Swirly disc showing up really frequently, but I have 137.71 GB available memory out of 249.72....???

Question

Swirly disc showing up really frequently, but I have 137.71 GB available memory out of 249.72....???

It's a MacBook 10.6.8.

Total RAM: 2GB

L2 Cache [what does this do?]: 3 MB

Capacity: 249.72 GB

Available: 137.71 GB.

Surely that's enough memory? Or is it the 2GB of RAM that's doing it? I think the 2 GB is what the computer came with (I'm borrowing my Mum's computer), & she hadn't had the same problem with frequent hangs.....

The swirly-disc hang happens in spurts, & doesn't seem to be connected to the number of tabs or apps I have open, as it can happen with only one tab open...

Sometimes there's a significant lag between the cursor or tabs going unresponsive & the arrival of the swirly-disc. It also seems to be worse the longer the computer is running, although if I'm running it all day, it may switch from responsive to the swirly-disc with no significant change in the number of tabs or apps to trigger a change....

I've removed some adware from the libraries, which helped a tiny bit, but there wasn't much to remove (so far). I've run Sophos multiple times, & it comes up with bupkus.

Final note: it happens whether I'm working on the Web or via installed apps (although it really gets cranky with LibreOffice).

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Mar 5, 2015 2:09 PM

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Answer 1

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Mar 5, 2015 2:54 PM in response to melissa rakontista

You should uninstall Sophos as it's likely causing your slow downs. There are several software culprits that always cause problems, all anti virus, cleaning, optimizing, and any tune up apps.

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Answer 2

Mar 5, 2015 2:57 PM in response to melissa rakontista

Since you have install Sophos on your Mac, maybe you should download and install EtreCheck from http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Run it and post the report here.

this might show us if you have install any other questionable software besides Sophos.

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Answer 3

Mar 5, 2015 2:59 PM in response to SeaPapp

Okay -- I'll try that. But what do you recommend for anti-virus protection?

I found a trial version of CleanMyMac in the apps, too, so I'll go ahead & remove that, as well.

(Cool avatar, btw!)

Thanks,

Melissa

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Answer 4

Mar 5, 2015 3:00 PM in response to Allan Eckert

I'll take a look at that -- thanks for the tip!

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Answer 5

Mar 5, 2015 3:03 PM in response to melissa rakontista

No. Don't load that crapware on your Mac.

Please get us that EtreCheck report ASAP so we can find out what other crapware you have managed to load on it.

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Answer 6

Mar 5, 2015 4:29 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Oh, I didn't load CleanMyMac! Perhaps my mother did. I'm going to remove it. I'm away from my computer now - will do tomorrow.

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Answer 7

Mar 5, 2015 4:48 PM in response to melissa rakontista

2GB is a pretty meagre amount of RAM to do anything with these days. You will get much better performance by maxing out the RAM in your Macbook/Pro. This may be 4GB or 6GB. If you post the Etrecheck report, we'll know the exact model of your laptop and how much RAM it will take.

You may also need to run a disk check on the hard drive. Your original 10.6 install disk will do this - boot from it by inserting the CD, reboot, and hold C as the Mac boots up. Then use Disk Utility in the Utilities menu to run a Repair Disk (not Repair Disk Permissions) on the drive. Let us know if you see any errors and whether DU is able to repair them.

Matt

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Answer 8

Mar 5, 2015 9:37 PM in response to Matt Clifton

Yeah, I was beginning to suspect that the low RAM is a significant part of it. My parents are on a satellite connection, so when the computer's slow, they probably just chalk it up to the connection, not the RAM, because my mum never complained about it being slow before she passed it on to me.

I unfortunately do not have the Install disk. Is there any way to run Repair Disk/check the hard drive from the terminal?

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Answer 9

Mar 5, 2015 9:59 PM in response to melissa rakontista

Replying to Matt Clifton & Allan Eckert:

Here's the Etrecheck report (great program - -thanks very much for the tip!)

And you were right about the low RAM & Sophos.

