|
Replies
:
27
-
Pages
:
2
[
1
2
|
Next
]
-
Last Post
:
Oct 28, 2008 1:15 PM
by: BDAqua
|
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 24, 2008 1:37 PM
|
|
|
On my iMac, I often have to wait like 30 seconds to like 1.5 minutes between the time I press the power button and when I can start doing stuff. (I remember it used to be like 20 seconds always.) Usually I can't click on anything and the dock doesn't respond to mouse-overs while the toolbar on top takes its time to load up the spotlight, time, localization, and airport icons. (I don't use Airport btw, that's just for me to enable it if the Ethernet is unavailable.)
I think the problem started not too long after I had first gotten the iMac (maybe a couple or a few months?). This is something I've come to expect with Windows, but not with Mac.
At first I just tolerated the issue, but then I finally tried to solve the issue. I uninstalled VM software like Parallels and VMware Fusion, and I even uninstalled Office 2008 (and I think Adobe Design Premium CS3 also), with no luck. I tried going by suggestions from tech support: I ensured that there were no unnecessary startup items or services, that the desktop was clean, that disk permissions were fine, and that the problem wasn't specific to my login account. I even reset the PRAM. Nothing really solved the issue.
What can I do? If I re-install Tiger will that solve the issue? If I upgrade to Leopard will that solve the issue? If I upgrade to 2GB RAM will that solve the issue? And if I do install Leopard or re-install Tiger, will I still have all my software and files safe?
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
Posts:
10,443
Registered:
Sep 22, 2000
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 24, 2008 1:46 PM
in response to: Mac OS XP
|
|
|
Have you calculated the percentage of used/capacity of your hard drive?
MacBook Pro 2.4 Ghz 15.4 / 2 Gb Ram
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 24, 2008 1:49 PM
in response to: sig
|
|
|
My hard drive is mostly full. (170 GB used, 63 GB free)
That's because I'm storing some backup files for a couple other computers here, plus I've got a few VMs. But it was closer to half and half not too long ago, and even before that when it was like 150 GB free I was noticing the problem.
Note that sometimes if I turn off the computer and quickly turn it back on it seems to load quickly.
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
Posts:
10,443
Registered:
Sep 22, 2000
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 24, 2008 2:59 PM
in response to: Mac OS XP
|
|
|
Well you've got about 25% free space so that seems OK. I wouldn't go less than 15% free.
MacBook Pro 2.4 Ghz 15.4 / 2 Gb Ram
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
|
|
Posts:
799
From:
Above the centre of the earth
Registered:
Jul 26, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 24, 2008 7:39 PM
in response to: Mac OS XP
|
|
Helpful
|
|
|
Check to see if you have any startup items you don't really need - these can cause a delay as to large numbers of fonts.
Other things which hamper performance include:
A very cluttered desktop. Store your work in progress and finished work in sub-folders inside the user > documents folder - as simple as this sounds it is a great resource saver
Backup regularly. Work that you do not touch more that once a year should be backed up to CD, DVD or an external hard disk. It is pointless and expensive to keep this sort of work on your working volume if you access it infrequently. If your startup disk is ±75% full this will have serious consequences on the performance of your Mac.
Make sure you have enough RAM. RAM is presently cheap so its worth considering.
Carry out a “repair permissions” - it is a good idea to do this once a month. You can find an article on how to do this in my tips archive (see link below).
Using “Cron” Scripts helps keep your Mac healthy by deleting cumbersome log files. Applications such as Onyx, Mac Janitor or MainMenu do this for you at the click of a button.
Do not, repeat not, use Internet Explorer. This ancient browser has not been updated for years and will cause you no end of grief. Use Safari, Firefox, Opera or one of the other browsers available for Mac.
iMac 20" 2.16, MacBook 2.4
Mac OS X (10.5.5)
|
|
Posts:
799
From:
Above the centre of the earth
Registered:
Jul 26, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 24, 2008 8:05 PM
in response to: Zlig
|
|
|
This should help: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2963
iMac 20" 2.16, MacBook 2.4
Mac OS X (10.5.5)
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 26, 2008 10:36 AM
in response to: Zlig
|
|
|
My disk permissions are fine.
