new imac slooooww startup

[cmccarten]

I have a new 17" core 2 duo imac (2.16 gHz, 1 Gig RAM) and my machine has just recently begun booting about 5 times slower than it did in the first week when I had it.
This started after I was watching a video I had just finished editing and the computer's fan suddenly went on like a jet engine - which it hadn't ever before. I turned it off quickly (I've had some friends who've experienced overheating problems from apple, so I wanted to be cautious), and since then, my startup time has been pretty bad (comparitively).
When turned on, the grey screen appears (without the apple in the middle), and just sits there for a good 45-60 seconds before there is any discernable action coming from the computer.
This comes from a previous startup time of less than 20 seconds.

Any thoughts?

 

[2nyRiggz]

open disk utility and repair as needed.

Also update to 4.8 since it is out now.

Bless

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, just to elaborate on 2nyRiggz's excellent suggestion, use Disk Utility to verify your disk, not just to repair your permissions. If your disk needs repairing then try fsck.

 

[cmccarten]

i have done as suggested, and still no difference (if anything, startup is getting slower). should i take this to applecare? (they'll probably just tell me to reinstall the os...)

 

[SpankyPenzaanz]

I went through the fontbook and disabled all unncecessary fonts and languages and it speeds up significantly

 

[flyakite]

I have a new 17" core 2 duo imac (2.16 gHz, 1 Gig RAM) and my machine has just recently begun booting about 5 times slower than it did in the first week when I had it.
This started after I was watching a video I had just finished editing and the computer's fan suddenly went on like a jet engine - which it hadn't ever before. I turned it off quickly (I've had some friends who've experienced overheating problems from apple, so I wanted to be cautious), and since then, my startup time has been pretty bad (comparitively).
When turned on, the grey screen appears (without the apple in the middle), and just sits there for a good 45-60 seconds before there is any discernable action coming from the computer.
This comes from a previous startup time of less than 20 seconds.

Any thoughts?

Sounds to me like the Mac forgot where your install was, and is searching the drive to find it on each boot. I would try going to System Preferences > Startup Disk > and clicking on the system you want to start up, then make sure to lock the pref.

 

[jessep28]

spyware?

Just kidding

 

[mad jew]

Sounds to me like the Mac forgot where your install was, and is searching the drive to find it on each boot. I would try going to System Preferences > Startup Disk > and clicking on the system you want to start up, then make sure to lock the pref.

Excellent point. Also, do you have at least 8GB of free space available on the boot drive?

 

[cmccarten]

thanks! it was looking for a network drive instead of my hard drive! i appreciate the help.