My imac is going downhill it looks like :( help?

ptheo27

ptheo27

macrumors member
So basically my mac seems to be going downhill from here. The stupid beach ball keeps popping up more then it should. I took it to best buy when my internet provider said that there was something wrong with it and geek squad put in norton anti virus on it. It has been fine for the summer and just starting acting up within the past month. When this problem started occurring i downloaded Onyx to clean up my mac. I noticed a slight increase in speed but not enough for complete satisfaction. I am begining to think that i have some type of bug or virus but if so shouldn't norton have caught it. If there is anyone out there generous enough to respond with the right kind of knowledge to help me please do. I am looking for simple tips to clean up my mac. Suggestions on software, new virus programs, simple information anything that can speed up my mac or catch this bug if there is one.:confused:

Looking forward for your help!
Thanks!
:apple:
 
Have you repaired permissions ever? If not, or even if you have, I'd recommend doing so (it won't fix your problem but it could help). Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your hard drive, Repair Permissions.

Also, when you took it to best buy, did they "improve" anything by adding additional RAM, or do anything with hardware components, or did they just install Norton?
 
JLatte said:
Have you repaired permissions ever? If not, or even if you have, I'd recommend doing so (it won't fix your problem but it could help). Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your hard drive, Repair Permissions.

Also, when you took it to best buy, did they "improve" anything by adding additional RAM, or do anything with hardware components, or did they just install Norton?
Click to expand...

from my knowledge they just put in norton. but i also upgraded to 2gb ram.

and i found out that only 89gb is available whoops
 
Check for hardware problem with the disk

ptheo27 said:
So basically my mac seems to be going downhill from here. The stupid beach ball keeps popping up more then it should. I took it to best buy when my internet provider said that there was something wrong with it and geek squad put in norton anti virus on it. It has been fine for the summer and just starting acting up within the past month. When this problem started occurring i downloaded Onyx to clean up my mac. I noticed a slight increase in speed but not enough for complete satisfaction. I am begining to think that i have some type of bug or virus but if so shouldn't norton have caught it. If there is anyone out there generous enough to respond with the right kind of knowledge to help me please do. I am looking for simple tips to clean up my mac. Suggestions on software, new virus programs, simple information anything that can speed up my mac or catch this bug if there is one.:confused:

Looking forward for your help!
Thanks!
:apple:
Click to expand...

I had a similar issue way back; it was the harddisk with bad blocks that the system was trying to read over and over.

Check for IO errors (for the HD) in system.log. Check the SMART status (using disk-utility, select the drive and read at the bottom of the window).

I suggest anyway a backup (can't hurt).
 
Sad how people just smile and allow others put crap like Norton on their systems.

Your RAM might be the issue. Run memtest86+ to see.

Rember is a GUI frontend to memtest86, so try that.
 
linuxophile said:
I had a similar issue way back; it was the harddisk with bad blocks that the system was trying to read over and over.

Check for IO errors (for the HD) in system.log. Check the SMART status (using disk-utility, select the drive and read at the bottom of the window).

I suggest anyway a backup (can't hurt).
Click to expand...

alright. so whats wrong with norton? no good or what?
also some additional info
Capacity : 181.9 GB (195,286,794,240 Bytes)
Available : 89.0 GB (95,608,385,536 Bytes)
Used : 92.8 GB (99,678,408,704 Bytes)
Number of Folders : 176,605
Number of Files : 767,849
 
ptheo27 said:
alright. so whats wrong with norton? no good or what?
also some additional info
Capacity : 181.9 GB (195,286,794,240 Bytes)
Available : 89.0 GB (95,608,385,536 Bytes)
Used : 92.8 GB (99,678,408,704 Bytes)
Number of Folders : 176,605
Number of Files : 767,849
Click to expand...

You really don't need Norton. Norton on a Windows based PC, yes (actually I'd even use something different). Norton on a Mac is like double wrapping with condoms, it's unnecessary protection. I'll wait for the few people that will come in here and say "well actually yes you need antivirus", but realistically no you do not.
 
ravenvii said:
Sad how people just smile and allow others put crap like Norton on their systems.

Your RAM might be the issue. Run memtest86+ to see.

Rember is a GUI frontend to memtest86, so try that.
Click to expand...

norton is that bad? i mean i have no idea.
what does it cause, this is the first time it really hit me lol
any alternatives because whenever im downloading i file from limewire it pops up and says its a trojan and what not and i find that it gets the job done that way?
 
Boot into safe mode. (Boot, hold down SHIFT key) Still slow?
Make a new user, still slow?
If you answered no to either above, it's ain't the computer, it's you. :)

Remove Norton IMMEDIATELY. Or AT LEAST make it so it runs manually. Hell, just delete it... viruses are other peoples problems, not yours.

Remove all haxies and other items in application enhancers not needed. (hardly any are) and lay off that crap.

Geek Squad put Norton on there? Tell them to hop back into their bug and bug off. They just ripped you off.

Drop Limewire. It's the right thing to do. PLUS it shares files the OTHER way.

Get rid of startup items not needed.

