how do i clean p my slow iMac mid 2011

Question

Level 1

4 points

how do i clean p my slow iMac mid 2011

21.5 inch 2,7 ghz intel core i5, 4gb 1333 mhz ddr3, amd radeon hd6770m 512 mb

this has been running beach ball SLOW for a couple years now and I have to say I AM SICK TO DEATH of it. I don't know where to start ´cleaning´it and if i should buy extra mem, where from and how to. I have 1tb external HD which i have 90% of stuff and still no change in the 4 min from putting in password hitting return to startup is finished. loading internet site is a nightmare as i can make evening meal before it is finished. please would someone help me

Posted on Oct 19, 2017 2:02 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Allan Jones

Level 9

79,364 points

Oct 20, 2017 9:29 AM in response to Nordlysmac

We have the same computer except with the slower 2.5ghz processor and it is by no means slow. I think you have some conflictiing software in addition to needing at least some extra RAM.

1) The Western Digital software could be slowing you. It's never worked properly on Macs, going well back in to the pre-Intel Mac days. I had it negatively affect my computers; it caused internal computer temps to rise as well as stalls in writing to the external drive that significantly slowed the computer. Removed the WD software and all was well again. Several people posting here said they called WD for support with WD software issues and were told that, as they have Macs, remove the software.

2) I've never seen this and it is concerning:

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

10% ScreenSaverEngine

Do you have some helper app running that manages screens savers? A third-party saver loaded up? Something is wrong with this--a proper screensaver should not use 10 percent of your CPU. Disable whatever screen saver is selected and test again.

If you are going to use Chrome ( I see it in the crash log) 4GB RAM is not enough as rkaufmann has indicated. Chrome is a known resource hog on both Mac and Windows computers. RAM prices are quite high right now but you can get to 8GB for US$30 (add two 2GB modules in your open slots), or 12 gb for US$70 (add two 4GB modules). My older 2010 Mac runs some very serious software on 12GB RAM with no complaints.

Reply

Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,624 points

Oct 20, 2017 5:30 AM in response to Nordlysmac

Assuming the HD is okay, it's starving for RAM. Install 16GB of RAM and the computer should be fine. There is nothing really wrong with it except the RAM has never been upgrade which was fine when it was running Snow Leopard that only needed a couple GB of RAM however more contemporary OS's demand far more RAM.

If you decide to do this only purchase from either Crucial (buy direct from them) or OWC at www.macsales.com. DO NOT purchase from your local computer store, iMacs are sensitive to using quality RAM and both of these vendors provide quality products at reasonable prices.

Reply

Answer 3

Nordlysmac Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 20, 2017 2:54 AM in response to rkaufmann87

computer running slow

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2017-10-20 11:18:23

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 6:19

Performance: Below Average

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

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

Show signature failures: Enabled

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

Start up and running slow

Hardware Information:ⓘ

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

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

iMac - model: iMac12,1

1 2,7 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2500S) CPU: 4-core

4 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

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Handoff/Airdrop2: not supported

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

Video Information:ⓘ

AMD Radeon HD 6770M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

Disk Information:ⓘ

ST31000528AS disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB

Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H ()

USB Information:ⓘ

USB20Bus

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

hub_device

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

USB20Bus

hub_device

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Logitech USB Receiver

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Card Reader

Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks:ⓘ

, (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 999.01 GB (582.25 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS (Unlocked)

Physical disk: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online

System Software:ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G29) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

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

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.4.26 - SDK 10.5) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] com.apple.FTCleanup.plist (Shell Script 7de8708 - installed 2017-04-29) - Shell script!

[running] com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-06-22)

[loaded] com.apple.SSInvitationAgent.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-06-22)

[running] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncAgent.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-10-11)

[loaded] com.apple.SafariHistoryServiceAgent.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-10-11)

[loaded] com.apple.SafariLaunchAgent.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-10-11)

[loaded] com.apple.screensharing.MessagesAgent.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-06-13)

[loaded] com.apple.screensharing.agent.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-06-13)

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 171 Apple tasks

[running] 99 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[loaded] com.apple.RFBEventHelper.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-06-13)

[loaded] com.apple.driver.ethcheck.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-07-15)

[running] com.apple.driver.ethcheckthunderbolt.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-07-15)

[loaded] com.apple.fpsd.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-09-12)

[loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-07-15)

[not loaded] com.apple.jetsamproperties.Mac.plist (? ee96c1e8 ? - installed 2017-04-21) - Invalid signature!

[loaded] com.apple.screensharing.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-06-13)

[loaded] com.apple.xpc.uscwoap.plist (Shell Script 75aced1c - installed 2017-04-29) - Shell script!

[running] org.cups.cupsd.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-07-15)

[loaded] org.postfix.master.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-03-23)

[not loaded] 37 Apple tasks

[loaded] 169 Apple tasks

[running] 104 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 6fe7958c 834cfa51 - installed 2016-09-23) [Lookup] - No signature!

[running] com.wdc.raidmanagerstatusmenu.plist (? d821e6c8 c56e12e2 - installed 2013-11-13) [Lookup] - Invalid signature!

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] PT.updd.plist (? 0 ? - installed 2017-10-19) [Lookup] - Invalid signature!

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 6cf41d3c - installed 2016-04-16) [Lookup] - No signature!

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e 442fdde9 - installed 2011-03-10) [Lookup] - No signature!

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2016-06-22) [Lookup] - Shell script!

[failed] com.sec.faxdb.plist (Samsung Electronics - installed 2016-09-22) [Lookup]

[running] com.wdc.WDRAIDDriveService.plist (? 180ae3f0 336bd0c2 - installed 2013-11-18) [Lookup] - No signature!

