Mid-2010 iMac Slow

[tobey]

Hi guys,

I bought an iMac in mid 2010 and it was excellent, but it's getting so slow and sluggish now I've gotta do something about it.

I keep my apps pretty clean, I've used CleanMyMac to clear the junk out, upgraded to 16GB RAM, and it still feels sluggish. Even compared to my little 13" 2010 MBP.

The hard drive is constantly making the "thinking" sound as well, which gets pretty annoying, although I don't know if it always did that, or I'm just looking for things to notice now.

Since I've tried everything else, I guess I'll go down the old Windows-esque route and format/reinstall. I seem to have lost the recovery disc from my iMac, but I've still got the one that came with the MBP - is it fine to use this? I ask because the disc does specifically say it's an MBP disc on it. Both Snow Leopard btw. I am intending on upgrading to Lion, but I want to upgrade from a clean Snow Leopard install, putting Lion on top of the mess I've currently got sounds like a headache waiting to happen.

Before I go through the headache of a backup/format/reinstall, does anybody have any other suggestions as to what makes OSX get slower over time? People always say "You don't need to ever reinstall OSX, it's not Windows..." - please prove that right!

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[miles01110]

You can't use system restore discs from another model. They won't work. You need a retail disc.

 

[GGJstudios]

I keep my apps pretty clean, I've used CleanMyMac to clear the junk out,

One app that I would not recommend, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere, is CleanMyMac. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much.

You really don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space. It will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software.

For performance issues, there are a few things you can check:

• Check your Login Items under System Preferences > Accounts to see what you have automatically launching.
• Also check /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Users/yourusername/Library/LaunchAgents/ for items launching at startup
• Look at what widgets you may have running.
• Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.
• Take a look at the System Memory tab at the bottom of Activity Monitor to see if you have excessive "page outs", a sign that you may benefit from more RAM.
• Make sure you're not running any 3rd party antivirus app, as many of those will drain resources, reducing performance. They're not needed to protect your Mac.

 

[tobey]

One app that I would not recommend, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere, is CleanMyMac. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much.

You really don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space. It will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space.

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software.

For performance issues, there are a few things you can check:

• Check your Login Items under System Preferences > Accounts to see what you have automatically launching.
• Also check /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Users/yourusername/Library/LaunchAgents/ for items launching at startup
• Look at what widgets you may have running.
• Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes". Then look to see what may be consuming system resources.
• Take a look at the System Memory tab at the bottom of Activity Monitor to see if you have excessive "page outs", a sign that you may benefit from more RAM.
• Make sure you're not running any 3rd party antivirus app, as many of those will drain resources, reducing performance. They're not needed to protect your Mac.

Thanks for your reply. I didn't realise CleanMyMac had a bad rep, I'll stop using it. I've got 16GB of RAM which is believe is the maximum this iMac can handle, so hopefully that's not the issue. I do check Activity Monitor for rogue processes using excessive CPU and RAM, but it all seems okay.

I guess it feels like a HDD issue... but Apple's stance seems to be "Oh no, defragging - yea that's only for Windows."

Also no antivirus running at all.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for your reply. I didn't realise CleanMyMac had a bad rep, I'll stop using it. I've got 16GB of RAM which is believe is the maximum this iMac can handle, so hopefully that's not the issue. I do check Activity Monitor for rogue processes using excessive CPU and RAM, but it all seems okay.

I guess it feels like a HDD issue... but Apple's stance seems to be "Oh no, defragging - yea that's only for Windows."

Also no antivirus running at all.

Defrag is not necessary. Be sure to check your Login Items and launch agents.

As far as uninstalling apps, the most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

 

[tobey]

Defrag is not necessary. Be sure to check your Login Items.

As far as uninstalling apps, the most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

Thanks.

Login items: Air Video, Dropbox, BetterSnapTool, iiUsage - so really nothing too intense on that front...

It really feels like a cumulative issue, there's nothing else like any caches or anything that build up and degrade performance over time?

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks.

Login items: Air Video, Dropbox, BetterSnapTool, iiUsage - so really nothing too intense on that front...

