How can I speed up my slow 2011 imac?

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Level 1

10 points

How can I speed up my slow 2011 imac?

I have a mid 2011 27" imac. Intel i5 20GB of RAM 1TB SATA Hard Drive OSX El Capitan. It is running very slowly. When shut down it takes a while to startup. Usually I can press the power button go get a drink and come back and it's still loading. Also once it's started up and logged in it takes a little while to first open programs. The rainbow spinner appears pretty much every time a program is opened. Usually once a program is opened for a minute or so it will run fine. I have clear out a bunch of files leaving the hard drive only about 25-30% full. I have cleared the caches. I have tried an SMC and PRAM reset. It also takes a little bit of time to shut down. It will go to a black screen and just show a spinner a little bit before shutting down. Is there anything else I should try? I have plan to take it into Apple if it doesn't improve but the closest Apple store is 3 hours away so I only go there once a month. I'm wanting to try anything that might help before taking it down to them. Thank you for any and all help.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 7, 2016 12:17 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 7, 2016 2:57 AM in response to kevdawg86

Download, install and run Etrecheck.

Etrecheck was developed as a simple Mac diagnostic report tool by a regular Apple Support forum user and technical support contributor named Etresoft. Etrecheck is a small, unobstrusive app that compiles a static snapshot of your entire Mac hardware system and installed software.

This is a free app that has been honestly created to provided help in diagnosing issues with Macs running any newer versions of OS X.

It is not malware and can be safely downloaded and installed onto your Mac.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Copy/paste and post its report here in another reply thread so that we have a complete profile of your Mac's hardware and installed software so we can all help with your Mac performance issues.

Thank You.

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Answer 2

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 8, 2016 7:02 PM in response to MichelPM

EtreCheck version: 2.9.10 (261)

Report generated 2016-04-08 20:02:12

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 3:39

Performance: Good

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

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

Problem: Computer is too slow

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac12,2

1 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

20 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

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

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon HD 6970M - VRAM: 1024 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

ITRIOv1 HDMI 1280 x 720

System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 (15E65) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: ⓘ

ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (640.93 GB free)

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

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H ()

USB Information: ⓘ

M-Audio FastTrack Pro

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Card Reader

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Seagate BUP Slim WH 2 TB

EFI (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Seagate Backup Plus Drive (disk2s2) /Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive : 2.00 TB (1.12 TB free)

USB Flash Memory 16 GB

PNY USB (disk1s1) /Volumes/PNY USB : 16.00 GB (3.21 GB free)

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.digidesign.iokit.DigiDal (8.0.3f1 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[not loaded] com.digidesign.iokit.DigiIO (8.0.3f1 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[not loaded] com.maudio.usb.fasttrack.driver (1.8 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[not loaded] com.maudio.usb.fasttrackpro.driver (1.8 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.master (5.7.2 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

[not loaded] com.webroot.driver.SecureAnywhere (104 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-04-06) [Support]

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

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.leopard (5.7.2 - 2009-07-24) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.panther (5.7.2 - 2009-07-24) [Support]

[loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.snowleopard (5.7.2 - 2009-07-24) [Support]

[not loaded] com.paceap.kext.pacesupport.tiger (5.7.2 - 2009-07-24) [Support]

Startup Items: ⓘ

DigidesignLoader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/DigidesignLoader

M-AudioFastTrack: Path: /Library/StartupItems/M-AudioFastTrack

PACESupport: Path: /Library/StartupItems/PACESupport

ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 163 Apple tasks

[running] 67 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 44 Apple tasks

[loaded] 155 Apple tasks

[running] 90 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2013-07-09) [Support]

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a...plist (2016-02-20) [Support]

[not loaded] com.webroot.WRMacApp.plist (2012-10-27) [Support]

[running] com.webroot.WRMacBackNSync.plist (2013-09-24) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] PACESupport.plist (2009-07-24) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2016-02-20) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2016-02-20) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-03-18) [Support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Agent.plist (2016-04-02) [Support]

[running] com.webroot.security.mac.plist (2012-10-27) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2013-07-10) [Support]

[failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2013-07-09) [Support]

