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El Capitan running slowly?

Is anyone else having the issue of your Mac running wicked slow after the new El Capitan update? Word, Safari, Preview, and iTunes wouldn't open- they froze and I had to force quit them. Even typing this there is a major lag and the pinwheel appears. What's up with that? So far I hate how slow it's making my mac.

Posted on Sep 30, 2015 2:22 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 21, 2017 8:38 AM

I had the same problem with my mid-2010 IMac, but then I upgraded from El Capitan to Sierra. Huge improvement! Problem solved.


Since I figured it was also a RAM issue, I ordered 16MB of it (from 4MB), but I never installed it. Now I'm wondering whether I even need to.


Huge relief as I was almost ready to order a replacement computer.

454 replies

Nov 5, 2015 4:22 AM in response to mkgr

Hi all, I've tried everything listed in this thread, I've had a clean up using "CleanMyMac" and ditched a ton of old files. This is driving me mad, can anyone tell me if the attached is showing anything that I can fix? (see below) I was using Snow Leopard prior to this, the memory was nearly full and I hadn't done any housekeeping ever and yet it WAS super fast and stable. . . Grrrrr . . .super grateful of any help.


EtreCheck version: 2.6.3 (223)

Report generated 05/11/2015, 12:15

Runtime 3:32

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.


Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

iMac (24-inch, Early 2008)

[Click for Technical Specifications]

[Click for User Guide]

iMac - model: iMac8,1

1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

2 GB RAM Upgradeable

[Click for upgrade instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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


Video Information: (What does this mean?)

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro - VRAM: 256 MB

iMac 1920 x 1200


System Software: (What does this mean?)

OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 (15B42) - Time since boot: less than an hour


Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

Hitachi HDP725032GLA380 disk0 : (320.07 GB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 319.21 GB (123.60 GB free)

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


USB Information: (What does this mean?)

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight


Configuration files: (What does this mean?)

/etc/sudoers, File size 1242 but expected 2299


Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

Mac App Store and identified developers


Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.IKMultimedia.driver.StompIO1 (1.0.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.2.61 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.digidesign.iokit.DigiDal (9.0.2f4) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.digidesign.mbox2.boot.driver (9.0f4) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.digidesign.mbox2.driver (9.0f4) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.ikmultimedia.driver.StealthPedal (1.0.0) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.line6.driver.xtaudio (5.9.2) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.master (5.7.2) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.tomtom.driver.UsbEthernetGadget (1.0.0d1) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.waves.driver.soundgrid (2.0.0) [Click for support]


/System/Library/Extensions/PACESupportFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.leopard (5.7.2) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.panther (5.7.2) [Click for support]

[loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.snowleopard (5.7.2) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.tiger (5.7.2) [Click for support]


/System/Library/Extensions/ssuddrv.kext/Contents/PlugIns

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.2.61 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.2.61 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.2.61 - SDK 10.5) [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.2.61 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]


Startup Items: (What does this mean?)

Digidesign Mbox 2: Path: /Library/StartupItems/Digidesign Mbox 2

DigidesignLoader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/DigidesignLoader

PACESupport: Path: /Library/StartupItems/PACESupport

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite


Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]


Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] PACESupport.plist [Click for support]

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

[running] com.backblaze.bzserv.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.line6.l6ksettingmgr.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Agent.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.paceap.eden.licensed.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.waves.daemon.SoundGridProtocolService.plist [Click for support]


User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

[running] com.amazon.music.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.backblaze.bzbmenu.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Scheduler.plist [Click for support]


User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

TomTomMyDriveConnectHelper Application (/Applications/TomTom MyDrive Connect.app/Contents/MacOS/TomTomMyDriveConnectHelper.app)

GrowlMenu Application (~/Library/PreferencePanes/Growl.prefPane/Contents/Resources/GrowlMenu.app)

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

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Wondershare Helper Compact Application (~/Library/Application Support/Helper/Wondershare Helper Compact.app)

CleanMyMac 3 Menu Application (/Applications/CleanMyMac 3.app/Contents/MacOS/CleanMyMac 3 Menu.app)


Other Apps: (What does this mean?)

[running] com.Growl.MenuExtra.65952

[running] com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000002.TomTom MyDrive Connect

[running] com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000004.EtreCheck

[running] com.getdropbox.dropbox.64672

[running] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Menu.65632

[running] com.wondershare.helper_compact.65312

[running] jp.co.canon.cijscannerregister.66912


Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 15.0.1 - SDK 10.11 Check version

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 19.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

Flash Player: Version: 19.0.0.226 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Default Browser: Version: 601 - SDK 10.11

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.2 [Click for support]

iLokClientHelper: Version: 3.1 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 4.1.10329.0 [Click for support]

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101749: Version: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 - SDK 10.4 [Click for support]

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0


Audio Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

Digidesign CoreAudio: Version: 9.0.2 [Click for support]


3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

Backblaze Backup [Click for support]

DigidesignMbox2 [Click for support]

Flash Player [Click for support]

Growl [Click for support]

Line6AudioMIDI [Click for support]


Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

Time Machine not configured!


Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

22% mdworker(8)

2% WindowServer

0% SGProtocolService

0% fontd

0% airportd


Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

282 MB kernel_task

172 MB mdworker(8)

145 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

84 MB mds_stores

57 MB Dropbox


Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

50 MB Free RAM

1.95 GB Used RAM (706 MB Cached)

4 MB Swap Used


Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

Nov 5, 2015, 11:55:49 AM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/SGProtocolService_2015-11-05-115549_[redacted]. crash

Nov 5, 2015, 11:53:01 AM Self test - passed

Nov 5, 2015 4:26 AM in response to LiveWire01

Try this...


I've had the same problem after "upgrading" to El Capitan. I added more RAM to my mid-2011 iMac, but it barely helped the problem. Seemed like the hard drive was constantly active.


So, I did a bit of experimenting, to determine which programmes were accessing memory, and it turned out that "Contacts" was the culprit.


So, I disabled its "auto update" function, and decided to remove the **** thing. And, Hey-Presto, my Mac is back to full speed.



Try it - it's the only solution that worked for me and, I'm proud to say I discovered it myself, after much fruitless search on this and other forums...

Nov 5, 2015 4:51 AM in response to The_ChrisShaw

Hi there, I think you've saved the day! :-)


I've unchecked the boxes where it was trying to access contacts in mail (is that what you meant by automatically updating?) and instantly it's cured! (I don't use mail and have never used contacts either) You're right, the HD was constantly whirring, I thought it was something to do with Spotlight taking forever to index but I installed El Capitan 2 nights ago . . .


Brilliant, Thanks again.

Nov 5, 2015 12:21 PM in response to PolarShadow

Try to delete your log files manually in the following order:


Quit Mail


HOLD (Command + Shift + G):


Paste in window: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Logs/Mail/


You may see huge size log files in the folder ...just delete all *.log and start your Mail App.


This seems to work for mail that seem to perpectually download mail too.

Nov 6, 2015 7:14 AM in response to The_ChrisShaw

Jeez, back to square one! Have done all of the resets and other suggested tweaks in this thread (I don't and never have used Mail) and disabled spotlight, closed dropbox etc and performance is still shocking.


I just checked activity monitor whilst I had "photos" open and the biggest drain on CPU was VTEncoderXPCService getting up to and beyond 150%. As soon as I closed photos it disappeared and everything sped back up? What is VTEncoderXPCService (and can we ditch it!)


Also I ran a diagnostic on CleanMyMac which states that my startup disk needs repair. I followed the instructions (rebooted in recovery mode and attempted to repair the disk) but I end up with the message below:


"running First Aid on "Macintosh HD"

First Aid Process has failed. If possible back up the data on this volume. Press Done to continue"


I find it hard to believe there is an actual physical error with the drive, everything has functioned perfectly until I installed "El Capitan" !! . .what now?


Help me Obi Wan Kenobi . . .you're my only hope!

Nov 6, 2015 11:13 AM in response to K I M B A K A T

PolarShadow and K I M B A K A T;

I was running great but one evening a box with my email address showed up on my screen and wouldn't go away. I decided to restart and the terribly slow Mac emerged. So I checked in "Activity Monitor" and sure enough my memory was all taken up (actually 3.95GB) by Mail. So followed the instructions and deleted the Mail logs. Speed came right back.

BUT one of the problems I have run into since is that all my Mailboxes "On My Mac" are gone. I am now trying to figure out how to get them back.

If anyone has a suggestion I would appreciate it.

Nov 7, 2015 11:28 AM in response to K I M B A K A T

Have had el capitan installed over a week on my wife's MBP 2009. Once up, things seem ok. Anytime I deal with the finder is crawls. At this rate it will be Christmas 2016 before I can get much done. I signed in as a guest and it seems much snappier. Any idea? I did an over the top install. I've tried every suggestion here. Reset SMC, VRAM and the reduce transparency. Nothing is speeding it up.

Nov 7, 2015 4:54 PM in response to LiveWire01

The same thing happened to me. As soon as I installed El Capitan, everything slowed down to a crawl. I became very acquainted with the new beach ball. Drove me nuts! I started searching for help and landed in these forums. I downloaded EtreCheck and it gave me a message that parts of my disks had failed (I can't remember the exact warning) and Disk Utility was unable to repair it. Disk Utility would go so far and then stop because it couldn't unmount the drive. I believe I was booted from an external drive. So I used Carbon Copy to clone to an external drive and used my Mac with El Capitan for a few days that way and everything ran smoothly. I also started backing my external drive into Time Machine so that my backup would be up to date. A few days later, I decided to give Disk Utility another chance and this time, there were no issues and the internal drive came back fine. So I rebooted my MBP using Command-R and restored the entire drive from Time Machine. So far, so good. No delays at all and I feel I got my Mac back. I am still backing up on a regular basis to Time Machine in case the hd dies which it very well could since it is 5 years old. So long story short, try booting from an external drive and try Disk Utility more than once.

El Capitan running slowly?

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