Why is my disk super slow after excluding it from spotlight indexing?

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Level 1

4 points

Why is my disk super slow after excluding it from spotlight indexing?

After removing my external USB 2.0 WD 1TB Passport from spotlight indexing right after starting indexing it is like super-slow now. After waiting a few minutes a can open single folders but copying any file takes an eternity. Is there a way to fix this problem? Already tried disabling spotlight and reindexing, but spotlight says that re-indexing takes about 13 days.

Already tried to backup the files on my Macbook but the drive is slow on that system too. My iMac runs 10.9.5 and my Macbook 10.10.5.

Any help appreciated.

MacBook (13-inch Mid 2010), Other OS, Yosemite 10.10

Posted on Oct 4, 2015 3:31 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Oct 4, 2015 8:58 AM in response to araz51

Activity Monitor - Mavericks also Yosemite

Activity Monitor in Mavericks has significant changes

Performance Guide

Why is my computer slow

Why your Mac runs slower than it should

Slow Mac After Mavericks

Things you can do to resolve slowdowns see post by Kappy

6 Easy Tips to Speed Up OS X Yosemite on Your Mac

Try running this program and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read.

Etrecheck – System Information

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Answer 2

BobHarris

Level 9

53,117 points

Oct 4, 2015 9:27 AM in response to araz51

If you are re-indexing the USB device, and there are a lot of files on the device, then it will take Spotlight a long time just to complete the re-index.

If you have disabled indexing on the USB device and keep it disabled, AND your access is still slow, then it could be any number of issues.

It could be the device is failing.

It could be a bad USB cable (very low probability)

You could try Blackmagic Disk Speed Test

<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackmagic-disk-speed-test/id425264550?mt=12>

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