Phil Wade

Q: Finder suddenly running really slow

Hi there.

i am running 10.9.3.  When i booted up this evening I got the spinning beach ball when i tried to select a folder in Finder, for about 20 seconds.  I opened the "force quit applications" window and while the beach ball was spinning it said "Finder not Responding" which then disappeared as the window opened up!

Really weird as it has been running fine for ages and to my knowledge nothing changed from when I left work to when i got home.  Any advice most welcome.

Thanks Phil.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)

Posted on May 29, 2014 1:44 PM

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Q: Finder suddenly running really slow

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  • by Markus Ehses,

    Markus Ehses Markus Ehses Jun 3, 2014 5:28 AM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 3, 2014 5:28 AM in response to Phil Wade

    Hi folks,

     

    not sure if this solution is for everybody on this thread, but in my case, dropbox was the cause for a 20s delay each time I switched from any application to finder.

    Once quit dropbox, deleted from auto-start on login (system prefs) logged out and in again: finder works smoothly. For now, I work without dropbox running, which is not a permamenet solution but gives a hint on interferance of dropbox with some finder functionality.

     

    Put a threat on dropbox.com also. Maybe (and hopefully) someone comes up with a solution.

     

    Markus

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jun 3, 2014 12:24 PM in response to Markus Ehses
    Level 5 (5,605 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 3, 2014 12:24 PM in response to Markus Ehses

    You might need to resync DropBox. Unlink then then add link back in DropBox Preferences > Account.

  • by danburbul,

    danburbul danburbul Jun 3, 2014 12:31 PM in response to Markus Ehses
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 3, 2014 12:31 PM in response to Markus Ehses

    Markus,

     

    FWIW I have found the same thing, Finder is painfully slow and hangs/beachballs when Dropbox is running. My solution is also the same to avoid using Dropbox when I can. I have tried deleting the cache and resintalling without much success.

     

    If you need to you can launch Dropbox, let it sync, then quit Dropbox and relaunch the finder (CMD + Alt + Escape, select finder and "Relaunch"). Would love to hear a response/solution from the Dropbox folks.

  • by altoburgo,

    altoburgo altoburgo Jun 4, 2014 6:51 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 4, 2014 6:51 PM in response to Phil Wade

    +1

     

    I'm having the same problem. It started about 4 days ago. My Finder totally freezes up with spinning wheel.

     

    I tired everything: updating Dropbox (from 2.8.2 to 2.8.3), uninstalling cleaning up the OS and installing it again, restored Mavericks... nothing helped.

     

    I remember I had a similar issue long ago with Google Drive and it turned out to be the sync status icons over the folder icons. Google Drive has an option under Preferences/Advanced to "Show file sync status icons and right click menu" which can be disabled and fix the issue. Dropbox does not have that option. It could be the same thing.

     

    Funny tho I'm having this problem with my main Mac (Retina MacBook Pro 15") but not with any other of my Macs (Mac Mini, MacBook Air 11" mid2011, my wife's Retina MacBook Pro 13"). They are all  up to date and running the latest software from Apple.

     

    I noticed that when my Finder freezes up, in Activity Monitor Finder will be "not responding" as well as "osascript" and I can say it's related.

     

    I also tried updating Java to latest version, just for piece of mind, but no luck.

     

    You see as I have 3 external drives connected to the MacBook using a USB3 hub I thought it could be something like that. I also use the Mac Mini as a server and I have a WD NAS and it could be something related (low wireless signal strengh causing issues trying to talk to the mapped network drives, etc) so it took me a while to finally narrow it down to Dropbox.

  • by Phil Wade,

    Phil Wade Phil Wade Jun 5, 2014 4:26 AM in response to altoburgo
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jun 5, 2014 4:26 AM in response to altoburgo

    Hi altoburgo

     

    All interesting stuff about Dropbox.  Its possible that when I binned the Sidebars plist that is what solved the problem as I had dropbox in my sidebar!

     

    Cheers Phil.

