t-dot12

Q: Slow Mac, Spinning Wheel

Mac recently started going slow and getting the spinning wheel after almost every other click. How can I fix this?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Feb 10, 2014 12:27 PM

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Q: Slow Mac, Spinning Wheel

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  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Feb 10, 2014 10:29 PM in response to t-dot12
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Feb 10, 2014 10:29 PM in response to t-dot12

    When the backup finishes you can start the diagnosis and repairs.

    (I assume you won’t stay up until the backup finishes.  I’m about to call it a day myself.)

     

    Try and SMC Reset.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

    Did this improve the performance?

     

    Run disk diagnostics with Disk Utility.  This will check if the disk and filesystem are healthy.

    From the Finder pull down on the Go menu to Utilities

    (This will open the Applications > Utilities folder.)

    Run Disk Utility

    Click on the upper left disk icon.

    Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”.

              If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced.

    Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD”.

    Verify Disk.

    If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk.

    If it shows errors in red then you have found a problem to address once the system is backed up.

    Click on Repair Disk Permissions.

    It will list a lot of stuff in black and white you can ignore.

    Report any red error messages and the S.M.A.R.T. status.

     

    If Disk Utility reports any red errors then the next step will be to use Disk Utility to try to repair the disk. 

    Perform the steps in http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836.

    If it does not repair on the first pass, try once or twice more.

    If it repairs (finishes with a green OK message) then quit Disk Utility and reïnstall OS X.

    Boot normally and test the system for speed.  Has this solved the problem?

     

    If Disk Utility reported no errors then boot in Recovery Mode (Boot - Command-R) and reïnstall OS X.

    Boot normally and test the system for speed.  Has this solved the problem?

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 10, 2014 10:41 PM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 10, 2014 10:41 PM in response to hands4

    Alright followed your steps and now lets see what happens.

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 10, 2014 10:44 PM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 10, 2014 10:44 PM in response to hands4

    yea I will let it backup over night and try this in the morning thank you!

  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Feb 10, 2014 10:45 PM in response to t-dot12
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Feb 10, 2014 10:45 PM in response to t-dot12

    Good night.

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 10, 2014 10:58 PM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 10, 2014 10:58 PM in response to hands4

    It's been saying preparing backup for about 10min now does that mean it's working?

  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Feb 11, 2014 7:10 AM in response to t-dot12
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 7:10 AM in response to t-dot12

    The first backup can take a loong time, especially when it is on a machine with slow performance.  Hopefully by this morning it has completed.

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 11, 2014 8:36 AM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 8:36 AM in response to hands4

    Yea unfortunately it's no where near done only at 12 gb.

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 11, 2014 8:38 AM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 8:38 AM in response to hands4

    I might just bring it to apple.

  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Feb 11, 2014 10:14 AM in response to t-dot12
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 10:14 AM in response to t-dot12

    That is not a bad idea.  Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ .

     

    Here is another fairly simple emergency data recovery procedure I would try before replacing the disk.  It will run or fail faster than Time Machine.  If you are too frustrated to do this see if Apple will do it for you but I’m sure you can try this procedure yourself.  This procedure may succeed well enough so that you will recover all your data.  This fairly simple procedure will use the Finder to try to recover your data, then Repair Disk, and if the Repair Disk succeeds you will not need to replace the disk.

     

    If you go to the Apple store keep the old failing disk.  You do not want to release your data and you may be able to recover more data from the old disk (bottom of this message).

     

    Try and SMC Reset.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

    Did this improve the performance?

     

    Reformat the external disk again.  This time name it “Emergency Backup 1”.

    Boot in Recovery Mode.

    Boot (power up) and hold down the Command and R keys.

    http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/

    Install OS X on Emergency Backup 1.

    Boot the Startup Manager (Boot and hold down Option).

    Select Emergency Backup 1 and let it boot.

    Use the Finder to drag as many files as you can onto the new system disk.

    Double click on the old hard disk icon (“Macintosh HD”).

    > Users

    > Your user name

    You will see a list of folders that contain your data.

    The Documents, Movies, Music, and Pictures folders are the important ones to copy (drag) into the corresponding folders on the Emergency Backup 1.

     

    If you are having trouble pulling the data off of that drive use Disk Utility to repair the disk.

    From the Finder, pull down the Go menu to Utilities.

