iMac Running insanely slow.

Wooow!!! I have exactly the same problem. I am about to give up completely to Apple and install Windows 10 on my desktop. I have Windows 7 in Bootcamp and works like a charm. Mac OS works horrendously slow. I tried everything that is recommended above and in every other article on the slow Mac subject. Will check the display RAM. If this is not the reason then MacOS will go to the trash bin and Windows 10 will be installed native and I will never look back.

Your Mac slowdown issues maybe different from those who posted.

The Original Poster never even responded to my queries

It would help us to help you if we could have some more technical info about your iMac.

If you like, please go ahead and download, install and run Etrecheck.

Etrecheck was developed as a simple Mac diagnostic report tool by a regular Apple Support forum user and technical support contributor named Etresoft.

Etrecheck is a small, unobstrusive app that compiles a static snapshot of your entire Mac hardware system and installed software.

This is a free app that has been honestly created to provided help in diagnosing issues with Macs running the newer versions of OS X. It is not malware and can be safely downloaded and installed onto your Mac.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Copy/paste and post its report here in another reply thread so that we have a complete profile of your Mac's hardware and installed software so we can all help with your Mac performance issues.

Thank You.

I'll ask you some of the same questions I asked the original OP.

What year, screen size, CPU speed and amount of RAM installed?

How full is your Mac's hard drive?

How many applications do you run simultaneously in the background while working in another application?

Have you installed antivirus software that can severely and negatively impact/slow down the normal operation of OS X?

Do you run any "crapware" like Mackeeper or any other type of "crapware" like so called hard drive "cleaning" apps?

Hi Michel, this is my report - it seems to agree with me that there is a problem - but what is the solution...?

EtreCheck version: 3.4.2 (436)

Report generated 2017-08-02 11:39:44

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 6:09

Performance: Below Average

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Clean up] link to delete unused files.

Problem: Computer is too slow

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac12,2

1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2500S) CPU: 4-core

4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

iCloud Quota: 4.68 GB available

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon HD 6770M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

Disk Information: ⓘ

ST31000528AS disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB

Recovery HD (disk0s3 - HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N ()

USB Information: ⓘ

USB20Bus

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

hub_device

CPS Value600EIGP

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

USB20Bus

hub_device

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Card Reader

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 998.97 GB (549.19 GB free)

Physical disk: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G29) - Time since boot: about 4 days

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Clean up: ⓘ

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.logmein.LMILaunchAgentFixer.plist

/Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/bin/LMILaunchAgentFixer.app/Contents/MacOS/LMILaunchAgentFixer fromlaunchagent

Executable not found!

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.acclivity.fileconnect.plist

/library/Application Support/Acclivity/FileConnect.app/Contents/MacOS/FileConnect

Executable not found!

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.logmein.raupdate.plist

/Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/update/raupdate /s

Executable not found!

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[redacted]@me.com-SharedSer vices.Agent.plist

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/OSServices.framewo rk/Versions/A/Support/CSConfigDotMacCert -l ~/Library/Logs/CSConfigDotMacCert.log -u [redacted]@me.com -t SharedServices -s

Executable not found!

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist

~/Library/Application Support/CitrixOnline/GoToMeeting/G2MUpdate

Executable not found!

5 orphan files found. [Clean up]

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/drivers

[not loaded] com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver (4.1.8221) [Lookup]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.Greatdy.driver.SystemAudioCapture (1.0.0 - SDK 10.8) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTELTEUSBCDCACMData (ZTELTEDriver_MacV5.0.1) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTELTEUSBMassStorageFilter (ZTELTEDriver_MacV5.0.1) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBCDCACMData (ZTEDriver_MacV1.3.12) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBMassStorageFilter (ZTEDriver_MacV1.3.12) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraDIPSupport (1.0.0.7) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraFSRSupport (3.0.0.2) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraHSRSupport (3.0.0.16) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraIPDirect (1.1.5) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.tomtom.driver.UsbEthernetGadget (1.0.0d1) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.zte.LTEdriver.cdc_ecm_qmi (1.0.2) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.zte.LTEdriver.cdc_usb_bus (1.0.2) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 167 Apple tasks

[running] 107 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 40 Apple tasks

[loaded] 168 Apple tasks

[running] 110 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? ffb65062 c85ba378 - installed 2011-11-03) [Lookup]

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a 23d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-20) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.divx.dms.agent.plist (? bf9bdaf7 e0157b42 - installed 2014-08-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.divx.update.agent.plist (? 4a2d5ecc d606b87a - installed 2014-08-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-07-11) [Lookup]

[failed] com.logmein.LMILaunchAgentFixer.plist (? 2c91a132 0 - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/bin/LMILaunchAgentFixer.app/Contents/MacOS/LMILaunchAgentFixer: Executable not found!