Problem description:

Machine frequently hangs — lots of swirly-discs. Doesn’t seem to matter how many tabs or apps I’m running — it hangs on one or several, or sometimes not at all. I have lots of storage memory available (137.71 GB), but it’s a Mac Pro 10.6.8 with only 2 GB of RAM, which I am told is pretty piddly for today’s programs.

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated March 5, 2015 9:54:25 PM PST

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Adware! - Remove] links for help removing adware.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) (Technical Specifications)

MacBook - model: MacBook6,1

1 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

2 GB RAM

BANK 0/DIMM0

1 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

1 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery Health: Normal - Cycle count 166

Video Information: ℹ️

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1024 x 768

spdisplays_display_connector

System Software: ℹ️

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Time since boot: 0:5:47

Disk Information: ℹ️

Hitachi HTS545025B9SA02 disk0 : (232.89 GB)

- (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 249.72 GB (142.14 GB free)

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-898

USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

MOSART Semi. 2.4G Wireless Mouse

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Broadcom Corp Bluetooth Module

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Adware: ℹ️

Conduit [Adware! - Remove]

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.sophos.kext.sav (9.2.0 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.sophos.nke.swi (9.2.0 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

Startup Items: ℹ️

AdobeVersionCueCS2: Path: /Library/StartupItems/AdobeVersionCueCS2

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

HP Trap Monitor: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP Trap Monitor

LoginServer: Path: /Library/StartupItems/LoginServer

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist [Click for support]

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]

[failed] com.sophos.uiserver.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.fitbit.galileod.plist [Click for support]

[failed] com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]

User Login Items: ℹ️

ShiftIt Application (/Users/[redacted]/Downloads/ShiftIt.app)

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

HPEventHandler Application (/Library/Printers/hp/hpio/HPEventHandler.app)

HP Scheduler Application (/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/Software Update/HP Scheduler.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 [Click for support]

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.9 [Click for support]

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101736: Version: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 - SDK 10.4 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.6.6

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.9 [Click for support]

Scorch: Version: 6.2.0 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 13.9.8 - SDK 10.6 Check version

Audio Plug-ins: ℹ️

iSightAudio: Version: 7.6.6

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Adobe Version Cue CS2 [Click for support]

Flash Player [Click for support]

Growl [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Time Machine information requires OS X 10.7 "Lion" or later.

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

2% firefox

2% WindowServer

1% plugin-container

0% mds

0% ps

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

709 MB firefox

41 MB plugin-container

34 MB mds

28 MB WindowServer

19 MB coreservicesd

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

420 MB Free RAM

873 MB Active RAM

319 MB Inactive RAM

267 MB Wired RAM

212 MB Page-ins

127 KB Page-outs

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Mar 5, 2015, 09:46:51 PM Self test - passed

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Answer 10

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Mar 6, 2015 3:04 AM in response to melissa rakontista

The conduit adware is installed, click the "remove" link next to it in the report for help removing it. Like I said earlier uninstall Sophos. I don't see any indication that CleanMyMac is installed. The FitBit software has been problematic with later versions of OS X, I don't know if that goes back to Snow Leopard or not but you might remove it to test, if you need it you can reinstall it later. Do you need ShiftIt? You might uninstall that too.

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Answer 11

Mar 6, 2015 5:48 AM in response to SeaPapp

I took out CleanMyMac & Sophos before I ran Etrecheck, had to manually remove these last Sophos hanger-on files after running Etrecheck. Don't know about ShiftIt - will need to check with computer's owner...Hate to remove Fitbit - she looooves it. But since I'm using the computer temporarily for now, I may. Removed Conduit, too.

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Answer 12

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Mar 6, 2015 1:31 PM in response to melissa rakontista

It should be running better after removing the problematic software, is it? Snow Leopard was the last version of OS X that would run decent with 2gb of ram, that said I would still consider upgrading. If it's better leave FitBit alone, like I said it doesn't work well with later versions of OS X but might work just fine with SL.

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