iMac Re-Install Needed?

[dsnort]

Well, I did it to myself. I bragged the other day that early 2006 20" Intel CD iMac running 10.4.11 Tiger had been running for three+ years without me ever having to do anything to it. Now I am forced to admit that it has begun to get a little sluggish. Basically, it keeps running out of memory, ( 1 GB installed ).

I've ordered a memory upgrade to 2 GB, but, I've also noticed that when I open the Activity Monitor, there seems to be a lot more processes running than when the machine was new, even after restart. This includes a process called "kernel_task" which is sucking up 10% of memory at all times.

I really think I need to re-install the OS to clean it up, what do you think?

Also, if I do re-install, what would be the best way to do it? Would Archive and install do the trick, or do I need to reformat the HD and start new? If I do a reformat, what files will I need to copy so I don't lose my documents, apps, pics, and iTunes library? ( I have a 500 GB Maxtor external I can copy stuff to).

I will be upgrading to Snow leopard, somewhere around 10.6.3, but don't know if I want to wait that long

I've attached a couple of pics of the Activity Monitor, top half and bottom half.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Don't do anything drastic yet.

You've got a process called "MPEG Stream" sucking up 186% (??) of your CPU. I don't know what that is (it doesn't show in my Activity Monitor). I'd find out. Maybe someone else knows.

EDIT: This apparently is an application called "MPEG Streamclip" -- are you running this?

 

[dsnort]

Yes, it's a video compressor I use occasionally.

Problem is, though MPEG Streamclip was running when I snapped the .png, it's not usually open,and the problem persists when it's closed.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Yes, it's a video compressor I use occasionally. And it's using 186 Mb of memory, not 186%.

Problem is, though MPEG Streamclip was running when I snapped the .png, the problem persists when it's closed.

Look again -- it's in the %CPU column. Got my attention.

Considering that you're running 1GB of RAM, I would be interested to know if the perceived slowdowns persist after a restart, or take a bit of use to occur.

 

[dsnort]

Yeah, I saw my mistake as soon as I posted the reply.

Good question as to the restart. It seems like the Comp takes a little longer to boot up, and at times there is a 15-20 sec lag between when it finishes boot, finder and desk icons appear, and responds to input.

I'm about 88% through this video compression, as soon as it finishes I'll restart and post activity monitor pics.

 

[Sun Baked]

Stick the DVD in and repair the drive, if there is a file system/catalog problem it could result in some lags.

look at the system logs, there could be a error spinning out of control hogging massive resources.

And looking at a new user could pinpoint a login item or bad preference file messing things up.

 

[dsnort]

Stick the DVD in and repair the drive, if there is a file system/catalog problem it could result in some lags.

look at the system logs, there could be a error spinning out of control hogging massive resources.

And looking at a new user could pinpoint a login item or bad preference file messing things up.

Lets pretend I don't understand any of that. Would a pic help?

 

[dsnort]

Now that I look at it, there seems to a lot of these:

Error loading code /Library/InputManagers/Menu Extra Enabler/Menu Extra Enabler.bundle/Contents/MacOS/Menu Extra Enabler for bundle /Library/InputManagers/Menu Extra Enabler/Menu Extra Enabler.bundle, error

It's prefaced by all type of different apps names, could this be the issue?

 

[LouisBlack]

As was suggested above, create a new user in system preferences and log in to that. If you still find that the computer is slow then there's something wrong in the system. If it's all nice and dandy then you can look into what your running on your original account.

 

[dsnort]

As was suggested above, create a new user in system preferences and log in to that. If you still find that the computer is slow then there's something wrong in the system. If it's all nice and dandy then you can look into what your running on your original account.

I'll do that, still waiting for this movie to compress though. Any minute now.

 

[RoninXI]

Most likely it is messing with all the menus since it is a shared process so it could cause problems with anything running. Unsanity knows how to access all kinds of things since they do themes.

 

[dsnort]

Okay, I created a new user and logged into it. Computer does feel more responsive. Attached photo of activity monitor.

 

[RoninXI]

I am not seeing anything specific, I just see a lot of things running in the background. You could try stopping dashboard and see if that speeds things up a bit if it does trash those plist files. I have noticed those can slow me down quite a bit after a while, not because of ram used but because many of them do updates (like weather and RSS feeds). Other than that try stopping unnecessary processes Apple Developer Connection shows descriptions for many processes. You can usually google search the rest, don't kill anything for the system obviously. If you notice a big jump in speed you know what could be a problem. I don't think that will be the issue though, I believe it is just that there are so many processes.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Okay, I created a new user and logged into it. Computer does feel more responsive. Attached photo of activity monitor.

Next I would look at your Login Options in the Accounts preferences.

 

[dsnort]

What am I looking for there?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Stuff you installed which have created Login items.

 

[Consultant]

GET MORE MEMORY.

I am guessing you are running torrents?

 

[dsnort]

The only thing in my Log In items is Airport Base Station Agent. There was an Adobe Update Manager, but I removed it.

I ran some Torrents a while back, (1-2 years), but my ISP really chokes them down, not worth the effort. ( Plus I kind of like paying for things! )

I have more RAM on order.

I really appreciate everybody's help!

 

[I'm a Mac]

I have a similar problem. My iMac (Aug '07) has been running a little sluggish for certain tasks for a couple months, particularly finder. Booting up takes a long time, there is an extremely noticeable 4-5 second delay when files are moved or trashed, and it is not user specific. Certain other tasks, like video processing, iphoto, itunes, are OK. I think I need to re-install Leopard, but what would be the easiest way to do this?

 

[RoninXI]

If you are booting slow check out what is starting when you boot up "Login Items" (this was mentioned above as well) You should also repair disk permissions see if that helps. /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility > highlight the partition OSX is on and click [Repair Disk Permissions]