Phil Wade
Level 1 (25 points)

Q: Finder suddenly running really slow

Hi there.

i am running 10.9.3.  When i booted up this evening I got the spinning beach ball when i tried to select a folder in Finder, for about 20 seconds.  I opened the "force quit applications" window and while the beach ball was spinning it said "Finder not Responding" which then disappeared as the window opened up!

Really weird as it has been running fine for ages and to my knowledge nothing changed from when I left work to when i got home.  Any advice most welcome.

Thanks Phil.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)

Posted on May 29, 2014 1:44 PM

by Phil Wade,Solvedanswer
Phil Wade Phil Wade
Level 1 (25 points)
A:

Morning All

 

Sorry but had to crash last night as on UK time.

 

First thanks Diane for the detailed solution, I will note this.

 

And thanls Linc for your suggestion but sadly it did not work.

 

In the end I found an ols thread and tried something else.  I binned the plists of

Finder

Dock

Sidebars

Desktop

Recnt Items

 

I dont know which one it was but the problem is solved!

 

Only legacy I now have which I think is the reinstalltion of OSX10.9.3 via Lion, is that my speedy MPB with SSD now takes nearly 2 minutes to boot up!  Any ideas on this?

 

Thanks again for your help. Cheers Phil.

Posted on Jun 3, 2014 1:15 AM

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Phil Wade

Q: Finder suddenly running really slow

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  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 29, 2014 1:47 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2014 1:47 PM in response to Phil Wade

    Restart in Safe Boot mode and see if that helps. If not, download and run the combo updater over your install to refresh your files.

     

    OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 (Update (Combo)

    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1746

     

    Safe boot

     

    *  shutdown

    *  start the Mac and *wait* for the startup chime to sound

    *  after the sound, press and hold down the shift key

    *  keep holding and *wait* until the grey  Apple logo appears

    *  now release the shift key and just wait (it could take a few minutes)

    *  eventually the login screen appears with the words SAFE BOOT

     

    You can continue to log in to test or restart normally.

  • by Phil Wade,

    Phil Wade Phil Wade May 29, 2014 2:49 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 29, 2014 2:49 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Hi Dianeoforegon

     

    Thanks for the swift reply but sadly installing the combo software has not helped.  Any other advice most welcome.

     

    Thanks Phil.

  • by Phil Wade,

    Phil Wade Phil Wade May 29, 2014 3:01 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 29, 2014 3:01 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Hi Dianeoforegan

     

    Have also tried safe boot. Sadly I still have the same problem!

     

    Have been using a amc for 24 years now and this has to be the most frustrating problem I have had!

     

    Phil

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 29, 2014 3:08 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2014 3:08 PM in response to Phil Wade

    Do you have any external drives attached? If yes, eject and test.

    Do you have backup like CrashPlan running? If yes disable.

    Open Console and check All Messages to see if something stands out.

    Use Activity Monitor to see what is hogging CPU.

     

    Download EtreCheck and paste results here.

     

    http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

  • by Phil Wade,

    Phil Wade Phil Wade May 29, 2014 3:14 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 29, 2014 3:14 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Hi there

     

    Ok will check as you suggest but will need to be tomorrow as it is late in the uk.

     

    What I have established is that the Finder only starts to crawl if I go from Mail to Finder!  If I go from any other application to finder it is fine, buy from Mail it gets hung up!  Maybe I have a nasty email in my folders!

     

    Thanks Phil.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 29, 2014 3:18 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2014 3:18 PM in response to Phil Wade

    Are you quitting Mail to go to the Finder or simply clicking on the Desktop or Finder icon in the Dock.

     

    What happens if you test in a new User?

  • by Phil Wade,

    Phil Wade Phil Wade May 29, 2014 3:29 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (25 points)
    May 29, 2014 3:29 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Hi

     

    There seems to be no rule to when the problem happens!  Sometimes if I click from an Application directly into a finder window it hangs, then if I click to the funder via the desktop it works ok.  But this is not always the case!

     

    Most confused!

     

    Phil x

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon May 29, 2014 3:38 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2014 3:38 PM in response to Phil Wade

    Activity Monitor and Console might be able to help you determine the cause. I agree it is a mystery.

