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Level 1

8 points

System Preferences | Screen Saver - running slow

I have just purchased a new iMac 3.06 GHz and used the Migration Assistant.app to transfer my user settings and files/folders from my old iMac G5. I did not transfer any application using the Migration Assistant.app.

Problem: As soon as I go to Screen Saver page within System Preferences I get the spinning beach ball and System Preferences runs extremely slow or stops responding. Sometime I can get back to the main System Preferences page using Show All but even then I get the spinning beach ball.

Library | Screen Savers is empty

I have run Onyx and reset the PRAM

This is new machine and other than MS Office nothing has yet to be installed. Are there any settings which may have been transferred from iMac which may be causing problems?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.7), 3.06 GHz

Posted on Jun 16, 2009 5:01 AM

59 replies

Jul 7, 2009 9:05 PM in response to Diranne

brand new imac, migrated from 4 month old imac (where upgraded ilife 08 to 09) then apple store did transfer today
disaster
4/1/2 hours on phone w/ level 2 tech support apple care, told me to reinstall entire software
could not fix..
very aggravated...
can anyone please help?
thanks
rob

Jul 11, 2009 9:34 AM in response to Marc Dahmen

Another happy dude here. Had tried everything I could think of, but it was the iLife Support update and PRAM zapping that finally sorted it out. (Whether it's one, the other, or both, I don't know, as I only tried them in combination.) Thanks!

Jul 11, 2009 2:00 PM in response to rob kaplan

Hi,

Have you tried the fix posted by Marc Dahmen Posted: 22-Jun-2009 23:16 in response to: Diranne? It worked for me and many others. Follow all the steps!

Huron BB

Level 1

0 points

Jul 11, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Diranne

Same problem:
• Eternal beach ball in Screensaver Preference pane
• No iPhoto folders/events listed in source list (at left of pref pane)

Note:
• I'm not one of those who had migrated from another computer.

What I did:
• iLifeSupport903
• Didn't do anything else on the list – rebuilding iPhoto library, zapping P-RAM, etc.

Totally fixed: instantaneous preview, no beachball, iPhoto list present.

Thanks!

Message was edited by: Huron BB

Diranne Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 12, 2009 10:02 PM in response to Huron BB

I have Downloaded and installed the *iLife Support 9.0.3 update* and it works without issue now.

Thank you for all of the support in answering this query.

Diranne Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 12, 2009 10:03 PM in response to Diranne

Download install the iLife Support 9.0.3 update

waaf1o73

Level 1

0 points

Jul 20, 2009 5:18 PM in response to Diranne

I also downloaded the iLife Support 9.0.3 update at http://support.apple.com/downloads/iLifeSupport_9_03 and this solved the problem. My "Desktop & Screen Saver" window in System Preferences was crashing AND the iTunes album artwork screensaver was giving me the error message that none of the songs in my iTunes library had album artwork. BOTH problems are solved with this update. And, I have never even used iLife so I didn't think it would cause any problems, but it did.

Thanks to everyone for the help!

Jul 21, 2009 9:23 PM in response to Diranne

iLife 9.0.3 worked for me as well

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/ilifesupport903. html

SBBOD on screensaver pref pane. Video previews of the screensavers also ran slowly. All after migration from Black MacBook to new 13-inch MBP.

Installing the iLife update resolved the issue.

Jul 25, 2009 3:05 PM in response to Sean Mcgrath

Thanks for posting the direct link to the update. The iLife 9.0.3 upgrade worked for me as well. Nothing else required. I was a migrator from an old G4 system to an Intel iMac.

I too wonder why this doesn't show up on Software Update? Perhaps I already did the update before I did the migration and migration messed things up.

Thanks to all for this discussion and the solution.

JohnMM

Level 1

119 points

Jul 26, 2009 11:39 PM in response to bphendri

Save yourself some time. It is not the user directory preferences (~) but the root that contains both .plists for iLife.

Also, manually run the iLife update 9.03 mentioned in successive posts. Don't bother to zap pram, repair permission, or any of that unnecessary stuff. It will work by simply doing both those things (or maybe even just the latter).

Jul 30, 2009 12:41 PM in response to Marc Dahmen

This worked perfectly for me. The update didn't show up in system update either.

Ian Piper

Level 1

110 points

Aug 1, 2009 3:20 AM in response to Marc Dahmen

What if you don't have iLife '09 on the new machine? I have exactly the problem reported here, and can't think what to do to get things back to normal. Obviously running the iLife 09 update would be futile.

Any other thoughts on how to get past this?

Ian.
--

jmes7827

Level 1

0 points

Aug 1, 2009 4:50 PM in response to bphendri

How WEIRD!

When I tried to change desktop, screensaver or power options, got the spinning beach ball ... nothing I tried would stop the behavior -- had to force quit the process every time ....

Followed these instructions (rebuilt the iPhono Library) and all better ....

I expected this kind of "what appears to be" unrelated issues to go away when I dumped my PC ... 🙂

j

JohnMM

Level 1

119 points

Aug 2, 2009 12:27 AM in response to Ian Piper

Really? What new machine (all but the Mac Pros include iLife 09)? Did you try killing the prefs in the root directory, or did you try any of the other documented steps? You seem to be clear about it not working, but not HOW it's not working. Please detail OS, hardware, and software, and we might be able to help youl

System Preferences | Screen Saver - running slow