Same old beachball...

[Resoman]

A year ago or so, I was trying to find a way to avoid long periods watching the spinning beachball while trying to do a simple task, like opening a .doc file or saving same. At that time, I was using an early 2008 24" iMac, with 6 GB RAM and an up to date OS. I had no success in getting rid or the delays, so I though I'd throw a couple thousand dollars at the problem and, last fall I bought a late 2013 27" iMac with 8GB RAM. It's a nice computer but it has the same problem.
I understand that some computer activities are very processor intensive, and I can't always expect instant response to my commands. But I find myself looking at the beachball for 10 to 15 seconds before I even see the Save dialog, for example. Once I finally get to the dialog I need, the actual Save or Open function is very prompt.
I have this problem many times a day, and it's not just Save or Open. It can happen when I click on Write in my email program, for example, or when I attempt many other very minor tasks. I'm running OS 10.10.2 and always keep the OS up to date.
So, is this problem unique to my situation, is there anything I can do?
Thanks,
Gary,
Iowa City

 

[r0k]

A year ago or so, I was trying to find a way to avoid long periods watching the spinning beachball while trying to do a simple task, like opening a .doc file or saving same. At that time, I was using an early 2008 24" iMac, with 6 GB RAM and an up to date OS. I had no success in getting rid or the delays, so I though I'd throw a couple thousand dollars at the problem and, last fall I bought a late 2013 27" iMac with 8GB RAM. It's a nice computer but it has the same problem.
I understand that some computer activities are very processor intensive, and I can't always expect instant response to my commands. But I find myself looking at the beachball for 10 to 15 seconds before I even see the Save dialog, for example. Once I finally get to the dialog I need, the actual Save or Open function is very prompt.
I have this problem many times a day, and it's not just Save or Open. It can happen when I click on Write in my email program, for example, or when I attempt many other very minor tasks. I'm running OS 10.10.2 and always keep the OS up to date.
So, is this problem unique to my situation, is there anything I can do?
Thanks,
Gary,
Iowa City

I have a 2010 Mac mini, a 2008 Whitebook and a late 2011 Macbook Pro. I get beachballs on the mini all the time. I've upgraded the RAM to 8 GB. I don't get beachballs on the Whitebook which has 6 GB of RAM but I hardly ever use it and it's at the latest OS supported by such an old model (Snow Leopard? Lion?). On the MBP I get "very brief" beachballs that I can live with. I have 8GB on the MBP that I upgraded from the 4GB it came with. I believe that Yosemite is stable but it's a beachball festival. Some of this is my own fault for having so many tabs open in Chrome. I mean like 50 or more. If you're still running 32 bit Chrome, go get Canary. It reduces beachballs dramatically.

I've thought about a replacement for my now 3 year old MBP but I can do without for at least a year. When I do upgrade, I'll get extra RAM at time of purchase. There is no reason for you to despair with such a new machine. I'd look for software like the aforementioned 32 bit Chrome or other culprits sucking away your CPU.

 

[tyche]

Have Activity Monitor running so you can see cpu, disk and memory usage while this occurs. I have a 2010 model and I've never had beach balls but I do have 16gb ram and an ssd.

 

[yjchua95]

A year ago or so, I was trying to find a way to avoid long periods watching the spinning beachball while trying to do a simple task, like opening a .doc file or saving same. At that time, I was using an early 2008 24" iMac, with 6 GB RAM and an up to date OS. I had no success in getting rid or the delays, so I though I'd throw a couple thousand dollars at the problem and, last fall I bought a late 2013 27" iMac with 8GB RAM. It's a nice computer but it has the same problem.
I understand that some computer activities are very processor intensive, and I can't always expect instant response to my commands. But I find myself looking at the beachball for 10 to 15 seconds before I even see the Save dialog, for example. Once I finally get to the dialog I need, the actual Save or Open function is very prompt.
I have this problem many times a day, and it's not just Save or Open. It can happen when I click on Write in my email program, for example, or when I attempt many other very minor tasks. I'm running OS 10.10.2 and always keep the OS up to date.
So, is this problem unique to my situation, is there anything I can do?
Thanks,
Gary,
Iowa City

If you don't have a Fusion Drive or an SSD, this is what you should expect

 

[redheeler]

If you don't have a Fusion Drive or an SSD, this is what you should expect

Yup, that about sums it up.

 

[/V\acpower]

Even on a HDD it is not normal, it is either a problem with the software or (most likely) you have some external hard drives that go to sleep automatically when they are not in use, so every time you open a save/open dialog, the system scan for available drives, and it has to wait for the hard drive to wake up, which can take some time.

This link may also help you : http://osxdaily.com/2013/11/24/slow-open-save-dialog-problem-mac-os-x/

or this one also : http://osxdaily.com/2012/05/14/prevent-slow-down-mac-os-x-external-hard-drive-access/