  • by altoburgo,

    altoburgo altoburgo Jun 5, 2014 4:36 AM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 5, 2014 4:36 AM in response to Phil Wade

    I was talking to Dropbox support and they asked me if I had iWorks installed because they are aware of an issue with the latest version of iWorks and the workaround is to downgrade iWorks to version 9 OR export files as iWorks 9. But I don't have iWorks installed.

     

    But I just fixed the problem, thanks to the post from Linc Davis on this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3768164

     

    “Linc Davis

    This helped meRe: Finder crash after downloading Dropbox

    Mar 1, 2012 1:43 AM (in response to noipac)

     

    Back up all data if you haven’t already done so. Before proceeding, you must be sure you can restore your system to the state it’s in now.

     

    Launch the Terminal application by entering the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. If that doesn’t work, then in the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

     

    Copy or drag – do not type – the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:

     

    find ~ -type f -name .DS_Store -delete

     

    The command will take a noticeable amount of time to run. When a new dollar-sign (“$”) prompt appears below what you entered, quit Terminal.”

     

    So I ran the find command for my Dropbox folder only, without the delete option just to find the .DS_Store files:

     

    find "Dropbox (Personal)"/ -type f -name .DS_Store

     

    A big list showed up so I ran with the delete option:

     

    find "Dropbox (Personal)"/ -type f -name .DS_Store - delete

     

    Then I opened Dropbox, it synced properly and Finder looks healthy. Some .DS_Store files came back, but it’s working ok. Maybe one of the .DS_Store files was corrupted and Dropbox went nuts about it?

     

    If this solution decides not to last long and turn out to be a temporary one I shall let you know

  • by bartola,

    bartola bartola Jun 5, 2014 12:24 PM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jun 5, 2014 12:24 PM in response to Phil Wade

    I'm not sure the best place to post this but I am having slow speeds on my 2009 MacBook Pro since installing Mavericks. I have run EtreCheck and here are my results. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am not sure how to go about finding the listed items and weeding them out...

     

    EtreCheck version: 1.9.11 (43) - report generated June 5, 2014 at 3:18:13 PM EDT

     

    Hardware Information:

              MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)

              MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,2

              1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

              8 GB RAM

     

    Video Information:

              NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

              NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - VRAM: 512 MB

     

    System Software:

              OS X 10.9.3 (13D65) - Uptime: 0 days 1:4:0

     

    Disk Information:

              TOSHIBA MQ01ABC150 disk0 : (1.5 TB)

                        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

                        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 1.5 TB (387.57 GB free)

                        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

     

              HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS21N 

     

    USB Information:

              Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

              Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

              Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

              harman/kardon SoundSticks

              Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

                        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

     

    Configuration files:

              /etc/hosts - Count: 15

     

    Gatekeeper:

              Anywhere

     

    Kernel Extensions:

              [kext loaded] com.Cycling74.driver.SAVD (1.0.0d1 - SDK 10.6) Support

              [not loaded] com.Huawei.driver.HuaweiDataCardDriver (4.0.6) Support

              [not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBCDCACMData (1.3.41) Support

              [not loaded] com.ZTE.driver.ZTEUSBMassStorageFilter (1.3.41) Support

              [not loaded] com.cisco.nke.ipsec (1.0.0) Support

              [not loaded] com.equinux.VPNTracker6 (6.9.2) Support

              [kext loaded] com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver (1.0.0) Support

              [not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.leopard (5.6.1) Support

              [not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.master (5.6.1) Support

              [not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.panther (5.6.1) Support

              [not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.tiger (5.6.1) Support

              [not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) Support

              [not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (6.1.5) Support

              [not loaded] com.wdc.driver.1394HP (1.0.5) Support

              [not loaded] com.wdc.driver.USBHP (1.0.2) Support

              [not loaded] com.zte.driver.cdc_ecm_qmi (1.0.30) Support

              [not loaded] com.zte.driver.cdc_usb_bus (1.0.30) Support

              [kext loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.1.18) Support

              [not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.1.18) Support

              [not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.1.18) Support

              [kext loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.1.18) Support

     

