HillarySidra
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: how do I speed up the start up time on my iMac?

I have a mid 2010 iMac with the following specs:

 

Processor:  3.2 GHz Intel Core i3

Memory:  8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Graphics:  ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB

Software:  OS X 10.9.4 (13E28)

Hard drive: 1TB of which almost 800GB is free

 

I never had any problems with speed or startup time when running mountain lion (or whatever it was that came before Mavericks) but I stupidly upgraded to Mavericks before reading about all the bugs and now my computer is mind numbingly slow when I first turn it on.  It runs ok once it starts up but the start up process has gone form less than a minute, to turn the computer on and go make a cup of coffee and it's still chugging away when I come back.  I installed an extra 4gb of ram (it came from the factory with 4gb) but that only made a small difference.  I really dont want to erase and reinstall everything so I've tried adding ram, repairing permissions and doing a p ram restart.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Sep 16, 2014 7:00 AM

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HillarySidra

Q: how do I speed up the start up time on my iMac?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Sep 16, 2014 7:19 AM in response to HillarySidra
    Level 6 (8,518 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2014 7:19 AM in response to HillarySidra

    Can be anything. Give us an idea of what is installed on that iMac by posting an EtreCheck report: http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Sep 16, 2014 7:27 AM in response to HillarySidra
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
    Safari
    Sep 16, 2014 7:27 AM in response to HillarySidra

    This is another option - OS X Mavericks: Revert to a previous OS X version .

  • by HillarySidra,

    HillarySidra HillarySidra Sep 16, 2014 7:36 AM in response to Esquared
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 7:36 AM in response to Esquared

    EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

    Report generated September 16, 2014 at 10:33:59 AM EDT

     

    Hardware Information: ?

        iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)

        iMac - model: iMac11,2

        1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2 cores

        8 GB RAM

     

    Video Information: ?

        ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

            iMac 1920 x 1080

     

    System Software: ?

        OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 1:14:32

     

    Disk Information: ?

        WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 disk0 : (1 TB)

        S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 999.35 GB (794.16 GB free)

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

     

        HL-DT-STDVDRW  GA32N 

     

    USB Information: ?

        Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

        Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

        S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

        Brother MFC-J650DW

        Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

     

    Firewire Information: ?

        Seagate Backup+ Desk Mac 800mbit - 800mbit max

            S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

            disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

            Seagate Backup Plus Drive (disk1s2) /Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive: 2.49 TB (1.15 TB free)

            Time Machine (disk1s3) /Volumes/Time Machine: 509.8 GB (201.49 GB free)

     

    Configuration files: ?

        /etc/hosts - Count: 16

     

    Gatekeeper: ?

        Anywhere

     

    Kernel Extensions: ?

        [not loaded]    com.Maxtor.driver.PowSecDriver (4.3.1) Support

        [not loaded]    com.maxtor.iokit.IOFireWireMxBt (4.2.6) Support

     

    Startup Items: ?

        MxBtDaemon: Path: /Library/StartupItems/MxBtDaemon

     

    Launch Daemons: ?

        [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

        [loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.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

     

    Launch Agents: ?

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

        [loaded]    com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support

        [running]    com.brother.LOGINserver.plist Support

        [running]    com.epson.epw.agent.plist Support

        [loaded]    com.hp.help.tocgenerator.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

        [failed]    com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

        [failed]    com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent.plist Support

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

     

    User Login Items: ?

        Google Drive

        Dropbox

        SpyderUtility

     

    Internet Plug-ins: ?

        Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

        AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

        FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

        AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.10 Support

        Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

        QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

        iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

        SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.0.0 Support

        AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.10 Support

        CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL: Version: 3.0.0.2 Support

        GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.0.2.6 Beta - SDK 10.6 Support

        JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 60 Check version

     

    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 iTunes Plug-ins ?

        TuneUp Visualizer: Version: 2.2.0 Support

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

        Akamai NetSession Preferences  Support

        Flash Player  Support

        Growl  Support

        Java  Support

     

    Time Machine: ?

