HT1758: How to identify iMac models

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lvamy
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: i MAC 12.1 RUNNING SO SLOW, help

every move of the mouse gives me 15 secs of spinning color wheel, it takes forever for the simplest task.  Got my Mac in April, any ideas.  thanks for any help.

iMac

Posted on Aug 26, 2012 9:38 PM

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lvamy

Q: i MAC 12.1 RUNNING SO SLOW, help

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  • by lvamy,

    lvamy lvamy Aug 26, 2012 10:51 PM in response to lvamy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 26, 2012 10:51 PM in response to lvamy

    I tried doing a couple things I found online and it helped a lot(sorry tried to do b4 I posted this question but after 2 hours of getting 2 two pages was frustrated.  I am not tech savy and should probably not have bought a IMac.  I was just reading that just because you click out of something on a mac it doesn't close it so close it the proper way.... which means what??? It did not tell me this part. Also was reading that I need

    software to regularly clean it up, but it didn't say any names-anyone have a good recommendation.

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Aug 27, 2012 4:26 AM in response to lvamy
    Level 10 (208,044 points)
    Applications
    Aug 27, 2012 4:26 AM in response to lvamy

    It's likely that your boot drive is failing, or that you have some other hardware fault. Back up all data immediately, then run the Apple Hardware Test.

    Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test

  • by MichelPM,Helpful

    MichelPM MichelPM Aug 27, 2012 11:11 AM in response to lvamy
    Level 6 (14,279 points)
    iPad
    Aug 27, 2012 11:11 AM in response to lvamy

    Macs do not work like Windows PCs.

    Macs and OS X are designed toward users who aren't tech savvy at all.

    You may need this to get started with Macs

     

    http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

     

    You, also, may find additional books/ebooks on switching from Windows to Mac.

     

    Closing windows on a Mac doesn't close or quit the running applications.

     

    To quit apps there are 3 common ways.

     

    1. Go up to the Mac menu bar, click on bold name of the application, a drop down menu appears, click the quit menu option to close the running application.

     

    2. To more quickly quit an application, while in the running application, type the two keyboard keys Command-Q.

     

    3. Go to the Dock at the bottom of the iMac's screen, located the running app's dock icon, click the icon, a smal bar appears that says hide, quit, force quit. Select quit.

     

    A fourth way to quit a stuck or non-responsive application.

    While in the stuck app, type three  keys Option-Command-Q

     

    At this point, since you seem still new to Macs, you really do not need anything to clean your  Mac's hard drive out of extra useless data. You should still have lots of hard drive space. Cleaning out junk or no longer neede data maybe neccessary when there is a time when your iMac's hard drive starts to get too full. This isn't now.

     

    If your iMac is still slow, it maybe that you need to have more RAM ( Random Access Memory) installed.

    If your iMac has only has 4 GB of RAM installed, it may not be enough RAM for your computing behavior.

    If this is a fairly new iMac,  your iMac can have, at least 16 GBs of RAM installed and, perhaps up to 32 GBs of RAM.

    If, you only have 4 GBs of RAM installed, I would recommend, at least doubling the RAM.

     

    RAM can be bought cheaper through reliable third party online memory sellers.

    Search online for Crucial memory or OWC to purchase reliable, extra memory for you iMac.

    RAM is designed to be user installable, but if you are uncomfortable doing any work on your iMac, you can buy this RAM and have an Apple authorized reseller/repair center install this for you. Actual Apple stores won't install this for you as they won't install RAM from other sources other than Apple's much more expensive RAM.

    If you want to try this yourself, here's the procedure

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423

     

    Good Luck!