Very Slow iMac with Near Empty Hard Drive

Question

Hi. My iMac has been running like a dog for a long time and just seems to be getting worse. Some details:- things like opening a new email window in Mail... the genie window stutters and it might take 3 to 5 seconds- opening basics like system windows... there&#x27;s usually a lag.- when opening a new browser window, i need to wait several seconds before I can start typing- auto-fill sometimes very delayed.- 1T Hard drive is only at 18% capacity and I have 12 GB DDR3 installed.- I usually don&#x27;t keep any heavy apps running other than photoshop. The biggest drag on my CPU most of the time is Firefox.- repairing permissions doesn&#x27;t help.Any ideas what the problem could be? (I don&#x27;t see how adding more memory would help).

futureperfect · Answer

In case this helps.....Problem description:Slow iMacEtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)Report generated 5/6/15, 6:11 PMDownload EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheckClick the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.Hardware Information: ℹ️    iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications)    iMac - model: iMac11,3    1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2-core    12 GB RAM Upgradeable        BANK 0/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok        BANK 0/DIMM1            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM1            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/nVideo Information: ℹ️    ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB        iMac 2560 x 1440System Software: ℹ️    OS X 10.10 (14A389) - Time since boot: 2 days 4:25:47Disk Information: ℹ️    ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)        EFI (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 210 MB         Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (814.98 GB free)        Recovery HD (disk0s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Recovery]: 650 MB     OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H  USB Information: ℹ️    Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub         PixArt USB Optical Mouse         Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard     Apple Internal Memory Card Reader     Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub         Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller     Logitech Logitech USB Headset     Seagate Expansion 1 TB        EFI (disk1s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 210 MB         Seagate Expansion Drive (disk1s2) /Volumes/Seagate Expansion Drive : 999.86 GB (781.89 GB free)    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver     Apple Inc. Built-in iSight Gatekeeper: ℹ️    Mac App Store and identified developersKernel Extensions: ℹ️        /Library/Extensions    [loaded]    com.cyberic.SmoothMouse (9 - SDK 10.8) [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]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]Launch Daemons: ℹ️    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]    [not loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]User Launch Agents: ℹ️    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]    [failed]    com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist    [loaded]    com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist [Click for support]    [loaded]    com.cyberic.smoothmouseupdater.plist [Click for support]    [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Click for support]User Login Items: ℹ️    iTunesHelper    UNKNOWN Hidden (missing value)    EvernoteHelper    Application Hidden (/Applications/Evernote.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/EvernoteHelper.app)    Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)    HotstockedPrecision    UNKNOWN  (missing value)    Spotify    Application Hidden (/Applications/Spotify.app)Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️    o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10    Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.2.4 [Click for support]    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.4 [Click for support]    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]    Silverlight: Version: 4.1.10329.0 [Click for support]    Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3    googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.4 [Click for support]    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 15.0.0 - SDK 10.10 Check versionUser internet Plug-ins: ℹ️    WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]    CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 [Click for support]    thinkorswim plugin_x86_64: Version: thinkorswim_x86_64 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]    tossc plugin_x86_64: Version: TOS Sharing Center plugin_x86_64 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️    Flash Player  [Click for support]    Flip4Mac WMV  [Click for support]    SmoothMouse  [Click for support]Time Machine: ℹ️    Auto backup: YES    Volumes being backed up:        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 184.36 GB    Destinations:        Seagate Expansion Drive [Local]         Total size: 999.86 GB         Total number of backups: 37         Oldest backup: 2015-01-26 00:20:21 +0000         Last backup: 2015-05-06 21:43:41 +0000         Size of backup disk: Adequate            Backup size 999.86 GB &gt; (Disk used 184.36 GB X 3)Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️       129%    firefox        23%    plugin-container        19%    WindowServer         3%    sysmond         2%    SlackTop Processes by Memory: ℹ️    2.58 GB    firefox    933 MB    kernel_task    848 MB    Google Chrome Helper(10)    750 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(4)    319 MB    MailVirtual Memory Information: ℹ️    590 MB    Free RAM     11.00 GB    Used RAM     12 MB    Swap Used Diagnostics Information: ℹ️    May 4, 2015, 08:19:11 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-05-04-201911_[redacted].cpu_resour ce.diag [Click for details]    May 4, 2015, 01:43:48 PM    Self test - passed

Linc Davis · Answer

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 and start typing the name.The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn&#x27;t, select          SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messagesfrom the log list on the left. If you don&#x27;t see that list, select          View ▹ Show Log Listfrom the menu bar at the top of the screen.Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn&#x27;t working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.Please don&#x27;t indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.Please don&#x27;t post screenshots of log messages—post the text.Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That&#x27;s a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.