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I'm becoming concerned about my iMac and Mountain Lion

Over the past couple of months it's becoming harder and harder to get programs working in a fast and efficient manner. When I click on an email in the Mail client, it can sometimes take over a minute for it to move from one email to another. Although I realize Internet provider upload and download speeds play a part, during that same time it can take 4-5 minutes--leterally---for a page to be accessed and download. And I don't even want to talk about Aperture and it's plug-ins. This morning, it took well over 5 minuters for an Aperture plug in to be accessed and fully functional; and the past couple of weeks it can take 2-6 minutes for Aperture to download a photo already in the library and bring it up for working on.


I got a new iMac about 6 months ago and it started out working great, but thse past couple of months it's been one of the slowest and frustrating machines I've ever owned. I purchased MacKeeper in hopes that it would end the problems, and it has helped some, but not nearly enough For the past 7-8 years I have been a 100% percent faithful Apple Fanboy, but these issues are starting to make me want to throw my iMac, less than 7 months old out the window. It's got 4 GB Ram, but since it worked fine for the first few months, I'm thinking it's something else.


Any suggestions?

Posted on Dec 19, 2012 5:54 PM

Reply
37 replies

Dec 19, 2012 6:13 PM in response to Gr8fulted

Well, for one thing, 4 GB is an absolute minimum - running Aperture efficiently, you should really have double that. You might want to check Activity Monitor (Applications > Utilities) and check how much memory apps are using - post a screenshot of the high usage "offenders". Also, check at the bottom of the window under memory - can you post a screenshot of that part please.


And, how much empty hard drive space do you have/maintain?

Dec 19, 2012 7:09 PM in response to Gr8fulted

My guess would be that you've got a bunch of crap third-party software installed. That is mostly based on the fact that you have one of the most reviled apps in Mac history installed: MacKeeper. It is well-known for bringing a healthy Mac to its knees and even damaging systems to the point that they need reinstalling. Get rid of it, and then go through all your other third-party software with a fine-toothed comb. You'll find some suggestions as to how to do this, as well as some other tips, in my Mac Performance Guide:


http://www.reedcorner.net/mpg/

Dec 19, 2012 9:04 PM in response to babowa

babow:

The high usage offenders are :

Safari (176.6 MB)

Safari Web Content (175.5 MB)

Mail (121.0 MB)

Finder (51.9 MB)


Nothing else comes close. CPU usage very low, alhtough I don't have Aperture running right now. Here's a shot of the system memory portion:


User uploaded file


I although I hear the others saying MacKeeper is a very likely cause for some of this, I didn't download MacKeeper until I began to experience problems. Additionally, I only have 4 GB Ram on my iMac at work and Aperture works just fine.

Thanks for any help you all give continue to give.

Dec 19, 2012 9:25 PM in response to Gr8fulted

Okay, if you like MacKeeper, it's your decision. I would not let it within 20 ft of any of my Macs.


As for the RAM, your screenshot does not show. You need to use the little camera icon in the toolbar to post the picture.


And, as for Aperture, most posts I've read report needing more RAM for it, but - again - if it works for you, great. I'd still like to see the screenshot of your memory usage.

Dec 19, 2012 9:30 PM in response to Gr8fulted

Make absolutely certain all vestiges of MacKeeper are really gone.


You should also boot OS X Recovery and use Disk Utility to verify and repair your disk if necessary. Disk corruption or pending failure could explain this.


To help identify other third party software that may be to blame, also consider the following. It may reveal something useful, or nothing at all, but is easy enough to do.



Apple Support Communities contributor etresoft wrote a very useful app to quickly gather certain system information that may help point to a cause of this problem. Go to his website, download and run EtreCheck:


http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck


Don't be concerned about anything that says "Problem" or "failed".


Copy and paste its output in a reply.


Etrecheck was designed to remove any personal information (such as your computer's name and serial numbers) but if you see anything that looks like an email address or any other personal information that should not be divulged to others, please delete or obscure that information when you post the reply.


