Slow file drag: is there a fix?

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Level 1

46 points

Slow file drag: is there a fix?

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum, but use Macs since 2008. I recently updated from OSX Snow Leopard to Lion, and dragging files became unbearably slow. I always moved large files and folders with several files without any problems in SL, but in Lion this is really painful. Just to make it clear, I'm doing things the same way I always did; the only thing that changed is the OS. File dragging became slow in all situations, including from folder to folder, and from my Mac to an external HDD (both via firewire and USB). Why did file dragging become so slow? Is there a fix to this bug? Thank you very much.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Oct 30, 2011 1:27 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 30, 2011 1:50 AM in response to morceg@o

if you just installed lion then you need your computer to be indexed in spotlight. This happens automatically and might make your computer slow for a little bit. Let your computer be inexed and you will experience an increase of speed.

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Answer 2

morceg@o Author

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46 points

Oct 30, 2011 2:26 AM in response to TheSmokeMonster

Thanks for the answer. I updted both my Macs two weeks ago, and they have already been indexed by Spotlight. So there must be something else wrong.

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Answer 3

Oct 30, 2011 2:30 AM in response to morceg@o

try this http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

let us know how it turn out.

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Answer 4

morceg@o Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 30, 2011 3:21 AM in response to TheSmokeMonster

Thanks again. I tried that too. And I did also delete Finder's preference file. Nothing works. File dragging was perfect in SL, but it's awful slow in Lion.

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Answer 5

Oct 30, 2011 5:05 AM in response to morceg@o

perhaps you have a third party app that is taking up cpu that isn't doing well with Lion.

Check that stuff out in your activity monitor and report back with your findinger. make a screen shot of activity monitor ordedered by highest CPU as well as real memory.

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Answer 6

morceg@o Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 30, 2011 12:53 PM in response to TheSmokeMonster

Nope. It doesn't seem to be another app. Please take a look at the screen shot. Do you have another hypothesis? Thanks for the help.

.

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Answer 7

Oct 30, 2011 3:51 PM in response to morceg@o

Try a SMC reset

SMC

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964

you have a couple of things on your computer taking up a large amount of real memory. can you give us a screen shot like you did, but order the real memory from greatest to least?

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Answer 8

morceg@o Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 30, 2011 4:01 PM in response to TheSmokeMonster

Thanks again! I'll try the SMC procedures, and then I'll come back and report results.

Here is the current screen shot of my MacBook Pro's Activity Monitor in decreasing order of real memory:

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Answer 9

Oct 30, 2011 10:16 PM in response to morceg@o

This is your issue right here, notice how you're running out of green space in the pie chart. That means all of your apps are using most of the memory.

let us know how the resets go.

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Answer 10

Oct 30, 2011 10:55 PM in response to morceg@o

Resetting the SMC will likely not have much effect here. If your memory is running low then try quitting some applications until the green component of the pie chart in that window gets larger. A good way to do this is just restart and keep your applications closed, and then see if the slow dragging behavior still occurs.

A couple of options that may help besides freeing memory (or getting more RAM to accommodate your increased memory use), is to use Disk Utility to test the disk for errors. Run a disk verification routine when you have selected the boot volume, and then repeat this when you have selected the boot drive (the device above the boot volume name). If you see any errors then reboot to the Lion recovery partition (restart with Command-R pressed), and perform the fix routines.

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Answer 11

morceg@o Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 31, 2011 6:42 AM in response to Topher Kessler

Thank you very much for the help! I repeated all procedures (PRAM reset, SMC reset, disk verification, restart) and now file dragging in my MacBook Pro (15" Late 2008) seems to be working ok. I'll try the same procedures in my iMac (27" Late 2009) at work. When I bought my MacBook Pro, I upgraded RAM from 2 to 4 gb. Do you know if it is possible to upgrade RAM further in this model?

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Answer 12

Oct 31, 2011 7:14 AM in response to morceg@o

If your system is a late 2008 MacBook "Pro" model then I'm assuming its a MacBook Pro 5,1. In this case you should be able to upgrade to 8GB RAM, though you may need to apply this firmware update (http://support.apple.com/kb/DL975) to do this. Check your boot ROM version (in the System Information utility), and if it is not "MBP51.007E.B05," then apply the firmware update and you should be able to get up to 8GB RAM into the system.

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Answer 13

morceg@o Author

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46 points

Oct 31, 2011 7:30 AM in response to Topher Kessler

It's exactly the one you mentioned (MBP51.007E.B05). So may I upgrade to 8 mb without first applying a firmware update?

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Answer 14

Oct 31, 2011 7:36 AM in response to morceg@o

Yes. Just me sure the RAM upgrade matches the specs of your current RAM (primarily speed and type--ie, 204-pin, PC8500/1066MHz, DDR3). Any RAM manufacturer will work, so dont waste money on Apple's crazy expensive RAM. You should be able to get an 8GB upgrade for around $40-50, and not the $200 that Apple wants.

Any of these from NewEgg should work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007609%2060000617 8%20600000445%20600000401&IsNodeId=1&name=8GB%20%282%20x%204GB%29

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Answer 15

morceg@o Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 31, 2011 8:38 AM in response to Topher Kessler

Thank you! I'll do the upgrade, as the programas I use get gredier and gredier every day.

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