[running] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist (LogMeIn, Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]

[running] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist (LogMeIn, Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist (LogMeIn, Inc. - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? fef15fb5 be93c7fb - installed 2017-04-02) [Lookup]

[running] com.sierrawireless.SwitchTool.plist (? f4fe8c02 e7773f - installed 2011-05-06) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (? ? ? - installed 2014-12-20) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2014-12-20) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.acclivity.fileconnect.plist (? 15e0b0cd 0 - installed 2010-06-11) [Lookup] - /library/Application Support/Acclivity/FileConnect.app/Contents/MacOS/FileConnect: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-20) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-20) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (? 856489a3 0 - installed 2011-11-03) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 18a4fa69 - installed 2017-06-24) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist (? 41245744 d09e361c - installed 2014-06-01) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-07-28) [Lookup]

[running] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist (? 3ef8d582 47e6c0f1 - installed 2017-05-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.logmein.raupdate.plist (? 1264939f 0 - installed 2012-08-01) [Lookup] - /Library/Application Support/LogMeIn/update/raupdate: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e afb3bef0 - installed 2010-08-25) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2016-12-13) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (TeamViewer GmbH - installed 2014-12-16) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (? ? ? - installed 2014-12-20) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (? 6a3cceca c85ba378 - installed 2011-11-06) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (? 5c76f5f6 1c9bb8a9 - installed 2015-10-18) [Lookup]

[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[redacted]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist (? ? ? - installed 2011-04-21) - /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/OSServices.framewo rk/Versions/A/Support/CSConfigDotMacCert: Executable not found!

[failed] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (? b9b97797 0 - installed 2014-10-10) [Lookup] - ~/Library/Application Support/CitrixOnline/GoToMeeting/G2MUpdate: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-07-14) [Lookup]

[running] com.google.Chrome.framework.plist (? 8e9be810 1dff9f3a - installed 2017-07-29) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist (? 1dc8f59c 782e7ce8 - installed 2011-10-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist (? cac792c2 782e7ce8 - installed 2011-10-04) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

TomTomHOMERunner Application

(~/Library/Application Support/TomTom HOME/TomTomHOMERunner.app)

Dropbox Application

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

moveAddict Application

(/Applications/moveAddict.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

OVSHelper: 1.1 (installed 2014-08-11) [Lookup]

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.2.0.16 (installed 2013-06-29) [Lookup]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.009.20058 (installed 2017-07-12) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 26.0.0.137 (installed 2017-07-12) [Lookup]

DivX Web Player: 3.2.1.977 (installed 2014-06-11) [Lookup]

LogMeIn: 1.0.935 (installed 2013-03-13) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-07-29)

Flash Player: 26.0.0.137 (installed 2017-07-12) [Lookup]

LogMeInSafari32: 1.0.935 (installed 2013-03-13) [Lookup]

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2013-04-25)

AdobePDFViewer: 17.009.20058 (installed 2017-07-12) [Lookup]

GarminGpsControl: 2.9.3.0 Release (installed 2011-05-07) [Lookup]

PDF Browser Plugin: 2.4.2 (installed 2011-08-09) [Lookup]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.1.0 (installed 2012-04-30) [Lookup]

Silverlight: 5.1.30514.0 (installed 2014-10-27) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 121 build 13 (installed 2017-04-02) Check version

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (installed 2013-04-26) [Lookup]

ClientManager64_0.33: 0.33 (installed 2013-07-16) [Lookup]

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (installed 2013-10-08) [Lookup]

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

[not loaded] Evernote Web Clipper - Evernote Corp. - http://evernote.com (installed 2014-08-18)

[enabled] 1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (installed 2015-10-01)

[not loaded] iTube Studio - iSkysoft Studio - http://www.iskysoft.com (installed 2014-08-06)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2017-06-24) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2017-04-02) [Lookup]

Perian (installed 2011-07-24) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 998.97 GB Disk used: 449.78 GB

Destinations:

Data [Network]

Total size: 3.00 TB

Total number of backups: 112

Oldest backup: 10/2/15, 8:15 pm

Last backup: 2/8/17, 10:41 am

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 3.00 TB > (Disk size 998.97 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

5% mds

5% mdworker

5% mdworker

5% mdworker

3% WindowServer

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

554 MB kernel_task

191 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

177 MB Safari

158 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

143 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

Input Output Process name

1 MB 1 MB Dropbox

2 MB 110 KB com.apple.WebKit.Networking

1 MB 405 KB mDNSResponder

94 KB 21 KB netbiosd

14 KB 17 KB apsd

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

5.94 WindowServer

2.90 LogMeIn

2.18 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

1.32 Safari

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

861 MB Available RAM

40 MB Free RAM

3.16 GB Used RAM

821 MB Cached files

144 MB Swap Used

Software installs: ⓘ

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (17.009.20058): (installed 2017-07-12)

Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2017-07-12)

1Password: 6.8 (installed 2017-07-25)

Install information may not be complete.

First off, uninstall CleanMyMac per the developer's instructions.

