Email not loading, iMac running slow, beach ball always appearing.....

[Aliencowboy69]

Got a few problems with my iMac that are driving me a little bit mad.

1st problem is to do with my emails. For some reason I can't view them on my iMac. If I open my mail on mac no emails come in, but open mail on my iphone and I get loads of emails coming through. I used to get emails on both mac and iphone, but now don't. Is there something I need to do to sync them or something?

2nd problem is my mac is running very very slow, to the point where I want to smash it up!!! I use it for web browsing mainly, don't have loads of apps on it, don't have loads of photos or videos, never use it for watching porn, just casual browsing mainly, but for some reason it's been running slow for weeks now and most pages don't even fully load either. I'm seeing the spinning beach balll of death a lot as well.
Is there something I need to do to speed my machine up? (like defregment on a windows pc)

The problem isnt just when surfing the internet, when I tried to open up my system preferences panel, it took about 9 or 10 seconds to open up (compared to about 2 months ago when it would have opened up almost instantly ) Thats why I'm wondering if it some sort of defrag that needs doing???

Any help appreciated, before I launch 27 inches out beauty straight out the window!

 

[GGJstudios]

Thats why I'm wondering if it some sort of defrag that needs doing???

Any help appreciated, before I launch 27 inches out beauty straight out the window!

It's very unlikely that you need to defrag, but it's possible your drive may be dying. Be sure you have a current backup.

This may help, as a starting point: Performance Tips For Mac OS X

 

[141n5]

Got a few problems with my iMac that are driving me a little bit mad.
Any help appreciated, before I launch 27 inches out beauty straight out the window!

Email it could be a stack of things - do you run POP, IMAP, Exchange settings? Check the basic stuff settings. passwords etc but that one is tough to answer without lots and lots of details/

Time Machine Back up as soon as you can.
Run and Check Activity Monitor to see if anything is hogging your CPU use.
Google any offender programme or client it if it is- you will find an answer on remedy.

I have also found that Onyx http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx
Works well in purging a lot of unnecessary system clutter that builds up with use and cached info.
Run it and - check the rebuild your spotlight options.

Reboot and restart and then do a PRAM reset http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

It wont take long to run all that and if that little clean doesn't help then might be more serious

but back up just as soon as you can, if you can't afford to lose files.

Edit** missed the link above - and everything that GGJ studios recommends in his link

 

[GGJstudios]

Next - I found that Onyx http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx
Works well in purging a lot of unnecessary system clutter that builds up with use and cached info.

Purging caches can degrade system performance, rather than improve it, and is not recommended unless you know which cache needs to be deleted and why. Caches exist to improve performance. Purging or deleting them removes that advantage and additional system resources are consumed as the caches are being rebuilt.

Reboot and restart and do a PRAM reset http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with the OP's issues. Resetting it will not help.

Mac OS X: What's stored in PRAM
When to reset NVRAM or PRAM​

 

[141n5]

Caches exist to improve performance. Purging or deleting them removes that advantage and additional system resources are consumed as the caches are being rebuilt.

PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with the OP's issues. Resetting it will not help.

Mac OS X: What's stored in PRAM
When to reset NVRAM or PRAM​

Personally, I have not had a Mac yet when the speaking to Apple the PRAM reset is the first thing that is instructed or conducted when handed in at the Genius bar. Also not had one that does not behave a little better for it when you get performance issues like the OP.

The Onyx general setting is geared at the average user and will purge the average needs, but also help repair the File and volume permissions, which can help too. There is plenty of online help with Onyx too.

It is personal experience, I have not had a Mac not been better for performance post this kind of purge, but maybe I from the OPs post it reads to me as not a massively technical user and simple keep fit steps as you post are ideal.

We could also point out Disk Utility to check their disk rather than a jump to a your drive may be dying.

http://www.icreatemagazine.com/tips/os-x-tutorial-how-to-use-disk-utility/

usual caveats about attempting things at own risk and if in doubt or uncomfortable, contact a Genius bar...

 

[Aliencowboy69]

Email it could be a stack of things - do you run POP, IMAP, Exchange settings? Check the basic stuff settings. passwords etc but that one is tough to answer without lots and lots of details/

The last time I tried to send an email from my mac I was asked to enter my password which I haven't been asked to do for quite some time so maybe this could be the problem with my email. How do I go about typing and storing my password?

 

[GGJstudios]

The last time I tried to send an email from my mac I was asked to enter my password which I haven't been asked to do for quite some time so maybe this could be the problem with my email. How do I go about typing and storing my password?

Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Account Information

Personally, I have not had a Mac yet when the speaking to Apple the PRAM reset is the first thing that is instructed or conducted when handed in at the Genius bar.

It's important to remember than "Genius" is only their job title, and not necessarily an indication of their knowledge, experience or expertise. There are many who recommend resetting the PRAM (which doesn't even apply to Intel-based Macs, where it's known as NVRAM), without understanding what it does and doesn't do. Read the links I provided to see what is contained in NVRAM and when it should be reset. Many claim that it helped with a situation, when what really helped was the restart that was done in the process.

but also help repair the File and volume permissions, which can help too.

Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.

Five Mac maintenance myths

Repairing permissions: What you need to know
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature​

Disk Utility repairs the permissions for files installed by the Mac OS X Installer, Software Update, or an Apple software installer. It doesn’t repair permissions for your documents, your home folder, and third-party applications.

You can verify or repair permissions only on a disk with Mac OS X installed.

Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files?

Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created. This is expected. Some applications are designed to be installed in one of those ways.

Also, certain files whose permissions can be changed during normal usage without affecting their function are intentionally not checked.

There are times when repairing permissions is appropriate. To do so, here are the instructions:

Repairing Disk Permissions​

If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.

Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore​

Many of these actions, such as repairing permissions, resetting NVRAM or SMC, clearing caches, etc., have specific purposes and address very specific problems. They are not "cure alls" and are not intended to be done every time there is a problem of any kind.

 

[theamster]

You might wanna check to see if your hard drive has filled up without you knowing. The exact same symptoms happened to me a few weeks ago. My mail wasn't loading through the app on my iMac but it wasn't important enough to deal with. Then my computer got slower and slower. I looked at my storage, and my 2 month old 500 GB iMac was filled up compared to the 85 GB I had put on it when I got it! It turns out, I had tried to send an email with some pictures that was just barely over the 25 MB send limit of my email provider. The email kept trying to send in the mail app and my iMac kept saving copies of it to the drafts folder when it couldn't, steadily filling my iMac up and making it dreadfully slow. You might wanna see if that is your problem. I was able to fix it by deleting the folder full of copies of that email.