[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-04) [Support]

[loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Scheduler.plist (2016-04-02) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

None

Other Apps: ⓘ

[running] com.adobe.PDApp.AAMUpdatesNotifier.74592.B68813E1-B962-4BD7-ADC7-274E274C41C0

[running] com.etresoft.EtreCheck.92832

[loaded] 402 Apple tasks

[running] 175 Apple tasks

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin1017277: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 (2012-10-07) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-03-27)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.010.20060 - SDK 10.8 (2016-03-12) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 15.010.20060 - SDK 10.8 (2016-03-12) [Support]

Flash Player: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-24) Outdated! Update

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-03-27)

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 (2012-07-03) [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.197 - SDK 10.6 (2016-03-24) [Support]

npwebroot: 2.0.15 (2013-03-30) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 - SDK 10.11 (2012-02-19) Check version

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-03-18) [Support]

M-AudioFastTrack (2009-09-10) [Support]

M-AudioFastTrackPro (2013-07-10) [Support]

Perian (2011-07-23) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 358.42 GB

Destinations:

Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 6

Oldest backup: 3/30/16, 6:37 PM

Last backup: 4/8/16, 7:55 PM

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk used 358.42 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

135% installd

4% mds

4% fseventsd

3% kernel_task

3% WindowServer

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.18 GB kernel_task

471 MB softwareupdated

246 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

205 MB installd

205 MB mdworker(10)

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

15.00 GB Free RAM

5.00 GB Used RAM (2.93 GB Cached)

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Apr 8, 2016, 07:44:26 PM Self test - passed

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Answer 3

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 9, 2016 6:48 PM in response to kevdawg86

Startup and shutdown times will be longer with newer OS X versions with older Mac hardware.

An SSD will speed this up.

I am not sure why all your apps are initially taking a minute to launch.

Your 2010 iMac is very powerful (quad core, hyperthreaded i7 CPU, 1 GB VRAM GPU) even though it's older and you have more than enough RAM installed.

Your iMac is no slouch in the power department.

Someone pointed out to me that your M-Audio Fast Track is 6 years old.

If you have any other hardware or software that is that old or hasn't been updated to a newer El Cap compatible version (if there are any) that maybe one of the reasons apps take longer to launch.

The applications software versions you have maybe compatible with El Cap, but if they are still older software, that maybe a reason why some applications will take longer to launch.

You might want to disconnect, temporarily, your external hard drive and disconnect that USB flash drive (do you really need to have the flash drive plugged in all the time?) from your iMac to see if the response and performance times improve or not.

If you haven't done so already, completely uninstall CleanMyMac 3.

http://macdrug.com/how-to-remove-cleanmymac-3-completely/

This is about all I got.

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Answer 4

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 8, 2016 11:43 PM in response to kevdawg86

I think I am just going to have you reinstall OS X El Capitán.

I really think this is what your iMac needs at this late stage and at this point it really can't hurt.

I have never done this myself, but found a link to assist you.

Follow Kappy's advice in this link and good luck!

El capitan reinstall without losing data?

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Answer 5

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 9, 2016 12:12 AM in response to kevdawg86

You certainly could install an internal SSD into your iMac if you have the funds to have a large capacity SSD installed (500 Gbs or greater).

Do not install any SSD smaller than this.

Apple Stores will not install the SSD in your iMac.

They will only reinstall hardware that was originally installed in your iMac.

You would need to find another third party Apple authorised reseller or repair center to install the SSD in your iMac.

SSDs only make startup/launching apps/and opening and closing files and some drive based task quicker.

Any applications or processes that are still tied to CPU and/or GPU and/or RAM will not be any faster with that hardware.

Plus, with the issues you are having now they would still be happening with an SSD

Good Luck on the reinstall.

Let me know what the outcome was.

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Answer 6

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 8, 2016 10:33 PM in response to kevdawg86

Good!

We can eliminate incompatible or mis-spec'd RAM.

One more question.

Is all of your installed software up to date and/or still compatible with OS X El Cap, including all third party device software/drivers, web browsers and web browser plugins and extensions?

