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Slow Mac Mini

Have basic late 2012 Mac mini w/ 4 GB RAM and no added apps to what came installed except Onyx. Although Activity Monitor indicates no issues, unit runs very slowly, sometimes freezes. Only email and surf internet never leaving too many "windows" open at any one time. Since purchase, upgraded to Yosemite OS X. Would consider upgrade to 16 GB RAM and possibly SSD but feel unit as is should be able to handle the simple things I use Mac for w/ original hardware. Any way I can check if I have any virus, malware, etc. or failing HD? Any possible ideas what my problem could be. I pay for fastest TWC internet speed available.

Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 4, 2015 1:02 PM

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Posted on Sep 4, 2015 4:56 PM

Run this and post the results here so we know more about your configuration.

EtreCheck

23 replies

Sep 7, 2015 3:50 PM in response to WaltHM

These suggestions are based on partial test results. More may need to be done if they don't solve the problem.

A

Remove the Seagate and Western Digital software, which you don't need to use the products.

Any third-party software that doesn't install from the App Store or by drag-and-drop into the Applications folder, and uninstall by drag-and-drop to the Trash, is a system modification.

Whenever you remove system modifications, they must be removed completely, and the only way to do that is to use the uninstallation tool, if any, provided by the developers, or to follow their instructions. If the software has been incompletely removed, you may have to re-download or even reinstall it in order to finish the job.

I never install system modifications myself, and except as stated in this comment, I don't know how to uninstall them. You'll have to do your own research to find that information.

Here are some general guidelines to get you started. Suppose you want to remove something called “BrickMyMac” (a hypothetical example.) First, consult the product's Help menu, if there is one, for instructions. Finding none there, look on the developer's website, say www.brickmymac.com. (That may not be the actual name of the site; if necessary, search the Web for the product name.) If you don’t find anything on the website or in your search, contact the developer. While you're waiting for a response, download BrickMyMac.dmg and open it. There may be an application in there such as “Uninstall BrickMyMac.” If not, open “BrickMyMac.pkg” and look for an Uninstall button. The uninstaller might also be accessed by clicking the Customize button, if there is one.

Back up all data before making any changes.

You will generally have to restart the computer in order to complete an uninstallation. Until you do that, there may be no effect, or unpredictable effects.

If you can’t remove software in any other way, you’ll have to erase and install OS X. Never install any third-party software unless you're sure you know how to uninstall it; otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.

Trying to remove complex system modifications by hunting for files by name often will not work and may make the problem worse. The same goes for "utilities" such as "AppCleaner" and the like that purport to remove software.

B

Remove "Rapport" by following the instructions on this page. If you have trouble, see this page.

C

"ZipCloud," sometimes named "JustCloud," is a cloud-storage service with a doubtful reputation. The OS X client is sometimes distributed along with malware. Although ZipCloud may not be malicious itself, it should be suspected by virtue of the company it keeps.

To remove ZipCloud, start by backing up all data (not with ZipCloud itself, of course.)

Quit the "ZipCloud" or "JustCloud" application, if it's running, and drag it from the Applications folder to the Trash. Don't try to empty yet.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services Open

from the contextual menu.* A folder named "LaunchAgents" should open.

In the folder, there may be one or more files with a name beginning as follows:

com.jdibackup.

Move all such files to the Trash.

Log out or restart the computer and empty the Trash.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

D

Back up all data.

Run the following command in the same way as before. It moves to the Trash "semaphore" files that have not been cleaned up by the system and may be interfering with normal operation. The files are empty; they contain no data. There will be no output this time.

find L*/{Con*/*/Data/L*/,}Pref* -type f -size 0c -name *.plist.??????? -exec mv {} .Trash/ \; 2>&-

Log out or restart the computer and empty the Trash.

E

If you still have problems after taking all the above steps, please sign out of iCloud in its preference pane and see whether there's any change. No data will be removed from the servers, and you can retrieve it by signing back in. That said, you should always have a current archiveof the data for safety's sake, even if you don't sign out.

If you use iCloud Keychain, when you sign back in to iCloud follow one of the procedures described in this support article to set it up on an additional device.

Sep 7, 2015 10:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

Again thank you so much for your continued support in trying to assist me find the reason(s) for my very slow Mac mini. I will try the different actions you recommended. The one that sound promising to me is "C" Zip Cloud since although I can't recall ever downloading it, it does pop up frequently and I'm constantly trying to close its window. Will be back with any outcomes I notice after taking the actions you suggested. Is there any point in trying to get a more complete Part 11 of the Diagnostic Test , I just got 4 out of 8 Processes as you probably recall.


WaltHM

Sep 10, 2015 3:11 AM in response to WaltHM

My Mac mini was slow too. Even boot ups were slow. Eventually, boot ups seized. I read about the matter, using my old, PowerPC Mac mini.


One possible solution was a boot into single-user mode, followed by a file system check. First, I powered up the Mac mini while pressing the Command key and S. I then ran 'fsck -fy' at the prompt. The terminal reported an incorrect block count, but that it had made a successful repair to the volume Macintosh HD. I ran the command again, and the report was that the catalog fine was fine. I think this step was constructive.


Another method was a verbose, safe boot: Pwr + Cmd-Shift-V. The Mac booted quickly, but it slowed down once the wallpaper appeared. I supposed that perhaps the computer hardware was not the issue. I remembered that I had the Mac set up to log straight into my account. To investigate, Ilogged into the guest account, and found that it was not slow. Inferring that this might be a clue to the problem, I created a new one for me. This step was the solution. In the new account, the speed was as quick as I could wish.

Subsequently, I have created two new user accounts for me: an administrator account, for administration, and a standard account for normal use. So far, so good.

Slow Mac Mini

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