It really feels like a cumulative issue, there's nothing else like any caches or anything that build up and degrade performance over time?

No, they take up space, but don't degrade performance. This isn't Windows. Try removing all apps from Login Items and launch agents, then restart and see how performance is. If it's better, add items back one at a time until you find which might be the resource hog.

 

[tobey]

No, they take up space, but don't degrade performance. This isn't Windows. Try removing all apps from Login Items and launch agents, then restart and see how performance is. If it's better, add items back one at a time until you find which might be the resource hog.

Okay, thanks. Will do.

Any ideas on the constant hard drive "thinking" noise? I can actually hear two very distinct noises. They both sound similar, and they both sound like a HDD seeking type sound. Is this normal?

 

[GGJstudios]

Okay, thanks. Will do.

Any ideas on the constant hard drive "thinking" noise? I can actually hear two very distinct noises. They both sound similar, and they both sound like a HDD seeking type sound. Is this normal?

If a drive is constantly active or your CPU utilization is high (possibly with increased temps and fan speed) when you're not running any apps, check to see if Spotlight is indexing by looking at the Menu Bar icon:

(not indexing)

(indexing)

 

[tobey]

If a drive is constantly active or your CPU utilization is high (possibly with increased temps and fan speed) when you're not running any apps, check to see if Spotlight is indexing by looking at the Menu Bar icon: Image (not indexing) Image (indexing)

Okay. Since you mentioned it, Spotlight searches tend to take a while to return the correct result (think 3-5 seconds) where my little MBP is *instant* - does the indexing for this have any settings that I can tinker with?

Also, forgot to mention, I have time machine backup running, hourly I believe. Could this be a contributing factor?

Thanks so much for your help.

----------

Quick update - Something called "Quick Update Helper" is using 199% CPU...

----------

Sorry! - Quick Look Helper*

 

[GGJstudios]

Okay. Since you mentioned it, Spotlight searches tend to take a while to return the correct result (think 3-5 seconds) where my little MBP is *instant* - does the indexing for this have any settings that I can tinker with?

You could re-index the drive.

Also, forgot to mention, I have time machine backup running, hourly I believe. Could this be a contributing factor?

Yes, it could. If you want, you can adjust the frequency of TM backups.

Quick update - Something called "Quick Update Helper" is using 199% CPU...

Sorry! - Quick Look Helper*

Do you happen to have VMware Fusion installed? If so, this thread may be informative:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2315503?start=0&tstart=0

 

[tobey]

Do you happen to have VMware Fusion installed? If so, this thread may be informative:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2315503?start=0&tstart=0

I had it, uninstalled about 12 months ago. I don't seem to have the offending .qlgenerator file mentioned in that thread though...

 

[GGJstudios]

I had it, uninstalled about 12 months ago. I don't seem to have the offending .qlgenerator file mentioned in that thread though...

Use the link in post #5 of this thread to search for that file.

 

[tobey]

Use the link in post #5 of this thread to search for that file.

Wow. Okay. Found and deleted. Took it one further and deleted everything containing "vmware" - problem is, I can't empty the Trash as apparently many of the items are "in use"

Workaround?

Again, thanks so much.

 

[GGJstudios]

Wow. Okay. Found and deleted. Took it one further and deleted everything containing "vmware" - problem is, I can't empty the Trash as apparently many of the items are "in use"

Workaround?

Again, thanks so much.

Hold the Option key while emptying the Trash. Or kill the processes running in Activity Monitor before emptying the Trash. Or restart before emptying the Trash.

 

[tobey]

Hold the Option key while emptying the Trash. Or kill the processes running in Activity Monitor before emptying the Trash. Or restart before emptying the Trash.

Will do. Thanks for your help!

 

[deafgoose]

A fresh format and re-installation of the OS would do you some good.

 

[GGJstudios]

A fresh format and re-installation of the OS would do you some good.

Did you notice in the first post that the OP doesn't have the install disk, so is looking for alternatives to reinstalling?

 

[thekev]

Don't use cleanmymac. Run a copy of Onyx and Disk warrior. That should take care of everything, assuming cleanmymac didn't remove something important.