When you are finished with EtreCheck, quit the program. It occupies very little space, and you can keep it or drag it to the Trash as you wish.


Dec 19, 2012 9:55 PM in response to Gr8fulted

So I downloaded and ran etrecheck's softare and this is the result:


Hardware Information:

iMac - model: iMac12,2

1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4 cores

4 GB RAM


Startup Items:

AdobeVersionCueCS2 - Path: /Library/StartupItems/AdobeVersionCueCS2

HP Trap Monitor - Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP Trap Monitor

ProTec6b - Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b


System Software:

OS X 10.8.2 (12C60) - Uptime: 0 days 15:44


Disk Information:

ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 999.35 GB (627.43 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB


OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H


USB Information:

Western Digital My Book 1110 804.4 MB

disk2s0 (disk2s0) <not mounted>: 700.4 MB

disk2s0s1 (disk2s0s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

WD SmartWare (disk2s0s2) /Volumes/WD SmartWare: 237.5 MB (Zero KB free)

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Kingston DataTraveler G3 4 GB

NO NAME (disk3s1) /Volumes/NO NAME: 4 GB (3.65 GB free)

Western Digital My Book 111A 3 TB

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

My Book (disk1s2) /Volumes/My Book 3: 3 TB (1.04 TB free)

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)


FireWire Information:


Kernel Extensions:

com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver Version: 1.0.0

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower Version: 1.5.3

com.taoeffect.ispy.kext Version: 2.0.1

com.sophos.kext.sav Version: 8.0.4


Problem System Launch Daemons:

[failed] com.apple.coresymbolicationd.plist

[failed] com.apple.xprotectupdater.plist


Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.afpstat.plist

[failed] com.apple.printtool.agent.plist


Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.autoupdate.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.intercheck.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.notification.plist

[loaded] com.taoeffect.ispyd.plist

[loaded] com.wdc.WDDMservice.plist

[loaded] com.wdc.WDSmartWareServer.plist


Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

[failed] com.cooliris.SetLaunchArch.plist

[loaded] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist

[loaded] com.sophos.uiserver.plist

[loaded] net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist


User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.plist

[loaded] de.metaquark.appfresh.plist


User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

GrowlHelperApp

GrowlHelperApp

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

GeekTool

Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper

ZangZing

PowerboxInjector

RelaunchFinder

SophosUIServer

WDQuickView


3rd Party Preference Panes:

Adobe Version Cue CS2

Adobe Version Cue CS3

DivX

Flash Player

Flip4Mac WMV

GeekTool

Launchpad-Control

WDQuickView


Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101736.plugin

CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL.plugin

CoolirisWebKitPlugin.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

GarminGpsControl.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

LogMeIn.plugin

LogMeInSafari32.plugin

LogMeInSafari64.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

QuickUpload.plugin

RealPlayer Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin


User Internet Plug-ins:

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin


Bad Fonts:

None


Top Processes:

25.6 % WebProcess

6.3 % mds

6.0 % WindowServer

4.5 % Safari

4.1 % activitymonitord

2.4 % ubd

1.6 % InterCheck

1.3 % smb-sync-preferences

1.2 % Finder

0.9 % syslogd

Dec 19, 2012 10:10 PM in response to Gr8fulted

Thanks to whomever it was that edited the screen shot with my real name in it. Now that MaKeeper has been uninstalled, I do notice a marked difference in the performance of the machine. I'm not quite ready to say this was the sole cause and it's all fixed because decreased performance was one the reasons I succumbed to the MacKeeper draw in the first place. I think I'll work with the iMac for a few days and see how it goes.


I cannot say thank you enough to all you folks who have been working with me on this issue. You've been patient and kind, not snippy at all.


It's appreciated.


Lemme know if that system info from the etrecheck software reveals anything I shouuld know.

I'm becoming concerned about my iMac and Mountain Lion

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