CleanMyMac is "crapware", "garbageware" and should NEVER be used!

You have two instances of Adobe Flash Player installed.

Use the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller to uninstall both instances of Adobe Flash Player, then reinstall the latest version.

Uninstall Flash Player for Mac OS

Your Mac doesn't have enough RAM to support any of the newest versions of the Mac OS.

Mac OS X 10.10, 10.11 and macOS Sierra all need a base minimum of 8 GBs of RAM now.

Your year and model iMac can take a maximum of 32 GBs of RAM.

You MUST use THE EXACT RAM that your model iMac is spec'd for.

Correct and reliable Mac RAM can ONLY be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory (crucial .com) or OWC, aka, Other World Computing (macsales.com).

When buying RAM for Macs from Crucial memory, purchase ONLY directly from the Crucial memory website. NOT from some other online source.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27

RAM is, relatively, easy to install as shown here.

https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/imac_mid_2011_mem/

Good Luck to You!

Thanks Michel,

I cannot find CleanMyMac on the computer, I have no idea why the report says it is there - because all searches don't show it?

I removed the double Flash player

Next I will add more RAM

but I am still confused by the CleanMy Mac thing - could it be hidden? Why ?

The Etrecheck reports tells you where to look.

It is in either the user system folder or main OS system folder in another folder called User Launch Agents.

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist

OR

do an exact search using the actual names shown above.

Did you download MacKeeper per chance? That can cause such slowdowns, and can only be removed via these instructions.

Onyx, Macaroni, or any cache cleaner can also be to blame. Those should only be run backed up systems when a corrupt cache file is to blame. Is your system backed up? If not, it should be by following these directions.

Norton is not something that keeps Mac OS up to date. Get rid of it, it can cause slowdowns. You don't need antivirus software on Mac OS X. Nor do you need firewall software from non-Apple sources.

What year, screen size, CPU speed and amount of RAM installed?

How full is your Mac's hard drive?

How many applications do you run simultaneously in the background while working in another application?

Antivirus software can slow down the normal operation of OS X.

Completely uninstall Norton Antivirus. If there is a Norton uninstaller, use it to completely uninstall Norton Antivirus.

Do you run any "crapware" like Mackeeper or any other type of "crapware" like so called hard drive "cleaning" apps?

Use the instructions in this Apple article:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1473

to look for offending background processes. Follow the steps exactly as outlined to get a accurate report.

Not noted in the article is that this won't tell you a lot if you just restarted the computer. Use you computer as normally as possible for a few hours and then run that test.

You may also want to download this utility:

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

It's built by a frequent contributor to ASC and is desgned to produce a report you can cut and paste into a response to your own thread without giving away any private information. It will show troublesome third-party add-ons and programs that can cripple your Mac.

Slow... like one mouseclick and then wait about 30 seconds before something happens. This is propably the HD about to fail. It happened to my iMac (2007) and it became worse and worse. Last week I completely re-installed OSX. This helped for a while but then the the computer stopped and would not even start up. Just a grey screen. So I brought it to a repairshop and they replaced the HD (1 TB). Now it feels like driving an old Mercedes on the autobahn.

My iMac was extremely slow until I shut down memory-hungry programs. I had been running Safari, Mail, Word and PowerPoint all at once. With 1G of RAM, that's too much multitasking. Turned off Safari and Mail and things opened up.

I guess it's terminal doctor...my 27" (size isn't everything) iMac is now 4.5 years old, and from what I read, I think it is about to go 'pop'. At first I thought it was the new OS X. My hard drive is less than 50% full and all diagnostics reveal a machine that should not be under pressure. Methinks it's time to spend some money on a new toy. I suppose that because it has consistently outperformed (by a long shot) the PC junk that I've had for work over the past few years, and still looks fab, I'd forgotten that these things don't last forever 😮

Hi! Try these basic troubleshooting steps:

Safe Boot:

- Shut down your Mac

- Wait until your computer turns off and after that press the Power button

- Right after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key

- Release the Shift key when you see a grey Apple sign and the progress bar below this sign

- After your Mac boots up, restart it as you usually do.

If this doesn't help, follow the instructions below:

- Shut down your Mac

- Wait until your computer turns off and after that press the Power button

- Right after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key

- Release the Shift key when you see a grey Apple sign and the progress bar below this sign

- Once you see Desktop, start a Disk Utility scan to detect and repair file system errors (don't forget to choose your main hard drive)

- Click on Verify Disk and then, if asked to fix problems, on Repair Disk

- After this, click on Verify Disk Permissions and then on Repair Disk Permissions

- After the process is finished, shut down your Mac and turn it back on after about 30 seconds

Apart from that, take a look at this Apple article and follow the instructions on Resetting NVRAM shown there: How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Try resetting the System Management Controller: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Hope this helps!

did you try AHT with your HD? my HD passed AHT but it's making a constant humming sound and my iMac is running slow. thinking HD is going soon too.