exist, but I can live with those for now.
I appreciate all the help you've supplied, especially with upgrading the ram.

I just googled 'how to install ram in iMac' & was pleasantly surprised how simple it appears to be. (hope I don't eat my words on that comment

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Regards

Steve