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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MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Posted on Apr 7, 2016 2:57 AM

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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23 replies

MichelPM

Level 10

81,535 points

Apr 8, 2016 11:05 PM in response to kevdawg86

I just had a thought that I need to eliminate.

Are your Time Machine backups being stored on your extenal drive or your iMac's intenal drive?

Check your Time Machine settings.

Also, how long has your iMac had all of these issues?

If you can, try to remember if all of your iMac's issues were pinned to some other event or actvity you were doing at the time all this started.

I need to pin down a cause before I have you do what I think really has to be done.

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 8, 2016 11:24 PM in response to MichelPM

Time machine backups go to the external hard drive.

The issues have been occurring for about a year or just over. They've just gotten progressively slower over time to the current conditions that have existed for about the last few months. I don't recall doing anything different around that time.

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 8, 2016 11:48 PM in response to MichelPM

Ok. I'll try this later this afternoon and let you know if anything changes. Another thing I've been told was I may want to swap out the HDD with a SSD. Since you're very knowledgeable I wanted to see your opinion. Thank you very much for all the help. It's very appreciated.

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 9, 2016 4:05 PM in response to MichelPM

Doing this reinstall of the OS X helped drastically. It is much faster. There are a few areas that are still slowed down. It still takes about a minute from pressing shutdown for the computer to actually shutdown. Also startup takes about a minute and a half to two minutes to get to the login window. Programs take about a minute to open the first time but then open in about 10 seconds after that initial opening of the program if it is closed and reopened. Is this normal? Is this something that a SSD would help with? Is there anything else you would recommend? Thank you again for all the help. I really appreciate it.

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 9, 2016 7:05 PM in response to MichelPM

I'll try these things and see if it helps. I don't really have a use for the flash drive at the moment. Originally it was used for extra backgrounds for pro presenter. Pro presenter is probably by far the slowest to open of all programs I've tried. So that might help. The other one is garage band which is hooked up to the m-audio system. I'll see if there's newer software for that also. Is a SSD a good long term investment? I ask because this computer is used for weekly presentations for the church and they want to hold on to it for a few more years if possible.

kevdawg86 Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 8, 2016 10:46 PM in response to MichelPM

All programs are compatible with OS X El Capitan.

There are no startup/Login items listed

All software is updated

jamalbeg

Level 1

12 points

Apr 8, 2016 11:45 PM in response to MichelPM

I Have a different problem and nobody is answering it. if you could help I'd b grateful.

My IPad Air 2 wifi cellular does not pick up any Bluetooth devices. I have tried restart and soft reset.

jamalbeg

Level 1

12 points

Apr 9, 2016 12:05 AM in response to MichelPM

Sorry for interruption.

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How can I speed up my slow 2011 imac?