        Skip System Files: NO

        Auto backup: YES

        Volumes being backed up:

            Macintosh HD: Disk size: 930.71 GB Disk used: 191.10 GB

        Destinations:

            Time Machine [Local] (Last used)

            Total size: 474.79 GB

            Total number of backups: 106

            Oldest backup: 2013-01-16 03:21:53 +0000

            Last backup: 2014-09-16 13:51:52 +0000

            Size of backup disk: Too small

                Backup size 474.79 GB < (Disk used 191.10 GB X 3)

        Time Machine details may not be accurate.

        All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

     

    Top Processes by CPU: ?

            42%    firefox

             3%    WindowServer

             1%    Garmin Lifetime Map Updater

             1%    hidd

             0%    Dropbox

     

    Top Processes by Memory: ?

        1.12 GB    Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5

        531 MB    firefox

        98 MB    mds_stores

        98 MB    com.apple.IconServicesAgent

        82 MB    Google Drive

     

    Virtual Memory Information: ?

        70 MB    Free RAM

        2.73 GB    Active RAM

        4.63 GB    Inactive RAM

        588 MB    Wired RAM

        474 MB    Page-ins

        148 KB    Page-outs

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Sep 16, 2014 7:59 AM in response to HillarySidra
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
    Safari
    Sep 16, 2014 7:59 AM in response to HillarySidra

    With 70MB free, one possibility with this iMac is that it can accommodate 32GB of memory (but it is expensive).

     

    For example - http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2010/DDR3_21.5_27

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Sep 16, 2014 10:34 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 6 (8,518 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2014 10:34 AM in response to Loner T

    There's almost 5 GB memory available, so that can't be the issue here.

  • by Esquared,

    Esquared Esquared Sep 16, 2014 10:39 AM in response to HillarySidra
    Level 6 (8,518 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2014 10:39 AM in response to HillarySidra

    I Don't see any obvious items that may cause a slow startup, although there are a lot of 'drivers' on that list. HP, Epson, Maxtor, Brother... Is all that stuff still in use? How's the startup time when no other devices are connected to that iMac (if any)?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 16, 2014 11:03 AM in response to HillarySidra
    Level 9 (74,064 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 16, 2014 11:03 AM in response to HillarySidra

    Startup – Computer Stops or Delays

     

    Startup Issues - Resolve


    Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 16, 2014 2:15 PM in response to HillarySidra
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 16, 2014 2:15 PM in response to HillarySidra

    These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

    Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.

    Step 1

    For this step, the title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View ▹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    In the top right corner of the Console window, there's a search box labeled Filter. Initially the words "String Matching" are shown in that box. Enter "BOOT_TIME" (without the quotes.)

    Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Note the timestamps of the BOOT_TIME log messages, which refer to the times when the system was started. Now clear the search box and scroll back in the log to the last boot time when you had the problem. Select the messages logged after the boot, during the time something abnormal was happening. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    For example, if the problem is a slow startup taking three minutes, post the messages timestamped within three minutes   after the boot time, not before. Please include the BOOT_TIME message at the beginning of the log extract—not at the end.

    If there are long runs of repeated messages, please post only one example of each. Don’t post many repetitions of the same message.

    When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

    Step 2

    In the Console window, select

              DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION ▹ System Diagnostic Reports

    (not Diagnostic and Usage Messages) from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View ▹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar.

    There is a disclosure triangle to the left of the list item. If the triangle is pointing to the right, click it so that it points down. You'll see a list of reports. A crash report has a name that begins with the name of the crashed process and ends in ".crash". A panic report has a name that begins with "Kernel" and ends in ".panic". Select the most recent of each. The contents of the report will appear on the right. Use copy and paste to post the entirecontents—the text, not a screenshot.

    I know the report is long, maybe several hundred lines. Please post all of it anyway.

    If you don't see any reports listed, but you know there was a crash or panic, you may have chosen Diagnostic and Usage Messages from the log list. Choose DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION instead.

    In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)

    Please don’t post other kinds of diagnostic report—they're very long and rarely helpful.