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What happens if...
- You reboot to "safe boot" (hold down the shift key as it boots)
- Log in
- NOW try to open the security & privacy pref pane?
My advice is to forget about deleting the Apple-installed apps.
Just "let them be" where there are.
Remove their dock icons, then forget about them...
- You reboot to "safe boot" (hold down the shift key as it boots)
- Log in
- NOW try to open the security & privacy pref pane?
My advice is to forget about deleting the Apple-installed apps.
Just "let them be" where there are.
Remove their dock icons, then forget about them...
This is intentional, starting with El Capitan. I think it will just keep coming back if you manage to delete it. There was another thread on this not long ago but it ran off the rails unfortunately.
See this:
About System Integrity Protection on your Mac - Apple Support
System Integrity Protection is a security technology that helps protect your Mac from malicious software.
System Integrity Protection includes protection for these parts of the system:
/System
/usr
/bin
/sbin
/var
Apps that are pre-installed with OS X
OP wrote:
"Now, the real problem: it's really, really, slow. Do you have any advice for that?"
Sumthin' tells me you are new to this Mini?
Did I guess right?
I've got bad news for you.
There is NO WAY you're ever going to get much performance from a 2014 Mini with 4gb of RAM.
It doesn't have enough RAM to begin with,
and
There's no way to upgrade it (the RAM is soldered in).
and
It probably has a platter-based 5400rpm slow hard drive, as well.
Combine that with the low RAM, and... it's going to be about as slow as any Mac out there.
What you could do:
Get an SSD and boot from that, either internal or external.
It's possible to add an SSD internally WITHOUT REMOVING the original platter-based HDD.
I believe that Other World Computing sells a kit for this.
There are also threads here at macrumors that will tell you how to do it.
You can also go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
Alternate method:
Get an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD, plug that in, and make it the boot drive.
Cheap and easy to do.
Either of these will get it to run somewhat faster.
But remember -- even with an SSD, you're still going to be "limited" by that 4gb of RAM. It's a roadblock you can never "get around" on the 2014 Mini.
"Now, the real problem: it's really, really, slow. Do you have any advice for that?"
Sumthin' tells me you are new to this Mini?
Did I guess right?
I've got bad news for you.
There is NO WAY you're ever going to get much performance from a 2014 Mini with 4gb of RAM.
It doesn't have enough RAM to begin with,
and
There's no way to upgrade it (the RAM is soldered in).
and
It probably has a platter-based 5400rpm slow hard drive, as well.
Combine that with the low RAM, and... it's going to be about as slow as any Mac out there.
What you could do:
Get an SSD and boot from that, either internal or external.
It's possible to add an SSD internally WITHOUT REMOVING the original platter-based HDD.
I believe that Other World Computing sells a kit for this.
There are also threads here at macrumors that will tell you how to do it.
You can also go to ifixit.com to see what's involved.
Alternate method:
Get an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD, plug that in, and make it the boot drive.
Cheap and easy to do.
Either of these will get it to run somewhat faster.
But remember -- even with an SSD, you're still going to be "limited" by that 4gb of RAM. It's a roadblock you can never "get around" on the 2014 Mini.
"Can you tell me how to find out if my drive is USB3, and how I can download the software onto it?"
The external drive MUST be an SSD.
You can't get "better speeds" from a platter-based hard drive.
You can either buy an SSD that is "pre-assembled" (such as a Samsung t5 or t7)
or...
You can buy a 2.5" SATA SSD and a USB3 2.5" enclosure, and "do it yourself".
You didn't tell us what capacity your internal drive is.
Is it 1tb?
500gb?
Something else?
You can find this out with the "system information" app in the utilities folder.
If it's 1tb or 500gb, get an SSD that's the same size.
Use disk utility to erase/initialize it to APFS, GUID partition format.
Then, download CarbonCopyCloner from here:
www.bombich.com
CCC is FREE to download and use for 30 days, this will cost you nothing.
