My iMac will not shut down.

Question

My iMac works fine after start-up, but if I then put it to sleep for a couple of hours then wake it up, it is EXTREMELY unresponsive. It might take a minute or more to switch from one App to another. All the time, there is the sound of activity on the internal drive.When I then try to shut down, everything (usually) quits as usual, then the &#x27;spinning cog&#x27; appears on a blue screen. This always used to happen, so I assume it&#x27;s normal, however now it won&#x27;t go away. It remains spinning for as long as I leave it, then I have to Force the iMac to shut down with the rear power button. I have Repaired the permissions of the HD, and also Verified it. That has pretty much exhausted my trouble-shooting abilities, and I&#x27;m getting a little anxious, so I would really appreciate any help.TIAGraeme

Paul_31 · Answer

Firstly, make sure you have a full backup of your data so that you can restore your data should the hard disk fail - the symptoms you describe could indicate that it will. Either a Time Machine backup or a full clone would be ideal.Do you run any anti-virus software or programs that claim to enhance/speed-up/optimise, etc. your Mac? There are some applications which are known to cause slowdowns or make a Mac behave unpredictably.No guarantees, but to try and rule out software as the cause you could download and run the free EtreCheck and post the report here. I&#x27;m not expert in analysing the contents, other than spotting some of the main contenders. Others here will likely be able to offer opinions as well: http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

friendlydrag0n · Answer

Thank you, Paul_31.I shall have to buy an external HD to make a clone, which will take a few days, so in the meantime:Yes, I am running iAntiVirus. I have been using that for a year or so without any problem, but I&#x27;ll uninstall it if there are known problems.The result of running EtreChick is as follows:Hardware Information:          iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)          iMac - model: iMac11,1          1 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4 cores          4 GB RAMVideo Information:          ATI Radeon HD 4850 - VRAM: 512 MBStartup Items:          FxLicenseManager: Path: /Library/StartupItems/FxLicenseManager          ProTec6: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6          ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6bSystem Software:          Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: 0 days 1:12:10Disk Information:          ST31000528ASQ disk0 : (931.51 GB)                    (null) (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 200 MB                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 931.19 GB (377.62 GB free)          OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H USB Information:          Apple Internal Memory Card Reader          Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller          Canon CanoScan          Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub                    Logitech USB Optical Mouse                    Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard          Maxtor Corporation Maxtor 3200 372.61 GB                    (null) (disk2s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 32 KB                    Maxtor 1 (disk2s3) /Volumes/Maxtor 1 1: 372.49 GB (38.2 GB free)          LaCie LaCie HD Drive USB2 232.89 GB                    (null) (disk1s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 32 KB                    (null) (disk1s2) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 64 KB                    (null) (disk1s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 64 KB                    (null) (disk1s4) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 112 KB                    LaCie Disk (disk1s6) /Volumes/LaCie Disk: 232.89 GB (68.87 GB free)          Apple Inc. Built-in iSight          Apple Computer, Inc. IR ReceiverFireWire Information:          WD My Book 111D 800mbit - 800mbit max                    (null) (disk4s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 32 KB                    My Book 4 PHOTO backup (disk4s3) /Volumes/My Book 4 PHOTO backup: 1.82 TB (37.51 GB free)          WD My Book 111D 800mbit - 800mbit max                    (null) (disk5s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 32 KB                    My Book3 PHOTOS (disk5s3) /Volumes/My Book3 PHOTOS: 1.82 TB (972.35 GB free)          WD My Book 800mbit - 800mbit max                    (null) (disk3s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 200 MB                    My Book 2TB (disk3s2) /Volumes/My Book 2TB: 1.82 TB (781.2 GB free)          WD My Book 800mbit - 800mbit max                    (null) (disk6s1) &lt;not mounted&gt;: 32 KB                    My Book 1TB (disk6s3) /Volumes/My Book 1TB: 931.39 GB (891.27 GB free)Thunderbolt Information:Kernel Extensions:          com.wdc.driver.1394HP          (1.0.9)          com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport          (3.2)          com.pctools.iantivirus.kfs          (1.0.1)Problem System Launch Daemons:          [not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plistProblem System Launch Agents:          [failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plistLaunch Daemons:          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist          [loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist          [loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist          [not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist          [loaded] com.memeo.WDMemeod.plist          [loaded] com.wdc.drivemanagerservice.plistLaunch Agents:          [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist          [loaded] com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist          [loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist          [loaded] com.epson.epw.agent.plist          [loaded] com.epson.ews.launcher.plist          [loaded] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist          [not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist          [failed] com.wyse.MacCompanion.plistUser Launch Agents:          [loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist          [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist          [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist          [loaded] com.akamai.client.plist          [loaded] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist          [failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[redacted]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist          [loaded] com.eltima.Folx.Agent.plist          [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plistUser Login Items:          Linotype FontExplorer X          iCal          Skype          SnappyApp          Dropbox          DragThing          RealPlayer Downloader Agent          FontExplorerXAutoload          iAntiVirus          WDMemeoAgent          WDDriveManagerStatusMenu          EpsonLowInkReminderAgent3rd Party Preference Panes:          Adobe Version Cue CS4          Akamai NetSession Preferences          Flash Player          GrowlInternet Plug-ins::          Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1          RealPlayer Plugin: Version: (null)          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.8          FolxNetscapePlugIn: Version: Unknown          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6          Silverlight: Version: 4.0.50917.0          Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.6.6          iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0          Yahoo! Installer 3: Version: 1.0.128          AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.8          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 13.9.8 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! UpdateUser Internet Plug-ins::          fbplugin_1_0_3: Version: (null)          FolxNetscapePlugIn: Version: UnknownBad Fonts:          NoneOld applications:          NoneTime Machine:          Information not availableTop Processes by CPU:               4%          WindowServer               4%          Finder               3%          backupd               1%          EtreCheck               1%          SystemUIServerTop Processes by Memory:          864 MB          Adobe Photoshop CS5          184 MB          Google Chrome          102 MB          Finder          98 MB          WindowServer          82 MB          Google Chrome HelperVirtual Memory Statistics:          210 MB          Free RAM          2.46 GB          Active RAM          1012 MB          Inactive RAM          347 MB          Wired RAM          1.73 GB          Page-ins          157 MB          Page-outs

