Can I update my iMac8,1 OSX to 10.9.4

Question

Can I update my iMac8,1 OSX to 10.9.4

I have a iMac8,1 Processor Name:Intel Core 2 Duo Processor Speed:3.06 GHz Number of Processors:1 Total Number of Cores:2 L2 Cache: 6 MB Memory:4 GB. I have 2-2GB DDR2 SDRAM, speed: 800MHz. I have been advised by the Genius Bar the this machine may not be able to handle the processing demands of the Maverick OSX upcoming upgrades. I lost a previous hard drive in the machine before upgrading from 2 to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM. I am currently running with OSX 10.9.3. It does slow down when pressing with multiple windows. Also I am careful to close all applications before shutting down otherwise the wait for the machine to u

Can I update the OSX to 10.9.4 without danger crashing the system or overwhelming the hard drive because of inadequate processing memory?

Posted on Jul 10, 2014 7:18 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

MichelPM

Level 10

80,968 points

Jul 10, 2014 10:54 PM in response to Theduckjustjumped

If you are experiencing slowness, you may have software installed that maybe causing the issue or is incompatible with Mavericks that either needs to be removed or updated.

You may, also, have too many apps launching at startup/login that is eating up CPU and RAM cycle/resources.

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

If you wish, Please download, install and run Etrecheck.

Etrecheck was developed as a simple Mac diagnostic 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 new OS X 10.9 Mavericks.

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.

Also, FYI, your model and year iMac can take a total of 6 GBs of RAM.

This means replacing one of the 2 GB RAM modules with a 4 GB one.

OWC (macsales.com ) has the right spec'd. 4 GB RAM module you need.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/6400DDR2S4GB/

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Answer 2

Whywutt

Level 2

177 points

Jul 11, 2014 1:38 AM in response to Theduckjustjumped

Upgrading from 10.9.3 to 10.9.4 shouldn't pose a problem. As far as I know, there's no major resource-grabbing features in this release. Just a load of security fixes, bug fixes and performance tweaks that should only improve your user experience.

Obviously, make sure you have a full system backup in Time Machine before you upgrade. Maybe even a full separate non-Time Machine backup of all the important files and media just to be safe if you are that concerned about your hard drive.

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Answer 3

Jul 11, 2014 5:06 PM in response to MichelPM

The eshop 4GB module offer is just 2- 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, speed: 800MHz. I was referred to eshop by an Apple genius person who made the 4GB Module assumption also. I replaced the 2 -1GB DDR2 SDRAM, speed: 800MHz memory in the machine after replacing the hard drive

Too many apps launching at startup/login eating up CPU and RAM cycle/resources is why I close all applications before shutting down. Otherwise there is a longwait for the machine load up and come online.

Below is the Echeck result:

EtreCheck version: 1.9.12 (48)

Report generated July 11, 2014 at 4:34:37 PM PDT

Hardware Information:

iMac (24-inch, Early 2008) (Verified)

iMac - model: iMac8,1

1 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

4 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1200

System Software:

OS X 10.9.3 (13D65) - Uptime: 0 days 3:15:2

Disk Information:

ST3500418AS disk0 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (365.2 GB free)

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

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Seagate Backup+ Desk 3 TB

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 262 KB

Seagate Backup Plus Drive (disk1s3) /Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive: 3 TB (2.41 TB free)

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Logitech USB Receiver

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Gatekeeper:

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:

[loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore (5.2.3 - SDK 10.4) Support

[not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_4 (5.2.3 - SDK 10.4) Support

[loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 (5.2.3 - SDK 10.5) Support

[not loaded] com.seagate.driver.SeagateDriveIcons (5.2.3 - SDK 10.4) Support

[not loaded] com.zeobit.kext.AVKauth (2.3.3 - SDK 10.8) Support

[not loaded] com.zeobit.kext.Firewall (2.3.3 - SDK 10.8) Support

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.CheckmateIdleDaemon.plist Support

