New Macbook - spinning ball

[eladnova]

Hi all
I have a 2017 Macbook Pro and it keeps hanging usually twice a day. Sometimes more. I get the coloured spinning wheel. Sometimes I can click on the Apple icon but loading the Force Quit menu does not work.

Is there a good diagnostic tool that will help me understand why this is happening?

The only mod I've made to the machine is that I boot from an external SSD (Samsung T5).

I could run and test from the internal HDD but really it doesn't have all my Apps etc installed so I feel there's not much point.

Thanks

 

[Fishrrman]

Why do you choose to boot externally on this one?
The internal drive is much MUCH faster than ANY external drive.

 

[eladnova]

I needed a GB hard drive and

1. Couldn't afford Macbook Pro and Apples insane prices for an internal 1TB HDD.
2. Moving my old Macbook data to an external HDD and using that as a bootable drive was easy
3. When I need a new MacBook pro or even a replacement, theoretically I can just plug in and boot and work
4. My day to day work doesn't require massive amounts of CPU, HDD or RAM speed so the drive is way more then enough for me

 

[Fishrrman]

Your OS, apps, and account don't have to be on the same drive as your data.
What kind of projects are you working on, that take up that much space?

 

[MSastre]

It is best to run your OS and Apps on your internal drive always. Files and anything else can always go on an external to keep your system lean.

 

[MBAir2010]

And no desktop files, or keep them small.