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Slow iMac - Failing hard drive & Runaway process

My iMac late 2012 is running very slow on startup and opening program. I was on the phone with Apple support and they helped me clear up a few things but it is still slow. I ran Etrecheck and received the below report saying I have Failing Hard Drive and Runaway Process. However, I don't know what I can do about those issues. Any advice would be appreciated!


Posted on Aug 15, 2020 5:17 PM

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Posted on Aug 15, 2020 6:44 PM

Just notice it when looking for info for you, your 2012 maybe be different then the older ones, they may of change the design. May call Apple and see if there is anybody that fix or replace hard drive. Or better yet, look for a place in your area that there maybe some person that fix Apple, but check them out first and see if they are true to trust them. Just found your year on the mac, too hard to replace.


https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2544+Hard+Drive+Replacement/16729


14 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 15, 2020 6:44 PM in response to chaz1768

Just notice it when looking for info for you, your 2012 maybe be different then the older ones, they may of change the design. May call Apple and see if there is anybody that fix or replace hard drive. Or better yet, look for a place in your area that there maybe some person that fix Apple, but check them out first and see if they are true to trust them. Just found your year on the mac, too hard to replace.


https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2544+Hard+Drive+Replacement/16729


Aug 16, 2020 9:54 AM in response to gwennypaa

System Software:

macOS Catalina 10.15.5 (19F101)

Time since boot: About 8 days


With only 8GB of hard-to-upgrade RAM, restarting every few days can help performance.


Please either enable Full Drive Access in EtreCheck, or see this Apple support article to find out what "Other Process" is using 175% of your processor:


See how apps affect Mac performance, battery runtime, temperature, and fan activity - Apple Support


⚠️ NOTE: Steps 1 and 2 in that article are vitally important to getting usable results. Skip those and you may as well skip the entire test.


Another note---the test uses Activity Monitor ( or "AM," a part of macOS). AM's display is dynamic, changing every few seconds. You must watch the display for about 30 seconds, noting any process names that continue to "bubble" to the top of the list. The dynamic display makes screen shots hard to capture as well. Simply note the process and post its name here.



Aug 15, 2020 5:57 PM in response to gwennypaa

yes the hard drive is going bad, they don't last long beyond 8 years, mine is mid 2011, doing it too, I use it as a second backup, got a new one, fusion drive, wow! But will replace the hard drive on my mid 2011 one, love them, they work better with apps then the new ones, since the apps are out dated and will not run, that's the only thing I'm very mad about the apple.

Aug 15, 2020 6:35 PM in response to gwennypaa

if your iMac is one of the big ones that has a disk drive in it, I looked the info on it is a little different to replace from the one I did, if you unsure how to do it, then don't, but here is what I find on fixing or replacing hard drive, didn't see this one, they really change it the last time I did it.



https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2308+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1766

Sep 23, 2020 6:58 AM in response to chaz1768

After watching this tutorial and several others - we decided to to the "surgery" at home (to avoid unnecessary contact during this pandemic), and it worked great! I consulted with a friend to make sure we ordered the right hard drive (got an SSD) and just carefully watched the videos a few times. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My iMac is running great now.

Slow iMac - Failing hard drive & Runaway process

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