Very slow boot + beachball + other issues

[MacDeeds]

Hi,

I've been having REALLY slow boot ups with my iMac recently. I own an April 2010 iMac 27 inch with intel i7 chip. When I turn on the computer, I have the white screen with the grey Apple logo that shows up. Under the logo, there is some sort of round dial that keeps on turning (looks like a bicycle gear). I would say that it takes a GOOD 5 minutes before I get my blue screen for which I wait an other 2 minutes and then finally, I can see my desktop.

As I get to my desktop, I get the Beachball for a good 1-2 minutes.

Recently, I noticed that there has been a lot of lag when I surf the web, even when I am ONLY using Firefox(or 1 other application for that matter).

Finally, what good spyware removal software exist for the Mac and is it worth it?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

D.

 

[Kasalic]

Hi,

I've been having REALLY slow boot ups with my iMac recently. I own an April 2010 iMac 27 inch with intel i7 chip. When I turn on the computer, I have the white screen with the grey Apple logo that shows up. Under the logo, there is some sort of round dial that keeps on turning (looks like a bicycle gear). I would say that it takes a GOOD 5 minutes before I get my blue screen for which I wait an other 2 minutes and then finally, I can see my desktop.

As I get to my desktop, I get the Beachball for a good 1-2 minutes.

Recently, I noticed that there has been a lot of lag when I surf the web, even when I am ONLY using Firefox(or 1 other application for that matter).

Finally, what good spyware removal software exist for the Mac and is it worth it?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

D.

Couple of options here really. It's almost 100% certain that the issues are not caused by spyware. This leaves you with two options (well three really).

1. Take it to an Apple technician (look for someone who has the ACSP certification preferably) or buy Mac OS X Support Essentials 10.? book and work through the Troubleshooting startup chapter.

2. Back your stuff up (preferably to Time Machine), and wipe and reload the OS from the original disks.

 

[MacDeeds]

Couple of options here really. It's almost 100% certain that the issues are not caused by spyware. This leaves you with two options (well three really).

1. Take it to an Apple technician (look for someone who has the ACSP certification preferably) or buy Mac OS X Support Essentials 10.? book and work through the Troubleshooting startup chapter.

2. Back your stuff up (preferably to Time Machine), and wipe and reload the OS from the original disks.

Kasalic,

I am thinking about the first half of option 1. Though I am curious to see if I could fix it myself.. but I am also impatient.. so this might not be a bad thing to do after all.

2. I forgot to mention that I currently do have an external hard drive with Time Machine running. Yet again, I never did this before. How to I wipe it clean and re-insert the "current settings"?

Thanks.
D.

 

[AcesHigh87]

Lag on the web could simply be firefox, just saying. Firefox starts off fast but it tends to slow down immensely over time. Does the same lag exist using safari?

As far as the boot time being slow, sounds like what my macbook does. my macbook is from 2008 and only has 2GB of RAM though. Your iMac shouldn't be having the same hardware issues. What OS are you running? If Lion boot times are slower than previously, that's to be expected. If it is Lion though, do you leave many applications open that have to re-open on boot? Also, how many programs do you have set to start on boot?

Frankly, I suggest just not shutting down as often. Obviously find a fix to the problem but your iMac should be fine just going to sleep so shutting down and booting up isn't entirely needed.

 

[shortcut3d]

First suggestion is to do a SMC and PRAM reset. This will resolve any low level hardware issues that may cause the delayed boot.

Beachballing is typically a memory or hard drive related issue. I would use Time Machine and backup immediately. Then open disk utilities and run diagnostics from there. If you are getting drive error bring it into Apple. There are a couple hard drives that Apple is replacing due to bad firmware. If you don't have Apple Care you can get brave and replace the drive yourself. Its not really that difficult if you are patient and get the proper tools.

If the disk is fine, then move to the memory. Try running Rember and see if you are getting memory errors. RAM is inexpensive now and you can get 16GB for around $100.00 USD. RAM is self serviceable according to Apple - i.e. very easy fix.

Lastly, turn to software that has changed recently. Firefox has been known to consume memory and get unstable. Search the internet for how to completely uninstall software packages that have recently changed or been installed - i.e. remove plist, etc.

Reinstalling OSX on bad hardware will be a waste of your time. Try to sort these issues out first. Macworld has good entry level troubleshooting articles for free on the internet.

 

[MacDeeds]

Aces and Shortcut,

Thank you for your detailed help.

Just to point out out that I am using 8GB of Ram, and at times, it feels like it's running on 2GB..

As you both stated before, I will look into these hardware parameters before going back to zero. What if the ram or HD is faulty.. all that effort for nothing.

I will post an update within the next few days.

Thanks again,
D.

 

[MacDeeds]

Here is an update:

My HD seems to be KAPUT. "Beachballing" has become the standard and my computer is getting slower by the day.


Here is the screen shot that I just took:

Monday afternoon, this iMac is going in for a NEW HD,... well, that is what I am pushing for. I did a PRAM reset and it seemed to be fine.

In any case, there IS a hardware issue. Will post with updates when I can.

D.

 

[MacDeeds]

UPDATE

Sorry for the delay.. Hectic schedule + laziness kicked in.

Since I last posted, the issue changed to the first screen (White background, Gray apple logo and a gear spinning for ever! I waited 5, 10, 15... 30 minutes). At this point I knew that it was getting worst and that if it was a HDD failure, it was getting bad.

Saturday PM I went to the Apple store to talk to a tech and the person told me to bring in the machine. I booked an apointment and went back last night. I got there on time and a tech was nice enough to help me figure out the issue. He ran some tests and then opted to boot on the Apple Store Network drive (press and hold N) when you boot up. He was able to run further diagnostics and then saw that there was a chance that the HDD was not damaged. He proceeded to re-install Mac OS 10.6.

I got home, plugged in my Timemachine and now I am updating to 10.6.8.

I could of done all this myself, but wanted to make sure that it was nothing more serious. In any case, I had extended warranty with an other retail store.

Thanks to those who gave me their thoughts and suggestions.

Deeds.