FREEZING in here

Question

Level 1

4 points

FREEZING in here

Macbook Pro mid 2012 10.13.6

Mac freezes every 10 minutes or so. The cursor moves freely wherever I point it but all programs freeze anywhere from 5 to about 25 seconds, then Un-freeze & then fine until the next episode. Ive tried to search out answers & have "reset" all the suggested acronyms but nothing has worked so far. I see in a user response from 2017 that the next thing to try is to create a new user & see if that works BUT the target article is not there! Here's what I mean: If your issues persist after resetting the NVRAM and SMC you'll want to create a test user and see if the behaviours persist within a new user

account. Here is a great resource on using a test user to isolate an

issue: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac. since I can't get that article can anyone explain what to do after "creating a new user"?? Thanks much!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Oct 1, 2020 2:15 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

BDAqua

Level 10

245,393 points

Oct 1, 2020 3:18 PM in response to L4popi

Good tip, if you\d like to research the problem in the other account...

I think we can figure it out if you can submit an etrecheck report...

EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/

Pastebin is a good place to paste the whole report if you capture the URL while there…

https://pastebin.com/

Whew, they've changed pastebin & made it harder, but after pasting in, click Create new paste button, then Embed button, then copy the URL...

The important part is...

https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA

Workable but harder for me to work with...the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...

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Answer 2

L4popi Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 2, 2020 7:16 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I thought I was fairly literate but I don't understand exactly what or how to do what you're advising. OK... download "etrecheck". I imagine there's an interface & "display system config"? Do that & I assume they'll be a ton of text that you say copy & paste to pastebin? or to the additional text button on the bottom toolbar? Then paste that to this forum? Not so comfortable doing this. I know you say "no personal info" but still... maybe I'll have to deal w/ my freezing till I save up for a new laptop (which I've been avoiding since they've taken away the cd/dvd drive... ANY USB ports!! etc.).

My original question had to do with creating a test user to see if the freezing stops. Is that a useless idea?

Thanks all

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Answer 3

L4popi Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 15, 2020 5:30 AM in response to BDAqua

Hello, I've finally broken down & tried an EtreCheck report. It said the major issues were as follows:

Major Issues:

Battery failure - Your battery is

reporting that it needs to be serviced.

Failing hard drive - This computer has

a hard drive that appears to be failing.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned

software files installed that could be adware and should be reviewed.

Should I go ahead and post the report?

Thanks again!

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

245,393 points

Oct 15, 2020 12:34 PM in response to L4popi

Go ahead & post it, sometimes the Minor issues aren't so minor actually.

Failing hard drive - This machine has a hard drive that appears to be failing.

It isn't always failing when you see that message, could be etrecheck thinks something is wrong with it just due to so little free RAM & so much swapping going on, slowing the already slow drive like crazy.

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