Late 2015 iMac running Catalina - 48 GB of memory installed.
All of a sudden in the last couple of days my Finder keeps crashing. If it's not the Finder, the computer crashes and restarts on it's own. I just ran Disk Utility and Tech Tool Pro - no problems diagnosed. Can anyone shed light on this? Thanks, Carl
carlart wrote:
Thank you for the suggestion. Who is John Galt? ; )
A noted author: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community
carlart wrote:
Thank you for the suggestion. Who is John Galt? ; )
A noted author: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community
Download and run EtreCheck and share the report to the clipboard. Then open a new reply here, and then press the additional text button (that looks like a printed page) to get a text input box big enough to paste the hardware and software configuration report, and paste and post the report here.
Could be installed apps, or bad hardware, bad memory, or failing storage, all sorts of possibilities.
A problem with the Fusion or with the add-on security apps would be the initial suspects.
Right now, the Fusion appears to be working, but HDD errors can be hidden by the SSD.
That the /etc/hosts is populated is odd. That’s usually fairly empty.
Remove Symantec, Norton 360, Norton LifeLock, and related.
Finish removing the firewall app; Radio Silence.
Remove Java if you’re not using it.
Given what I see here, I’d probably wipe and start over, migrating over settings and documents and not apps, given this Mac appears loaded with security and privacy add-ons, some of which such as the firewall appear to be broken. That stuff can get tangled.
Thank you for the help. I don't know where to start. This sounds like a huge undertaking that will take all day to perform all that you've said. This is a work computer. Any ideas about doing this piece-meal? You said to remove Java, I don't even know if I'm using it, much less know how to remove it.
This iMac has been accreting apps and tools piecemeal since at least 2016, and quite possibly earlier. So no, these cases don’t tend to disentangle quickly or piecemeal, not particularly once the add-on security and such apps get involved.
The budget-unfriendly-but-time-expedient option is a new Mac, migrating files and documents and not apps, and installing just what is needed. That’ll also get you an SSD, faster hardware, current app versions, and macOS support with Monterey and Ventura.
And I’d skip the add-on security apps, using the built-in anti-malware tools absent some corporate requirement.
There is probably nothing wrong with that Mac that a nuke-and-pave won't fix. As MrHoffman explained it has been larded down with way too many nonessential modifications to enumerate separately.
Erase it and start over. Do not install non-Apple "anti-virus" / "cleaners" / "helpers" / "decorators" / "tools" / etc. Macs work fine if you just let them work the way Apple designed them to work — without all that junk.
Thanks. I have a lot to think about
Thank you for the suggestion. Who is John Galt? ; )
The Finder and computer keep crashing