Paul_31 · Answer

It&#x27;s definitely worth unintsalling iAntiVirus, even though it hasn&#x27;t apparently caused problems in the past. When uninstalling make sure you do so according to the developers instructions so that all traces are removed.None of the other stuff jumps out at me although I have to admit there are a lot of items I&#x27;m not familiar with.If removing the AV software doesn&#x27;t help try a Safe Boot: restart holding down the Shift key until you see the grey progress bar. Input your admin password when prompted and once booted restart as normal from the Apple menu. Safe Boot can sometimes help by forcing the Mac to do some housekeeping.

friendlydrag0n · Answer

Olay, I&#x27;ve properly uninstalled the antivirus software and performed a Safe Boot. I have also removed Skype form my list of auto-login items, as it is often difficult to Quit from Skype, so I thought I&#x27;d err on the side of caution. Now I shall see if things have improved.In case it&#x27;s a clue, I frequently get messages saying that external drives have not been properly ejected, even when they have been, and also the Icons of items on the desktop are appearing quite slowly instead of all-at-once as they used to.Thank you very much for your help, I&#x27;ll get back when I&#x27;ve seen how things are going.Graeme

friendlydrag0n · Answer

Nope, exactly the same problem as before. When I put the Mac to sleep then return several hours later I usually find it has woken itself up and is running a TimeMachine backup, so I&#x27;ve just disabled TimeMachine to see whether that helps.

friendlydrag0n · Answer

I think this is the solution. Since I disabled TimeMachine a few days ago, my iMac has been running perfectly.