Q: iMac Super Slow

I suggest you download and install EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Run EtreCheck and publish report here

Allan

Maverick tries to keep everything in RAM - rather than using VM for overflow - it will compress RAM and maybe delete some pages before it uses VM -- that may be the problem you are having.

Am on Snow Leopard and now very concerned about way Apple is going in re to home desktop users like myself where prime use is photoshop to save the family pictures.  When I load photoshop, most of it loads to VM - and none of it pages to RM when  you are just removing scratches, dings, and fingerprints from a black and white picture.

guess what you are suppose to do is buy more RAM or a new mac with tons of ram

Please run the Etrecheck report app that Allan Eckert posted a link to.

Etrecheck was developed as a simple Mac diagnostic report tool by a regular Apple Support forum user and technical support contributor named Etresoft. Etrecheck is a small, unobstrusive app that compiles a static snapshot of your entire Mac hardware system and installed software.

This is a free app that has been honestly created to provided help in diagnosing issues with Macs running the new OS X 10.9 Mavericks.

It is not malware and can be safely downloaded and installed onto your Mac.

Copy/paste and post its report here in another reply thread so that we have a complete profile of your Mac's hardware and installed software so we can all help with your Mac performance issues.

Thank You.

sorry, I'm not running Mavericks, but I'm having a similar problem as well. running OSX 10.8.5 on a mid 2010 21.5" intel iMac with 16 gb DDR3

I mostly use my MacBook Pro, and it's an older 2006 machine, but it's now blazingly faster than my iMac. I first noticed it yesterday tried to do some work, and it seems like almost anything I do I get the rolling beach ball for around 5 seconds, sometimes more. I have run disc repair, verified & repaired permissions, reset PRAM, deleted a bad keychain file, run Onyx, got rid of Google Chrome, memory cleaner & disc doctor (from the app store) and a few other third party apps I thought might be the cause but nothing has helped. I am about to run a hardware test, but I thought I'd post this first.

I would really appreciate any help/advise (as I literally wait again for the rolling beach ball to stop)

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

Report generated September 7, 2014 10:11:30 PM EDT

Hardware Information: ?

  iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)

  iMac - model: iMac11,2

  1 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2 cores

  16 GB RAM

Video Information: ?

  ATI Radeon HD 4670 - VRAM: 256 MB

  iMac 1920 x 1080

System Software: ?

  OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) - Uptime: 0 days 0:58:21

Disk Information: ?

  ST3500418AS disk0 : (500.11 GB)

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

  disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

  iMac (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (424.62 GB free)

  Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

  OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H

USB Information: ?

  Canon CanoScan

  Canon iP3500 series

  Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

  Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

  Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

  Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

  Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

  Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

  Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Firewire Information: ?

  WD My Book 1112 800mbit - 800mbit max

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

  disk2s1 (disk2s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

  iFlyer (disk2s3) <not mounted>: 2 TB

Gatekeeper: ?

  Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ?

  [not loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.9.0 - SDK 10.6) Support

  [not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.0 - SDK 10.6) Support

  [not loaded] com.dymo.usbprinterclassdriver.kext (1.1 - SDK 10.5) Support

  [not loaded] com.m-audio.usb.midisupport.driver (1.1) Support

  [not loaded] com.microsoft.driver.MicrosoftMouse (8.0.1) Support

  [not loaded] com.microsoft.driver.MicrosoftMouseBluetooth (8.0.1) Support

  [not loaded] com.microsoft.driver.MicrosoftMouseUSB (8.0.1) Support

  [loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.74) Support

  [not loaded] com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.74) Support

  [not loaded] com.symantec.kext.ips (1.3.1f6) Support

  [not loaded] com.wdc.driver.1394HP (1.0.9) Support

  [not loaded] com.wdc.driver.USBHP (1.0.11) Support

Startup Items: ?

  M-Audio Firmware Loader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/M-Audio Firmware Loader

Problem System Launch Agents: ?

  [loaded] .SM.gul.com.apple.SafariNotificationAgent.plist (hidden)/usr/libexec/SafariNotificationAgent

  [loaded] .SM.gul.com.apple.screensharing.MessagesAgent.plist (hidden)

  /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/AppleVNCServer.bundle/Contents/Ma cOS/AppleVNCServer

Launch Daemons: ?

  [loaded] .SM.gul.com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (hidden)

  /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player Install Manager/fpsaud

  [invalid] .SM.gul.com.dymo.pnpd.plist

  [loaded] .SM.gul.com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist (hidden)

  /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper

  [running] .SM.gul.com.rim.BBDaemon.plist (hidden)

  BBDaemon

  [not loaded] .SM.gul.com.wdc.WDDMservice.plist (hidden)/Library/Application Support/WDSmartWare/WDDMService

  [not loaded] .SM.gul.com.WesternDigital.WDSmartWareD.plist (hidden)

  /Library/Application Support/WDSmartWare/Backup/Daemons/WDSmartWareD

  [invalid] .SM.gul.lk.com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

  [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

  [invalid] com.dymo.pnpd.plist

  [loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support

  [loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist Support

  [running] com.rim.BBDaemon.plist Support

  [loaded] com.westerndigital.WD-SmartWare-Installer.plist Support

Launch Agents: ?