    This will open the Applications > Utilities folder.

    Run Disk Utility.

    Click on the second disk indented to the right.  (“Macintosh HD”.)

    > First Aid

    > Repair Disk.

    Run it two or three times if you if it does not finish with a green OK message.

    Resume dragging files onto the new system disk.

     

    If you have not already done so, repair Macintosh HD.

    Having repaired the old disk try booting from it to see if the Repair Disk fixed the problem.

    Boot the Startup Manager (Boot and hold down Option).

    Select Emergency Backup 1 and let it boot.

    Hopefully it will be healthy again and you will not have lost any data.

     

    If it is still sick take it to an Apple store to have the disk replaced and a fresh copy of OS X installed.

    You can then drag your user files form Emergency Recovery 1 onto the new Macintosh HD disk.

    As I noted, keep the old disk.

     

    Resume normal computing.  Reformat the Emergency Backup 1 drive naming it Backup1 again and reuse it with Time Machine.

     

    —————

     

    If you need to or want to try to recover more data, as a last-ditch effort you can use recovery software to recover files the Finder will not copy.

    This assumes you have replaced the failing disk and you did not recover all of the data off of it.

     

    Each program costs about $100.  I would try the first two.  They employ different approaches to recovering data.

    Do not pay for an expensive data recovery service.  Mostly what they do is run the programs listed below.

    DiskWarrior:  http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/

    Data Rescue 3: http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php

     

    Purchase a hard disk enclosure and put the old disk in it.

    $22 USB 3.0, 2.5" enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ES2.5BU3W/

              or available from a local brick-and-mortar store.

              A USB 2.0 enclosure will do but the 3.0 enclosure will be faster.

    Installation in the enclosure trivially easy.  All you need is a small Phillips screwdriver.

     

    See the tutorial at that link on just how easy the procedure is.

    Plug in this external USB disk.

    Run DiskWarrior and/or Data Rescue 3.

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 11, 2014 6:40 PM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 6:40 PM in response to hands4

    I didn't bring it in. The back up is finishing now.

  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Feb 11, 2014 6:44 PM in response to t-dot12
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 6:44 PM in response to t-dot12

    Good to hear.

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 11, 2014 7:10 PM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 7:10 PM in response to hands4

    I don't see anything about the run disk utility.

  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Feb 11, 2014 7:18 PM in response to t-dot12
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 7:18 PM in response to t-dot12

    Has the backup finsished so you are ready to try to test/repair the health of the disk?  If so I will send those simple instructions wihtout all the other stuff.

  • by t-dot12,

    t-dot12 t-dot12 Feb 11, 2014 7:23 PM in response to hands4
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 7:23 PM in response to hands4

    Yes the backup is finished, I'm ready.

  • by hands4,

    hands4 hands4 Feb 11, 2014 7:31 PM in response to t-dot12
    Level 4 (2,227 points)
    Feb 11, 2014 7:31 PM in response to t-dot12

    Try and SMC Reset.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

    Did this improve the performance?

     

    Run disk diagnostics with Disk Utility.  This will check if the disk and filesystem are healthy.

    From the Finder pull down on the Go menu to Utilities

    (This will open the Applications > Utilities folder.)

    Run Disk Utility

    Click on the upper left disk icon.

    Does the S.M.A.R.T. status say “Verified”.

              If not the disk/SSD is unhealthy and needs to be replaced.

    Click on the icon indented below, usually called “Macintosh HD”.

    Verify Disk.

    If it finishes with a green “OK” message then all is well with the disk.

    If it shows errors in red then you have found a problem to address.

    Click on Repair Disk Permissions.

    It will list a lot of stuff in black and white you can ignore.

    Report any red error messages and the S.M.A.R.T. status.

     

    If Disk Utility reports any red errors then the next step will be to use Disk Utility to try to repair the disk. 

    Perform the steps in http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836.

    If it does not repair on the first pass, try once or twice more.

    If it repairs (finishes with a green OK message) then quit Disk Utility and reïnstall OS X.

    Boot normally and test the system for speed. 

    Has this solved the problem?

     

    Edited here:

     

    If Disk Utility did not report any errors, then boot in Recovery Mode (Boot - Command-R) and reïnstall OS X.

    Boot normally and test the system for speed.  Has this solved the problem?

     

    Message was edited by: hands4

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