    Startup Items:

              CiscoVPN: Path: /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN

              DigiTunnelStartup: Path: /Library/StartupItems/DigiTunnelStartup

              HP IO: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO

              HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

              IntegoCommon: Path: /Library/StartupItems/IntegoCommon

              PACESupport: Path: /Library/StartupItems/PACESupport

              ParallelsTransporter: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ParallelsTransporter

              PureFTPD: Path: /Library/StartupItems/PureFTPD

              VirtualBox: Path: /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

     

    Launch Daemons:

              [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

              [loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

              [loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist Support

              [loaded] com.barebones.authd.plist Support

              [loaded] com.barebones.textwrangler.plist Support

              [running] com.crashplan.engine.plist Support

              [loaded] com.equinux.VPNTracker6.agent.plist Support

              [loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist Support

              [running] com.intego.task.manager.daemon.plist Support

              [not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist Support

              [loaded] com.logmein.raupdate.plist Support

              [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support

              [invalid] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

              [running] com.parallels.mobile.dispatcher.launchdaemon.plist Support

              [loaded] com.parallels.mobile.kextloader.launchdaemon.plist Support

              [loaded] info.lokiware.attachmenttamer.securetool.plist Support

              [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist Support

              [failed] PACESupport.plist Support

              [running] PPPMonitord.plist Support

     

    Launch Agents:

              [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

              [loaded] com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist Support

              [loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support

              [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

              [loaded] com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist Support

              [failed] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist Support

              [not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist Support

              [not loaded] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist Support

              [invalid] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

              [loaded] com.parallels.mobile.prl_deskctl_agent.launchagent.plist Support

              [running] com.rosettastone.rosettastonedaemon.plist Support

              [running] com.srs.EssentialsAgent.plist Support

              [running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist Support

              [loaded] info.lokiware.attachmenttamer.setupagent.plist Support

              [failed] net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist Support

              [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist Support

              [running] SwapperUFi.plist Support

     

    User Launch Agents:

              [loaded] .dat74da.000 (hidden)

                        osascript -e tell application "Folder Actions Dispatcher" to tick

              [loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

              [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

              [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

              [running] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist Support

              [running] com.amazon.cloud-player.plist Support

              [not loaded] com.iLike.Agent.plist Support

              [not loaded] com.linotype.FontFolderProtector.plist Support

              [loaded] com.parallels.mobile.startgui.launchagent.plist Support

              [loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist Support

              [failed] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper.plist Support

              [not loaded] info.lokiware.attachmenttamer.cleanup.plist Support

              [not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist Support

              [not loaded] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist Support

     

    User Login Items:

              Alfred

              FontExplorer X Pro

              Box Sync

              CNQL4801_ButtonManager

              HP Scheduler

     

    Internet Plug-ins:

              ContentUploaderPlugin: Version: 1.2 Support

              Flash Player: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Support

              WacomNetscape: Version: 1.1.0-5 Support

              AdobePDFViewer: Version: 8.3.1 Support

              GlancePlugIn: Version: 2.5.4 Support

              Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 2.6.1f3 Support

              eMusicRemote: Version: (null) Support

              googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.1.18709 Support

              Photo Center Plugin: Version: Photo Center Plugin 1.1.2.2 Support

              iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

              DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.5.0r596 Support

              QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

              FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Support

              Mozillaplug: Version: 1.0

              eMusic: Version: Unknown

              DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 1.3 Support

              MeetingJoinPlugin: Version: (null) - SDK 10.6 Support

              RhapsodyPlayerEngine: Version: 1.1.0 Support

              Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

              Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

              Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.3.8.1 Support

              o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.1.18709 Support

              SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.3 - SDK 10.6 Support

              WacomSafari: Version: 1.1.0-5 Support

              JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version

              OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.2 Support

     

    Safari Extensions:

              1Password: Version: 4.2.1

              Open in Internet Explorer: Version: 1.0

              Pinterest: Version: 1.0

     

