Recovery didn't fix the beachballs in ML, what next?

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Level 1

4 points

Recovery didn't fix the beachballs in ML, what next?

Hi all - I hope somebody can point me in the right direction.

Recently, I've been brought to a repeated standstill in Mountain Lion on my mid 2009 MBP. The beachball comes up randomnly with pretty much any application. I've had the issue on my admin account, wife's account & a guest user account. I've disabled flash, java, before trying the recovery mode (cmd + R) which didn't help.

I don't know, but it seems like the next step is to do a clean install. However, when I bought Mountain Lion, I forgot to copy the install dmg file to a flash drive. Is this an issue or can I re-download Mountain Lion and go thru the process of saving the install file to a USB drive?

Of course if there's a method I overlooked or wasn't aware of besides doing a clean install, I'd love to hear it.

It would cut down the grumbling from my wife.

Thanks in advance!

Mike

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Sep 27, 2012 7:32 PM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,180 points

Sep 27, 2012 7:34 PM in response to mister5

Have you tried starting in Safe Mode and see if the problem still occurs?

Restart holding the "shift" key.

(Expect it to take longer to start this way because it runs a directory check first.)

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Answer 2

mister5 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 27, 2012 7:37 PM in response to macjack

Hi Macjack - Yes, I tried that, but I think I'd like to try it again. How does it fix the issue I'm having?

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,180 points

Sep 27, 2012 7:41 PM in response to mister5

It doesn't fix anything. It just eliminates Login Items and disables others, (see the link) so you can see how it runs without the extra baggage. If it runs well that way, then you being eliminating what Safe Mode takes out starting with Login Items.

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Answer 4

mister5 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 27, 2012 7:50 PM in response to macjack

Ok got it. I'm in Safe boot now. (link?)

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Answer 5

macjack

Level 10

111,180 points

Sep 27, 2012 7:52 PM in response to mister5

The one I posted in my first reply

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

How is your system running?

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Answer 6

mister5 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 27, 2012 7:55 PM in response to macjack

Ok, sorry, didn't realize it's the same. So far OK. Now it's time to dig in and see what works and what doesn't.

I appreciate it!

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Answer 7

mister5 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 27, 2012 9:43 PM in response to mister5

Checked the login Items in System Preferences and the only item checked is iTuneshelper. I had a few other items:

Dropbox

Eeventmanager (all users) (Epson software)

Cloak

Microsoft Database Daemon

Laciebackupd (all users)

But none of these were checked. What would be a good direction to go now. Simply opening apps and look for sluggishness?

Thanks,

Mike

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Answer 8

macjack

Level 10

111,180 points

Sep 28, 2012 6:43 AM in response to mister5

Do everything you'd normally do in Safe Mode and see if you get the beachballs.

If your everything functions correctly that way, go to System Preferences >> Users & Groups >> Login Items and remove them. (Delete them, not just the minus sign). You can always add them back later.Then boot normally and test.

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Answer 9

mister5 Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 1, 2012 12:36 PM in response to macjack

Thanks again for your help, Macjack. I downloaded SMART Utility and I've got to replace the hard drive.

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