  • by Phil Wade,

    Phil Wade Phil Wade Jun 2, 2014 2:16 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jun 2, 2014 2:16 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Hi All

     

    Well I am in a state of dispair.  I have done everything I can think of.  My last move was to

    Erase my hard Drive

    Reload Lion via the recovery app on the net

    Update to Mavericks

    Update all the software

    Migrate my old user from a TM backup from before the problem

    and hey presto THE PROBLEM IS STILL THERE!!!

     

    Finder hangs for 20 secs most times when I click on any finder window.

     

    Any help will be so welocme.

     

    Thanks Phil.

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jun 2, 2014 2:53 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 2, 2014 2:53 PM in response to Phil Wade

    Migrate my old user from a TM backup from before the problem

    and hey presto THE PROBLEM IS STILL THERE!!!

     

    Migration can bring over the problems. Personally, I am not a fan of migration.

     

    BTW, did you test to see if the problem happened BEFORE You migrated your data?

     

    Do you have the space on your drive to create a partiton for testing. How much space?

  • by Phil Wade,

    Phil Wade Phil Wade Jun 2, 2014 3:02 PM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jun 2, 2014 3:02 PM in response to dianeoforegon

    Hi Diane

     

    Glad you are still out there.

     

    Yes I did try to see if the problem was still there before migration and it was not.   Also if I switch to another user it is not there. 

     

    I had hoped that reinstalling the OSX would solve the problem as I thought it was with the finder but it must be something else.  But what?

     

    I only have about 80GB left on my drive but I am now sure it is something in my user profile.  I just dont know where to start.

     

    Phil x

  • by dianeoforegon,Helpful

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jun 2, 2014 3:32 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 2, 2014 3:32 PM in response to Phil Wade

    You can move to the other User via the Shared folder.

     

    Transferring files from one account to another on the same Mac

     

    Use your Shared folder:  Your Hard Drive/Users/Shared

     

    • Log in to the account you wish to copy files from. Let's call this User Original
    • In the Finder, navigate to the Shared folder. 
    • Drag Shared folder to the Toolbar. Select Icon & Text.

     

    shared.png

     

    Create a folder in shared for Desktop. I like to use folders I create not the root folders in Users. Drag items from Desktop into the "desktop" folder you created. If you drag the root folder it can give you permissions issues when you copy into the new User.

     

    Log out of the current account under the Apple in the Menu bar or use Fast User Switching.

    Log into new User.

     

    Add Shared folder to Toolbar in the new User.

     

    Drag items from "desktop" (it actually copies) to the Desktop.

     

    Log back into the User Original

     

    Delete the files from Shared you copied over to the new User.

     

    Continue doing this for Documents, Music, Movies, Pictures etc. The User's Library folder is one you need to be very careful in what you bring over. Most likely the issue is in your User's Library. Mail and most of the items in Application Support are safe to bring over. Safari and Calendar only if you are not syncing via iCloud. Keychain can be brought over but best to start fresh. Keychain tends to keep a lot of old entries and starting fresh eliminates all the crud that has accumulated.

     

    If you are low on disc space be careful since this copies data. Move one item at a time then delete the original before starting the next copy.

     

    Remove User after you have all data copied to the new User. Go to System Preferences > User's & Groups. Select the account and click on the - to remove. You might want to leave the original User with the User's Library in case there is something you really need but did not move over.

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 2, 2014 4:40 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Jun 2, 2014 4:40 PM in response to Phil Wade

    Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select

    Utilities ▹ Terminal

    from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:

     

    res

    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

     

    resetpassword

    Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

    Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.

    Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

    Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

    Select

    ▹ Restart

    from the menu bar.

  • by Phil Wade,Solvedanswer

    Phil Wade Phil Wade Jun 3, 2014 1:15 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jun 3, 2014 1:15 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Morning All

     

    Sorry but had to crash last night as on UK time.

     

    First thanks Diane for the detailed solution, I will note this.

     

    And thanls Linc for your suggestion but sadly it did not work.

     

    In the end I found an ols thread and tried something else.  I binned the plists of

    Finder

    Dock

    Sidebars

    Desktop

    Recnt Items

     

    I dont know which one it was but the problem is solved!

     

    Only legacy I now have which I think is the reinstalltion of OSX10.9.3 via Lion, is that my speedy MPB with SSD now takes nearly 2 minutes to boot up!  Any ideas on this?

     

    Thanks again for your help. Cheers Phil.

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