Safari barely works. VERY SLOW.

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Level 1

8 points

Safari barely works. VERY SLOW.

Three days ago, March 27, evening, Pacific Daylight Time, I tried to download something from iTunes from my Mac. I had always used my iPad before. It downloaded it, then when I went to play it, it said the Mac was not authorized and window came up asking for my password. I entered and it said "Already authorized". Over and over, no matter what I did. I fiddled around a bit, nothing worked. I looked in help forums, nothing worked.

Finally I gave up. The music I had downloaded was accessible from my iPad so I just moved on and decided never to use the Mac to download from iTunes again. I have just the two, iPad and Mac.

Next morning, Friday, when I turned the Mac on, it sat there for about ten minutes and then asked for my password (not my usual way of getting on. I am the sole user). I thought it must be connected to my previous night's adventure with iTunes.

The system was barely working. Restarted two or three times. After that, I could get to Gmail with Safari.

But Safari was barely functional. I thought it was my ISP, waited a day or two.

But other people in the house who do not have Macs are finding no trouble with the internet.

Still, I cannot use Safari. It is so slow as to be useless. I've tried deleting cookies and clearing cache. Does nothing.

The sites I am trying to get to are large and well known, like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Reuters.

Oddly enough, I can access still Gmail and Blogger no problem. But the news sites, forget it.

Because it started at the same time as the iTune glitch and the strange behaviour of the Mac the next morning, I wonder if it is somehow connected.

Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 29, 2014 5:22 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Mar 29, 2014 6:53 PM in response to Frau Katze

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.

Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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