There are no startup items.
My desktop is not cluttered at all.
My disk is getting pretty full, I suppose I can get an external hard drive, but I was having the problem even when it was more like half full or even less.
I have the 1 GB of RAM that came with the iMac. I can upgrade to two, but why would a new iMac boot up fast with 1 GB and then later on require 2 GB to boot up at a proper speed?
I'll look into those Cron scripts.
Why the heck would I use Internet Explorer? If you'll notice, I'm on a late 2006 iMac, and they stopped making Internet Explorer for Mac like a year or two before that I think. No, I'm on Firefox 3.1 beta and less often Safari 3.1 or Opera 9.6.
Any other suggestions?
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 6:45 PM
in response to: Zlig
|
|
|
Okay, update.
I tried the Cron scripts (using MainMenu). No help. This boot up took over 1.5 minutes. I hope I didn't clear too many things... I hear the CPU or HD working, maybe it's re-building something after the restart (I don't know).
I've ordered more RAM, so I'll be able to work with 2 GB instead of 1 GB soon.
Could a mostly-used HD really result in this slow boot time? Because it'd cost me about $80 to get an external hard drive. (Then again, it may be a good investment. Can I use the same external drive for backing up my files manually and letting my brother with Leopard use Time Machine?)
Other then that, the only software issues left I can think of are programs that do not boot on startup or some problem with my Tiger install (again, would upgrading to Leopard fix that?)
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 7:02 PM
in response to: Mac OS XP
|
|
|
Oh, and the only startup item is "SpeechSynthesisServer". What is this? Do I need it for Tiger to work properly? I only occasionally use text to speech. Can someone tell me the directory that this file is located in so I can re-add it if removing it has any adverse effects?
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
Posts:
43,263
Registered:
May 14, 2006
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 7:26 PM
in response to: Mac OS XP
|
|
|
First reboot should take much longer than subsequent ones after this stufff... does a second one go faster?
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 7:57 PM
in response to: BDAqua
|
|
|
I'm still getting 1 to 1.5 minutes startup times after a few reboots and letting Spotlight finish building its cache. It takes about half a minute to boot, and then about a minute to load the menubar and allow me to open programs.
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
Posts:
14,819
From:
Apple USA
Registered:
Aug 5, 2005
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 7:57 PM
in response to: Mac OS XP
|
|
|
Hello,
With all the excellent trouble shooting tips already in this thread the only thing I can add is getting this utility: WhatSize
"WhatSize helps find out what files are taking up all of that space. Then it makes it really easy to remove or move those files. "
Carolyn 
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit
PBG4 SuperDrive iBookG4 20GB iPod Toshiba Win XP iMacG3 Classic Apple IIE
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
WirelessMM Airport Wacom Intuos Tablet iLife 06 DW and TTPro
|
|
Posts:
43,263
Registered:
May 14, 2006
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 8:16 PM
in response to: Mac OS XP
|
|
|
Helpful
|
|
|
Could be the HD, but how long does a Safe Boot (holding Shift key down at bootup), take from loggin to Finder being up & ready?
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 8:50 PM
in response to: BDAqua
|
|
|
Not long. Only about 15 seconds.
Note: When I did the safe boot, first I pressed the power button, and then I pressed and held shift. It went to the gray screen with the spinning progress thing and stayed there so I took my finger off after a couple minutes. After about 6 more minutes I pressed 'esc' and it continued on booting like normal, and then it showed me the 'safe boot' login screen.
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
Posts:
89
Registered:
Nov 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
Re: iMac takes forever to fully boot -- how to fix? PLS HELP!
Posted:
Oct 27, 2008 8:51 PM
in response to: Carolyn Samit
|
|
|
I appreciate it.
Actually, I already know what files are taking up most of my space. Virtual machines, backups from other computers, and some movies.
20" Intel Core 2 Duo, late 2006
Mac OS X (10.4.11)
The lone Mac on a Windows XP network.
|
|
|
