Colorful Beachball Question

[Robert4]

Hello,

Would like to get some (more) thoughts on this:

Truly driving me nuts.

Quite often (ever 20 minutes or so) that colorful beachball appears,
and I then have to re-boot.

Using a desktop imac, about 5 yrs old.

Appears by itself even when there is no workload going on.
Even when just idling.

Is this indicative of a bad HD ?
Or ?

One more question, please:

Google Chrome, and Firefox, often run by themselves even when I don't open them
up. Not sure if this relates in any way to my initial question ?

They are both in my bottom Dock, and both seem to periodically turn themselves on, even
if I individually close them.

Would taking their icons out of the Dock help this "problem" ?

Thoughts ?

Truly appreciate the help; much thanks.

Regards,
Bob

 

[Bigwaff]

Is this indicative of a bad HD ?

Possibly. Does your iMac have a hard disk, a SSD, or a Fusion Drive? What is the exact year/model of your iMac and its specs?

 

[Robert4]

Hi,

Thanks for interest.

Have a HD. 1 TB. Using about 330 GB now.
Apple M1 chip
8 GB Memory
Running Sonoma

Probably about 4 to 5 yrs old. Don't remember exactly.

Bob

 

[MBAir2010]

Hi,

Thanks for interest.

Have a HD. 1 TB. Using about 330 GB now.
Apple M1 chip
8 GB Memory
Running Sonoma

Probably about 4 to 5 yrs old. Don't remember exactly.

Bob

How much free space does the M1 have?

I would switch those apps off at log in, that might be the problem

 

[Bigwaff]

Hi,

Thanks for interest.

Have a HD. 1 TB. Using about 330 GB now.
Apple M1 chip
8 GB Memory
Running Sonoma

Probably about 4 to 5 yrs old. Don't remember exactly.

Bob

Sorry, @Robert4 but you’ve got an SSD. No Mac released in the last 5 years (perhaps even longer) has a hard drive. That being said, what peripherals do you have attached?