Next, use CCC to "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the external SSD.
CCC can even clone the recovery partition for you.
It's one of the best pieces of Mac software out there.
When done, go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be "the new boot drive".
Then reboot.
You should now be booting from the SSD.
Because SSD's run MUCH faster than a platter-based drive (particularly a 5400rpm drive that may be inside the 2014 Mini), booting and running will go considerably faster.
The external drive MUST be an SSD.
You can't get "better speeds" from a platter-based hard drive.
You can either buy an SSD that is "pre-assembled" (such as a Samsung t5 or t7)
or...
You can buy a 2.5" SATA SSD and a USB3 2.5" enclosure, and "do it yourself".
You didn't tell us what capacity your internal drive is.
Is it 1tb?
500gb?
Something else?
You can find this out with the "system information" app in the utilities folder.
If it's 1tb or 500gb, get an SSD that's the same size.
Use disk utility to erase/initialize it to APFS, GUID partition format.
Then, download CarbonCopyCloner from here:
Download CCC - Bombich Software
Next, use CCC to "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the external SSD.
CCC can even clone the recovery partition for you.
It's one of the best pieces of Mac software out there.
When done, go to the startup disk preference pane and set the SSD to be "the new boot drive".
Then reboot.
You should now be booting from the SSD.
Because SSD's run MUCH faster than a platter-based drive (particularly a 5400rpm drive that may be inside the 2014 Mini), booting and running will go considerably faster.
"It's a 500 GB hard drive, of which 157 GB is available."
That's really not going to take all that long.
Get either a 500gb SSD or 1tb.
Looking at amazon, going rate for 500gb 2.5" SATA SSD is about $54.
For 1tb, about $90.
DON'T buy "the fastest" -- will make no difference.
Buy "for price".
I like Crucial and Sandisk...
If you're going to mount it externally, you'll also need a 2.5" USB3 enclosure...
That's really not going to take all that long.
Get either a 500gb SSD or 1tb.
Looking at amazon, going rate for 500gb 2.5" SATA SSD is about $54.
For 1tb, about $90.
DON'T buy "the fastest" -- will make no difference.
Buy "for price".
I like Crucial and Sandisk...
If you're going to mount it externally, you'll also need a 2.5" USB3 enclosure...
Thank you.
May I ask you to confirm that these are the two items I need:
May I ask you to confirm that these are the two items I need:
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SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
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Thank you.
I seem to have successfully downloaded CCC and mounted the external drive. I started CCC and started the copying, but it asked me to install the "privileged helper tool," and asked for the admin password. I entered the admin password but it will not take it.
Do you have any idea how I can install the "privileged helper tool"?
I seem to have successfully downloaded CCC and mounted the external drive. I started CCC and started the copying, but it asked me to install the "privileged helper tool," and asked for the admin password. I entered the admin password but it will not take it.
Do you have any idea how I can install the "privileged helper tool"?
When you say that you try the admin password, but "it will not take it" -- do you mean it won't accept the password at all (like a wrong password), or that it gives you a message something like "you are not allowed to (do something)" or similar to that?
You will probably need to turn off (disable) SIP.
You will probably need to turn off (disable) SIP.
I mean that it won't accept the password at all (like a wrong password). I don't get an error message. It just keeps asking me for the admin password, after I enter it.
I restarted my computer and I'm trying to enter Recovery Mode. I have a PC keyboard and pushed the Windows key and R after I heard the chime, but the apple icon came up. Now the screen has been blank for 10 minutes. Do you have any idea if it is trying to enter Recovery Mode? Should I wait?
I restarted my computer and I'm trying to enter Recovery Mode. I have a PC keyboard and pushed the Windows key and R after I heard the chime, but the apple icon came up. Now the screen has been blank for 10 minutes. Do you have any idea if it is trying to enter Recovery Mode? Should I wait?