jonsym
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: How do I run a diagnostic test

I have an iMac paurchased less than a year ago and it is running really slow.  I was told it could be a hard drive crash or there as programs running in the background that need to be closed.  I was told it is too hard to do on my own...is this true.  If not, how do I go about fixing?

 

Thanks

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jul 6, 2013 11:01 AM

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jonsym

Q: How do I run a diagnostic test

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  • by Ralph Landry1,

    Ralph Landry1 Jul 6, 2013 11:06 AM in response to jonsym
    Level 8 (41,782 points)
    Jul 6, 2013 11:06 AM in response to jonsym

    Information on the Apple Hardware Test for Mountain Lion is found: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11342 which is designed for use by the user.

     

    You can see how heavily your hard drive is filled by going to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor which has a wealth of information.  See if the cpu is being loaded, that will tell if anything is running in the back ground.  See if there is adequate available disk space, reasonable guide is 5-10% free space.

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Jul 6, 2013 11:07 AM in response to jonsym
    Level 9 (58,956 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jul 6, 2013 11:07 AM in response to jonsym

    Slow Macs can be caused by many things, in many cases it's stricly just RAM related and it needs a RAM upgrade. You can find out about that by clicking and using Activity Monitor to read System Memory and determine how much RAM is being used.

     

    To see if you may have a hardware issue, then run Apple Hardware Test in extended mode at least 2-3x back to back. If you get error codes that confirms a hardware issue. However AHT isnt' the worlds best hardware diagnostic, in other words a system could have hardware issues and AHT may not pick it up. In those situations you have to take it in for professional diagnostics.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 6, 2013 12:45 PM in response to jonsym
    Level 10 (208,044 points)
    Applications
    Jul 6, 2013 12:45 PM in response to jonsym

    First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.

     

    There are a few other possible causes of generalized slow performance that you can rule out easily.

     

    • Reset the System Management Controller.
    • If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
    • If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane.
    • Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any.
    • Check your keychains in Keychain Access for excessively duplicated items.
    • Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, and run Repair Disk.

     

    Otherwise, take the steps below when you notice the problem.

     

    Step 1

     

    Launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:

     

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

     

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

     

    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the icon grid.

     

    Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.

     

    Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.

     

    Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.

     

    Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?

     

    Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)

     

    Step 2

     

    If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.

     

    Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Activity Monitor. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select

    View ▹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar.

     

    Select the 50 or so most recent entries in the log. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V). You're looking for entries at the end of the log, not at the beginning.

     

    When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.

    Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. That should be easy to do if your extract is not too long.