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Why is my 2009 iMac running so slowly?

mattwolfmatt

mattwolfmatt

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 7, 2008
1,095
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I have a late 2009, 21.5" iMac, running 10.9.4. It has a 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 8GB RAM. The hard drive is only 32% full.

Up until about a month ago, there has been no problems at all. I have been bragging to my PC colleagues that I'm using a 5 year old Mac, with no need to replace in the near future.

However, recently, whenever I try and do anything - like load a website, open up a document, or (heaven forbid) try and do TWO THINGS at once, I get the spinning beach ball. Usually the beach ball goes away after about 2-3 minutes. But it's super annoying. It seems to mostly happen within 5 minutes of "waking" from sleep mode, or within 5 minutes of starting up.

If this were 2004 and I were on a PC, I'd try defragmenting it. Is there something similar for Macs? I'd rather not buy a new Mac. Thank you for any advice!
 
If the hard drive is failing, then a reinstall (or a downgrade) would likely make things worse - or kill the hard drive completely.
Intell's question about OTHER slow response is a better direction, which can help decide that the hard drive is "on the edge", and may simply need to be replaced.
And, then considering other options, such as replacing the HDD with an SSD, which will certainly bring back performance, and even a very noticeable increase - better than when your iMac was new.
 
Intell said:
Does your iMac take a long time in starting up or opening an application?
Click to expand...

Starting up, yes. Probably 5 min before I can do anything. It starts up fine, but whenever I open an app within 5 minutes, then I get the beach ball. Starting apps, not really too bad (unless during that 5 min start up).
 
Your hard drive may be starting to fail. Make sure you back up everything on that drive.
 
mattwolfmatt said:
If this were 2004 and I were on a PC, I'd try defragmenting it. Is there something similar for Macs?
Click to expand...

You could try Disk Utility. It'll verify the disk and repair it. Permissions too.

Look in Finder. Applications --> Utilities --> Disk utility

----------
Intell said:
Your hard drive may be starting to fail. Make sure you back up everything on that drive.
Click to expand...

Good advice.
 
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Hmm, this makes sense. This iMac did have a recall on it a few years ago (I missed the window) because of the possibility of failing hard drives. Thanks all.

I do have a time machine backup and most documents are on Dropbox. I'm not too sure about replacing the HD. I've done it on Mac Minis but not on iMacs.
 
If you're not wanting to replace the hard drive, you could wipe it and sell it. Make sure you clearly specify that the hard drive maybe failing in the listing for it. Those older iMacs can still fetch several hundred dollars.
 
mattwolfmatt said:
Hmm, this makes sense. This iMac did have a recall on it a few years ago (I missed the window) because of the possibility of failing hard drives. Thanks all.

I do have a time machine backup and most documents are on Dropbox. I'm not too sure about replacing the HD. I've done it on Mac Minis but not on iMacs.
Click to expand...

You could just use an external Firewire 800 drive like this to run from. Attach the drive and format with Disk Util then clone your old drive to this external. Then option key boot to the external and select it as the startup drive in System Prefs. Done.
 
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Fishrrman said:
Here's a second suggestion (as per above):
Downgrade to 10.8.5.
Click to expand...

A downgrade won't help correct failing hardware. Even then, a 2009 iMac is very capable of running 10.9 or 10.10 without a problem or slow down, when not suffering from a hardware failure.
 
I just completed a swap of the hard drive in that same iMac using that very iFixit.com instruction guide. It was surprisingly easy. My only issue was a screw that was stripped. It took a wire cutter to gouge grooves into the outside before I could get it to budge, but it finally came out, and went back in fine (though not quite as tight). So all in all, successful from a physical sense.

You should research the late 2009 iMac quirk where you need to replace their hard drives with the same brand as the original. This was my one mistake.

From what I've read, this limitation is due to Apple at that point starting to monitor the internal temp of the hard drive using its internal sensors, so the cable gathered some of that info, but each manufacturer sends that info differently via the data port, so... and this is where I am not sure - if the drive is just not seen, or if the fans just run non-stop.

I installed my new drive, but it was not the same brand as the original, and now I cannot even see the drive from the OS install disk application.
 
Late-2009 iMacs can use any brand hard drive. Some will present problem with the fans, but all are usable.
 
That is what I was afraid of... I completed the swap, and I thought vey successfully, but the drive does not even come up as an option to install the OS on to (though it is seen by Disk Utility).
 
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