    Audio Plug-ins:

              BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

              AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

              AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

              iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

     

    iTunes Plug-ins:

              Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

     

    User Internet Plug-ins:

              WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

              Move_Media_Player: Version: npmnqmp 071503000004 Support

              CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.26 Support

              RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes:

              Adobe Version Cue CS3  Support

              Akamai NetSession Preferences  Support

              Default Folder X  Support

              Déjà Vu  Support

              DigiTunnel  Support

              DivX  Support

              Flash Player  Support

              Flip4Mac WMV  Support

              Growl  Support

              MacFUSE  Support

              Perian  Support

              SoonR Agent  Support

              Suitcase Fusion 2 Core  Support

              WacomTablet  Support

     

    Time Machine:

              Skip System Files: NO

              Mobile backups: OFF

              Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

              Volumes being backed up:

              Destinations:

                        iomega 1TB Black [Local] (Last used)

                        Total size: 931.19 GB

                        Total number of backups: 24

                        Oldest backup: 2011-12-12 18:37:23 +0000

                        Last backup: 2013-04-12 22:25:15 +0000

                        Size of backup disk: Excellent

                                  Backup size 931.19 GB > (Disk size 0 B X 3)

              Time Machine details may not be accurate.

              All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

     

    Top Processes by CPU:

                  36%          CrashPlanService

                   2%          WindowServer

                   1%          Box Sync Monitor

                   0%          mds

                   0%          fontd

     

    Top Processes by Memory:

              532 MB          CrashPlanService

              467 MB          iTunes

              279 MB          com.apple.MediaLibraryService

              229 MB          com.apple.IconServicesAgent

              188 MB          Mail

     

    Virtual Memory Information:

              1.86 GB          Free RAM

              3.39 GB          Active RAM

              1.67 GB          Inactive RAM

              844 MB          Wired RAM

              646 MB          Page-ins

              0 B          Page-outs

  • by dianeoforegon,

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Jun 5, 2014 2:01 PM in response to bartola
    Level 5 (5,605 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 5, 2014 2:01 PM in response to bartola

    I'm not sure the best place to post this but I am having slow speeds on my 2009 MacBook Pro since installing Mavericks. I have run EtreCheck and here are my results. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am not sure how to go about finding the listed items and weeding them out...

     

    Once a post has been marked as answered your issue might not get the attention it deserves. In the future start your own post.

     

    I see lots of items not loaded. I also see you have CrashPlan. It could be Crash Plan is doing a complete new upload of your files and is causing the slow downs. Try disabling CrashPlan and see if your Mac speeds up.

     

    If CP is the culprit, only do the backup at night when not using your computer.

     

    If no, then we need to look at cleaning up your Mac.

     

    I see you had MacKeeper at one time. It does a lot of damage. You have the space to create a second partiton and do a clean install of Mavericks then move over your data only to the new install. This would leave all the old crud you no longer need behind. Once you get your new installworking, you would wipe the old install and clone Mavericks to the top partition. You can then remove the second partition or keep it to test out OS X Yosemite when it's relesed in the Fall.

  • by lenado,

    lenado lenado Sep 5, 2014 6:58 AM in response to Phil Wade
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 5, 2014 6:58 AM in response to Phil Wade

    Hi PW,

    The same problem is occurring in Mavericks--went through the Safe Boot with AppleCare rep. was better for a couple days, but finder back running slow again.

  • by greg sahli,

    greg sahli greg sahli Sep 5, 2014 7:25 AM in response to lenado
    Level 7 (25,395 points)
    Sep 5, 2014 7:25 AM in response to lenado

    lenado

    This isn't the way to get an answer. (it's called highjacking someone else's topic)

    Go back to the Mavericks page near the top - Search or ask a question. Enter your question.

    Please tell us more detail - Mac model, OS X version, what you have tried to troubleshoot so far. Have you used one of those scam cleaning apps? You could try downloading the app called etrecheck, and run it and post the results for us, for one troubleshooting step.

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