  [not loaded] .SM.gul.com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (hidden)

  /Library/Application Support/Adobe/OOBE/PDApp/UWA/UpdaterStartupUtility -mode=logon

  [running] .SM.gul.com.rim.BBAlbumArtCacher.plist (hidden)

  RimAlbumArtDaemon

  [running] .SM.gul.com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist (hidden)

  BBLaunchAgent

  [invalid] .SM.gul.lk.com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

  [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

  [running] com.flipvideo.FlipShare.AutoRun.plist Support

  [running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist Support

  [loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support

  [running] com.rim.BBAlbumArtCacher.plist Support

  [running] com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ?

  [loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

  [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

  [failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

  [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

User Login Items: ?

  Garmin Express Service

  MicrosoftMouseHelper

  Connect360Helper

  Meteorologist

  BlackBerry Device Manager

  SymSecondaryLaunch

  WDQuickView

Internet Plug-ins: ?

  DYMO NPAPI Addin: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

  Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 Support

  DYMO Safari Addin: Version: (null) - SDK 10.5 Support

  AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.10 Support

  FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.176 - SDK 10.6 Support

  Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

  QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

  Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.176 - SDK 10.6 Support

  iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

  AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.10 Support

  GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.0.4.0 Release - SDK 10.6 Support

  JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 67 Check version

Safari Extensions: ?

  SCC

  AdBlock

  Reload Button (Update available)

  OpenSearch for Safari

  Dictionary

  Google Search Cleanup

Audio Plug-ins: ?

  AirPlay: Version: 1.7 - SDK 10.8

  iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.1 - SDK 10.8

iTunes Plug-ins: ?

  Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.8

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

  Connect360  Support

  Flash Player  Support

  Java  Support

  Sounds4Fun  Support

Time Machine: ?

  Skip System Files: NO

  Mobile backups: ON

  Auto backup: YES

  Volumes being backed up:

  iMac: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 69.50 GB

  Destinations:

  iFlyer [Local] (Last used)

  Total size: 2 TB

  Total number of backups: 48

  Oldest backup: 2011-03-27 22:13:42 +0000

  Last backup: 2014-09-08 00:42:18 +0000

  Size of backup disk: Excellent

  Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 464.96 GB X 3)

  Time Machine details may not be accurate.

  All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU: ?

      1% WindowServer

      1% WebProcess

      0% fontd

      0% BBLaunchAgent

      0% SystemUIServer

Top Processes by Memory: ?

  262 MB WebProcess

  98 MB mds

  98 MB Safari

  98 MB ReportCrash

  66 MB Finder

Virtual Memory Information: ?

  12.40 GB Free RAM

  2.21 GB Active RAM

  258 MB Inactive RAM

  1.14 GB Wired RAM

  462 MB Page-ins

  0 B Page-outs

It appears that your Mac still has some bits and pieces of Symantec software installed on it. I would strait by getting rid of that first.

I am not seeing anything else that could be making your system slow.

Make sure all of your third party software is up to date as well as all of your various third party connected device drivers/software.

There is always the possibility that your Mac's hard drive is failing.

If you have no backups of your current system or data, this would be the time to create one.

Good Luck!

If you had installed and used any so called hard drive "cleaning" apps, there is, also, the possibility that you damaged and corrupted your OS X system and you will definitely need a backup because you will need to erase and reformat your Mac's hard drive and do a clean installation of OS X and complete reinstall all of your currently installed applications

Have  you contacted Apple Support about this problem with Maverick?

I am inclined to believe there is a problem with the Operating system use of RAM memory in order to speed things up vs paging.

The Western Digital software needs to go. It has never worked well on Macs and got worse with Mavericks. The drive will work fine without it.

However, as a test, disconnect your MyBook for a little while and see if things improve. WD uses a odd formatting scheme that, by itself, can induce delays in drive access. I struggled with this with a MyBook Studio Mac Edition. Eventually, I reformatted the WD with Disk Utility as Mac Extended (Journaled) and stuck the bare drive in a new OWC enclosure and everything is speedy again. You may be able to get away with just the reformat.

You also have RIM's Blackberry software installed - that often crops up on here as a problem-causer. If you can do without it consider removing it, but if you do need it check for any updates.

Delete your Caches files

Hidden Library

Open Finder click Go hold option and click Library>Caches delete all content

Click Go again then computer>Mac HD> System>Library>Caches delete all content

Click Go again then computer>Mac HD>Library>Caches delete all content

After you delete the content from those three folders restart but do not empty the trash until after you restart VERY IMPORTANT

Hope that helps

Thank you for the suggestions. I could not find any other Symantic files through search, or spotlight Allan. I also uninstalled all WD, Blackberry programs, and disconnected the WD drive that contains all my time machine back ups, but still no improvement. I am looking at HD failure as an absolute last resort, hoping that is not the issue. I'm also wondering if I should go ahead and finally install Mavericks? There is a program I use that does not support it, and that is the reason I'm still running 10.8.5. It's just strange to me that this issue suddenly cropped up almost out of nowhere, so maybe my HD is starting to fail. I would just hope that's not the case, as I've had many Macs, and never had an HD fail after only 4 years, but it's certainly possible. I think the last update was a Safari update, and I don't recall this issue showing it's self right after that update. I have also booted off my WD drive to run disc utility, but it seems to run no better from that drive.

Again, I really appreciate the help, and any other suggestions you may have!

Jeff

doing that now, about to restart….thanks

Ok cool, I hope that works