You should remove all startup items/user login items under System Prefences Users and Groups.

Start up items/ User login items are obsolete under OS X 10.10 Yosemite and later.

Not havng ALL of the software up to date on your Mac could be possible source of OS X slowdowns.

Make sure all your applcations are up to date/compatible with El Capitán.

We'll be able to eliminate this issue, as well.

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Answer 7

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 9, 2016 7:23 PM in response to MichelPM

So after doing further research I have found a post by Renewed Vision the makers of pro presenter stating that pro presenter 5 is not supported by El Capitan. I'll be updating to pro presenter 6 and hopefully that will help with the issues involving that program.

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Answer 8

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 9, 2016 7:45 PM in response to kevdawg86

I can say that if you want to prolong the investment in that iMac, then an SSD in that year and model iMac will be a sound investment for that iMac.

Here's a very Mac-centric online website that deals with everything Mac and has great products and service.

OWC aka Other World Computing (macsales.com)

http://www.macsales.com/

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/imac-27-inch/2010

They will have. SSDs that will work with your year and model iMac.

You can contact them by phone or email.

If you don't wish to install this yourself, you will need to find a computer service center, authorised Apple repair/service center to install the SSD for you.

Good Luck!

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Answer 9

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 8, 2016 11:58 PM in response to jamalbeg

Could you please post in the iPad forums?

Using iPad

I am currently helping another user here in the iMac forums with their iMac issues.

What you are doing is called thread/post "jacking" and it is considered rude when you interrupt a user posting assist in progress.

If you post your iPad issues in the iPad forums either myself or someone else will come along to help you.

We are volunteer users here in these forums, I can only help users with Apple product issues one at a time.

There are other volunteer users here, besides myself, that can offer you assistance.

Thank You very much!

🙂

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Answer 10

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 8, 2016 8:49 PM in response to kevdawg86

I have only one question to ask you as the answer will determine the next course of action I will so advise.

Question,

Did you "clean" data and files out of your system using the application CleanMyMac 3?

Give me your honest, straight up answer.

Thank you.

Reply

Answer 11

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 8, 2016 8:58 PM in response to MichelPM

Originally No. I manually cleaned out the cache and files using the instructions from Apple. I did make the mistake of using it a few days ago at the ill recommendation of another person. I later figured out that was not the best idea. All files were cleaned up by me though and transferred to an external Hard Drive.

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Answer 12

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 8, 2016 9:23 PM in response to kevdawg86

Well,

I hate to be the person to tell you this.

Even though Etrecheck reports your system is well and hunky dory, based on everything you have described, everything with your system is NOT, at all, hunky dory and I STRONGLY believe that CleanMyMac has completely hosed your your Mac's system.

Once this app gets used and does it thing and the system damage occurs, there is no recovery from this.

The system damage is permanent and done!

Never, EVER, EVER install antivirus, or apps claiming to "clean" "optimise" or "speed" up your Mac!

All the "cleaning" and "optimisation" apps are badly written software, at their best, and paid, poorly developed, malicious software, at their worst.

NEVER, EVER install and use these types of apps, EVER AGAIN!

Do you have a "cloned" system backup of your system on your external hard drive PRIOR to using CleanMyMac that, possibly, we can use to restore your Mac to its previous operation?

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Answer 13

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 8, 2016 9:28 PM in response to MichelPM

I understand what you are saying but the issues I am describing have occurred for months and months long before I ever installed cleanmymac. So there is an issue above and beyond cleanmymac. I have time machine backups but that is it.

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Answer 14

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 8, 2016 9:38 PM in response to kevdawg86

I'll ask you a few more questions before we proceed further.

Was your system runnng as bad as it was before you decided to post here?

You have 20 GBs of RAM installed in your iMac?

What kind/name of RAM is this and where did you purchase the RAM and how long, ago?

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Answer 15

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 8, 2016 10:11 PM in response to MichelPM

Yes it is. It might be slightly faster since i transferred the files to the hard drive but not noticeably faster. Still very very slow.

It is Crucial RAM. I purchased it in April of 2015. I purchased it off amazon but verified all of the model information with Crucial before purchasing.

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