Go to User > Library > Preferences and toss apple.com.finder.plist and reboot immediately after doing so. Using office 2004? Also in prefs toss Microsoft folder and word.plist.

Fixed now? No?
Then I missed something.
 
ravenvii said:
Sad how people just smile and allow others put crap like Norton on their systems.

Your RAM might be the issue. Run memtest86+ to see.

Rember is a GUI frontend to memtest86, so try that.
Click to expand...

Ugh, tell me about it, I would rather that guy been "I dunno WTF is wrong with your Mac" than install that crap on it and be like "it's fixed" and hand me a bill.
 
There are no viruse for OSX. There are no "bugs" that you can download.

Definition of bug (you are using it wrong)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug

Do you visit questionable sites? Do you install software you did not buy? There are TROJANS that depend on tricking gullible users to enter their admin password for install.

Remove Norton. Norton is useless on OSX.
Anti-virus is useless on OSX.

Archive and install.
 
As advised by others, uninstall Norton using the Norton install discs, then let us know how your Mac is running. Not only do you not need Norton on your Mac, it could easily be causing slowdowns. If that doesn't help, run Disk Utility booting off the OSX install discs. Has anything been repaired? Do not attempt any kind of OSX reinstall until you've tried at least these two simple steps first.
 
Norton A/V has always been a resource hog and it will slow down your computer. I know it sure did in windows pc's.
 
You really need to tell us more about the computer. The term "iMac" is almost like saying you have a "Toyota." Considering the hard drive you mentioned, I'm guessing you have a 3-year-old(ish) iMac with a G5 processor. My dad has one that I believe is 2.0Ghz, and it is sluggish on many things, especially iPhoto. He has 15GB of free disk space and 2GB of RAM. It's still slow. I think Leopard is just made to optimize the Intel CPUs more (and I'm spoiled with a 2.16Ghz Core 2 Duo).

As everybody has said, take that blasted Norton Anti-Virus off. The dipS%#t that put it on there should be beaten with an eMac. "Your computer is slow, so let's put some resource-draining software that does no good on there to fix it." Dude probably never works on Macs. If you have one nearby, go to an Apple Store next time.

I would download iStat so you can see how much CPU, hard drive, RAM, etc. is being used. It does hog a little bit of your resources, but nowhere near as much as Norton AV and iStat actually does some good. It helped me realize I needed a reboot recently when some rogue app was using a bunch of CPU.
 
so what does norton do to your computer thats so bad? also is there any replacements i can use to avoid getting simple trojans viruses and little stuff like that. i mean norton does a great job for catching those.
 
Norton is just crap software. Its poorly coded, resource hungry, junk. There are no viruses for the Mac, and OS X has a built in Firewall, and so does your router if you have one. Getting rid of Norton would be the first thing to do, use an application like AppCleaner (free) to make sure it removes every trace of norton. Then go to Best Buy and see if you can get your money back.

Norton and McAfee sell because they are what are on the shelves at stores, Norton only made a Mac version to try and get more money, but in reality a free virus scanner like Avast will do a much better job. Of course they don't make Avast for Mac because there are no viruses. Zilch. Not one. You don't need a virus scanner.

The only virus on your computer is Norton.
 
nick9191 said:
Norton is just crap software. Its poorly coded, resource hungry, junk. There are no viruses for the Mac, and OS X has a built in Firewall, and so does your router if you have one. Getting rid of Norton would be the first thing to do, use an application like AppCleaner (free) to make sure it removes every trace of norton. Then go to Best Buy and see if you can get your money back.

Norton and McAfee sell because they are what are on the shelves at stores, Norton only made a Mac version to try and get more money, but in reality a free virus scanner like Avast will do a much better job. Of course they don't make Avast for Mac because there are no viruses. Zilch. Not one. You don't need a virus scanner.

The only virus on your computer is Norton.
Click to expand...

im probably going to take norton of from what im hearing. but i am still unsure about the trojans and stuff it still worries me. is it normal to have like 760,000 files on your mac. because i dont think thats right?
 
ptheo27 said:
im probably going to take norton of from what im hearing. but i am still unsure about the trojans and stuff it still worries me. is it normal to have like 760,000 files on your mac. because i dont think thats right?
Click to expand...

First off I was recently made aware that the Virus definition files that Norton for Macintosh maintains include the Windows virus/trojan definitions which by their nature cannot infect a Mac, so that helps explain why you are seeing virus warnings- it is reporting Windows virus laden stuff you are downloading from LimeWire. That also explains why Norton needs to update the Virus Definition Files almost every time it is run- to make you think that new Mac definitions are being added so you feel "safe"- when in reality it is just downloading that day's load of new Windows garbage. Using LimeWire also explains a lot too since that is commonly noted as being riddled with virus/trojan infected files.

Because of the way various disk tools (including Norton apparently) count files (they look inside application bundles, etc.) that count is not unreasonable. If you were to use Carbon Copy Cloner or several other programs that number would be similar. This bears no relationship to the number of files that you can see listed if you click on your hard drive and do a Get Info. That way shows the actual count of visible files- not the number of resource bundles, localization files and the rest within your visible files. Bad explanation, but short version is yes that is a believable number.
 
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