MacBook Pro has to 'think' too often/long!

Question

Level 1

8 points

MacBook Pro has to 'think' too often/long!

For a few days it's been acting strange! 😟

- ik thinks too long, and a few days ago I even had to force it off a few times, and it didn't even work one of the days, only at night it was kindog 'normal' again.

- ik 'thinks' every 15 minutes for toooo long (so the rainbow starts turning and I can't do anything else than just wait)

- it went off by itself one of these nights, while I ALWAYS leave it on (just close it) and when I turned it on the next morning it still had 80% of battery!

What's going on?? Can somebody help me?? 😟

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012), iOS 6.1

Posted on Feb 1, 2013 6:08 AM

Reply

Answer 1

cariocassa Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2013 1:51 PM in response to Bob Spaulding

First, thank you so much for your quick reply!

Now, I have some issues still:

1) no, even when I close ALL apps, it still gives me the rainbow with the same frequency.

2) via Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor, and click on the "System Memory" tab, I get this:

The 900 MB something FREE doesn't sound 'healthy' to me, but what IS healthy? I have no knowledge of this, sorry! 😟

3) via "the Finder, choose the "Go > Computer" option. Click ONCE on your main hard drive, and then go to the File > Get Info menu option in the menu bar" I get this:

So still 665GB available... this is ok, right?

4) I followed the steps precicely of the link http://guides.macrumors.com/Repairing_Permissions, and still no result... 😟

5) I verified the disk, and got this:

It seems as if I need to repair it, but can I just do it like it says "restart the computer holding down the cmd + R"? 😕

Now, I have an extra info to give, which might be of use:

After having this MacBook Pro for about 2 months only, I had an internal HD problem. It just stoped and it was replaced at the Apple Store in Amsterdam. Before that I had never had this problem, but after that it took about 4 months to start this problem!

What do I do now?? 😟

It's really bothering me, as I work with photography and design, and can't stand having to wait for my super machine to 'think'! 😠

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 1, 2013 2:19 PM in response to cariocassa

I get not wanting to wait so much!

Three things.

First, if you haven't backed your hard drive up recently, this is a great time to do that (to an Apple Time Machine external drive, or online, etc.) just in case. You can never back up too much.

Second, after you've done that, definitely do just what Disk Utility is recommending - and restart by holding down COMMAND - R. And then when the disk utilities window shows up, choose Disk Utilities, and this time click on "repair disk".

Third, you might consider downloading this application, and letting it run and show an icon in your menu bar - the icon can be configured to turn red if your disk is experiencing problems. http://download.cnet.com/SMARTReporter/3000-2086_4-49263.html

If you get through step 3, and the disk shows as okay in Smart Reporter and the problem still keeps happening, you've exhausted my knowledge, but there are people who hang around these forums who know a good deal more than me.

Reply

Answer 3

Feb 1, 2013 9:53 AM in response to cariocassa

Two problems I've experienced (and been able to solve) come to mind.

First, memory. Do you have a lot of applications open? Check the dock to see how many applications have a blue dot below them. If you do use lots of applications at the same time, or a couple specialized programs, or do lots of graphic editing, you may be running low on memory, which can mean either the RAM chips inside your computer, or virtual memory on your hard drive.

To see memory use, go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor, and click on the "System Memory" tab. If there isn't a healthy chunk of "free" memory, then it may be a memory problem. You can add extra, or make sure at least that have enough free space on your hard drive for the system to use it as backup (virtual) memory.

So one solution is to get more RAM - check out your Apple retailer for more info. But another solution may be to make sure you have enough empty space on your hard drive. You can see that by going to to the Finder. In the Finder, choose the "Go > Computer" option. Click ONCE on your main hard drive, and then go to the File > Get Info menu option in the menu bar. You should generally have in the range of 20 to 30GB for a normal setup. Much less than that will often slow your computer to a halt. Spinning rainbow beach balls ensue.

But if your hard drive isn't full, and you don't use lots of heavy-duty programs, another common issue is a permissions problem. The fix may need to be repeated periodically, but for me, it has definitiely solved some of these sorts of problems. http://guides.macrumors.com/Repairing_Permissions

You can also use disk utility to do more invasive repairs to your computer's hard drive if there are problems. That requires more work than I have time to describe, but you can use the "Verify Disk" option in Disk Utility to at least check for problems, but not repair them without more effort. Use system help or the Google for more info on how to do that.

Reply

Answer 4

cariocassa Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2013 4:10 PM in response to Bob Spaulding

Thank you for your patience!!

I have backed-up (external on Time Machine), followed the repair disk instructions, downloaded the app you advised AND cleaned my desktop (it had over 100 items on it hihihihi 😝)

Before I started cleaning up the desktop, it was still slow (actually even slower!), but as I went cleaning, it got better.

So now I don't know exactly what it was, but it hasn't given me the rainbow for over half hour now, plus it seems to be reacting faster, so huray! 😀

(glad I didn't pay €44,- for the phone support! 😉)

Reply