[loaded] com.micromat.CheckmateWorkerDaemon.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist Support

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

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist Support

[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist Support

[failed] com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist Support

[running] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.AntiVirus.plist Support

Launch Agents:

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

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.CheckmateAgent.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist Support

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist Support

User Launch Agents:

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

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

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

[running] com.google.Chrome.framework.plist Support

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

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist Support

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

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

Dropbox

Nikon View Monitor Carbon

Air Connect

Internet Plug-ins:

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.0 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.2.1.11 Support

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 Support

freewrl: Version: (null)

AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.3 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 60 Check version

Safari Extensions:

Open in Papers: Version: 1.3

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:

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 Support

Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.4 Support

Stamps.com: Version: 1.1.12 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Akamai NetSession Preferences Support

Flash Player Support

Flip4Mac WMV Support

FUSE for OS X (OSXFUSE) Support

Java Support

TechTool Protection Support

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 124.84 GB

Destinations:

Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 3

Total number of backups: 99

Oldest backup: 2012-09-05 00:30:26 +0000

Last backup: 2014-07-11 22:53:47 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 3 > (Disk size 464.96 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU:

2% WindowServer

1% fontd

0% ps

0% CheckmateAgent

0% CheckmateIdleDaemon

Top Processes by Memory:

492 MB mds_stores

184 MB AntiVirus

152 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

131 MB Mail

127 MB softwareupdated

Virtual Memory Information:

437 MB Free RAM

1.64 GB Active RAM

1.37 GB Inactive RAM

573 MB Wired RAM

1017 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

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Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

141,162 points

Jul 11, 2014 5:37 PM in response to Theduckjustjumped

Your Mac should run OS X 10.9.4 just fine, if you get rid of the notorious MacKeeper.

Follow these instructions to uninstall MacKeeper. They have been tested with the most recent version of MacKeeper. Earlier versions than the one released in 2012 require more extensive work to uninstall all its components. Never install such junk on a Mac.

If you actually used MacKeeper to alter your system, e.g. "remove excess binaries" or such, you will need to reinstall OS X as well as all your additional software. Uninstalling MacKeeper is insufficient to reverse the corruption it is capable of - once again, that is if you used it.

If you merely installed MacKeeper but did not use it to perform any particular action, the following instructions will suffice.

If you used MacKeeper to encrypt any files or folders, use MacKeeper to un-encrypt them first.
Quit the MacKeeper app if it is running.
Open your Applications folder: Using the Finder's Go menu, select Applications.
Drag the MacKeeper icon from your Applications folder (not the Dock) to the Trash.

You will be asked to authenticate (twice):

You do not need to provide a reason for uninstalling it:

Just click the Uninstall MacKeeper button. You will be asked to authenticate again.

After it uninstalls you may empty the Trash and restart your Mac. All that will remain is an inert log file that does nothing but occupy space on your hard disk.

Uninstall TechTool Pro. Refer to its instructions.

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Answer 5

MichelPM

Level 10

80,968 points

Jul 11, 2014 6:26 PM in response to Theduckjustjumped

You are mistaken.

The link I sent you IS for a 4 GB RAM module NOT (2) 2 GB modules.

Click on my link, again! Also, call OWC at their toll free number to verify.

Here are the specs for your iMac's RAM.

6.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots	2 - 200-pin PC2-6400 (800MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

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Answer 6

MichelPM

Level 10

80,968 points

Jul 11, 2014 6:33 PM in response to Theduckjustjumped

You also need to properly uninstall all Seagate installed software. OS X doesn't t need this software.

Also, you have something called Antivirus installed. Whatever this antivirus is m it needs to be properly uninstalled per the developer's instructions.

Antivirus isn't needed by OS X and can, negatively, impact OS X performance.

Also, make sure all your web browser Internet plugins, add-ons and extensions are all up to date.

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