Another "Why is my MacBook Pro Running so Slow" Thread

[yjchua95]

ever since upgrading to a SSD I have a blazing fast computer, I have not seen one beachball, I wonder if Mavericks just doesnt like HHD that much

Lion and Mountain Lion didn't like HDDs much either.

It was constant beachballing in my case with a 7200rpm HDD.

As soon as the Samsung 840 Pros became available, I carted off a few boxes of the 512GB models and switched all my Macs to SSDs.

 

[KeegM480]

I had the same problem lately, so I brought it to the Apple Store today. They did a few diagnostic tests, and found out it was a problem with the operating system. So I backed it up to an external hard drive, wiped the computer clean, reinstalled OS X, and transferred the data back on the computer, and it's running like new!

It's a more drastic solution, but moral of the story is that you should bring it to a genius bar and let them diagnose the problem. It worked like a charm for me, even after experiencing the same problems you described.

Problem is that I have done that..

 

[dannyyankou]

Problem is that I have done that..

Whoops, didn't backread. SSD may be your best solution.

 

[parajba]

Thanks for all kind replies...I'm starting to think that I should do a fresh install and wipe everything...Too many things to fix. Have been using this MBP for 3 years...I'm not a hardcore user, and I'm surprised that collecting garbage and slowing down was a Windows prerogative

I have been very careful with what I download and install. Tbh, the most 'exotic' sw I used was VirtualBox and Parallel. All the rest was bog standard boring stuff (MS Office, Skype, Chrome, FireFox, TeamViewer, etc.

Quick question about backing all up. I have an external HDD which I use with Timemachine. Is it really that simple, back up, wipe clean, install new MacOS, connect external HDD, transfer back the files I need...? Any password, encryption issue I need to be aware of? i.e. after having installed the new OS, will the external HDD be recognised by my laptop, and will the files be transferrable without issues?

Thanks all for your help!

PS: I'm not on Mavericks yet, I'm on 10.8.5.

 

[KeegM480]

Just as an update, it seems it was my charger causing issues. I put an SSD in it, that sped it up for a bit but not long enough. Eventually my charger just quit working and I had to replace it. After replacing it, the Mac is back to running at good speeds.