[loaded] com.westerndigital.WD-Drive-Manager-Installer.plist (? b8f7fa94 389a0de3 - installed 2015-01-18) [Lookup] - No signature!

User Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist (? ? ? - installed 2009-09-29) - /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/SafariSyncClient.app/Contents/MacOS/SafariSyn cClient: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]

User Login Items:ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-09-13)

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

System Events Application

(/System/Library/CoreServices/System Events.app)

AirPort Base Station Agent Application

(/System/Library/CoreServices/AirPort Base Station Agent.app)

fuspredownloader Application - Hidden

(~/Library/Application Support/.FUS/fuspredownloader.app)

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.2.0.16 (installed 2013-08-02) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.226 (installed 2016-04-22) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-10-11)

Flash Player: 21.0.0.226 (installed 2016-04-22) Outdated! Update

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.4.6 (installed 2014-11-27) [Lookup]

Silverlight: 5.1.40416.0 (installed 2015-07-05) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (installed 2016-09-23) Check version

User internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

fbplugin_1_0_3: Unknown (installed 2010-02-26) [Lookup]

myVRnpOSX: 1.0 (installed 2009-08-30) [Lookup]

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2016-04-16) [Lookup]

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2013-03-29) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2016-09-23) [Lookup]

Time Machine:ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

,: Disk size: 999.01 GB Disk used: 416.76 GB

Destinations:

My Book [Local]

Total size: 1.00 TB

Total number of backups: 87

Oldest backup: 02.02.2015, 06.45

Last backup: 15.09.2017, 00.28

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 416.76 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

10% ScreenSaverEngine

8% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

6% com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing.Service

5% kernel_task

3% WindowServer

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

528 MB kernel_task

294 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

228 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

145 MB Safari

99 MB Finder

Top Processes by Network Use:ⓘ

Input Output Process name

128 KB 17 KB com.apple.WebKit.Networking

50 KB 42 KB mDNSResponder

9 KB 17 KB apsd

8 KB 4 KB netbiosd

6 KB 1 KB com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing.Service

Top Processes by Energy Use:ⓘ

70.20 ScreenSaverEngine

3.64 WindowServer

0.44 watchdogd

0.26 syncdefaultsd

0.06 com.apple.iCloudHelper

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

956 MB Available RAM

54 MB Free RAM

3.07 GB Used RAM

902 MB Cached files

25 MB Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days):ⓘ

The Unarchiver: 3.11.3 (installed 2017-10-10)

Fotor Photo Editor: 3.4.0 (installed 2017-10-10)

C. Anatomy 2018: 3.1.1 (installed 2017-10-11)

Create Booklet: 1.3.10 (installed 2017-10-11)

Extreme Landings: 3.4.1 (installed 2017-10-11)

PopcornTime-latest: (installed 2017-10-19)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events):ⓘ

2017-10-19 12:42:50 Google Chrome 2.app Crash [Open]

Reply

Answer 4

Nordlysmac Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 22, 2017 10:41 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thank you and will do. I do suspect that with all the graphics on various site, the poor thing is stressed out:) WD is not an option to get rid of as I have TM and external HD of 2TB with all my stuff on.

Reply

Answer 5

Nordlysmac Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 22, 2017 10:44 AM in response to Allan Jones

Thank you for your response!! WD not an option as external HD has my stuff and another for TM. I don't actually have them connected so they have not been running very much. Screen saver energy thingy! No idea as I don't really download unnecessary apps. What should I be looking for?

Reply

Answer 6

Allan Jones

Level 9

79,364 points

Oct 22, 2017 11:13 AM in response to Nordlysmac

WD not an option as external HD has my stuff and another for TM.

WD software is not required for Time Machine. I am sititng before three modern Macs, all with Western Digital Caviar Black drives in external enclosures for Time Machine and NO WD software. No performance issues at all. External drives do not have to be connected for the WD software to cause problems.

As for the screensaver, are any non-Apple screensavers installed? They are fairly easy to spot using System Prefs > Desktop & Screensaver > Screensaver tab. Non-Apple savers have a generic icon and are found between the Apple ones with preview icons and the "Random" option at teh bottom of the list. Looks like this:

Reply

Answer 7

Nordlysmac Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 20, 2017 1:46 AM in response to rkaufmann87

okey, but isn't etrecheck a third party maintenance application? Also does not appear in apps store

Reply

Answer 8

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,624 points

Oct 19, 2017 2:25 PM in response to Nordlysmac

Please post an EtreCheckreport of your system. We can then look for obvious issues. Please click the link, download the app and run the report. Once you have the report, please copy and paste it as your reply to this post.

NEVER install any cleaning, antivirus or ANY other third party maintenance applications on Mac OS. At best they are useless and at worst they will create more problems than they solve.

Reply

Answer 9

Nordlysmac Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 20, 2017 2:10 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Beachball run

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2017-10-20 11:06:53

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 5:42

Performance: Below Average

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

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

Problem: Beachballing

Hardware Information:ⓘ

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

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

iMac - model: iMac12,1

1 2,7 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2500S) CPU: 4-core

4 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

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Handoff/Airdrop2: not supported

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

Video Information:ⓘ

AMD Radeon HD 6770M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

Disk Information:ⓘ

ST31000528AS disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB

Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H ()

USB Information:ⓘ

USB20Bus

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

hub_device

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

USB20Bus

hub_device

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Logitech USB Receiver

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Card Reader

Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks:ⓘ

, (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 999.01 GB (583.35 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS (Unlocked)

Physical disk: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online

System Software:ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G29) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/Applications/Kies.app

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.4.26 - SDK 10.5) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.4.26 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 176 Apple tasks

[running] 102 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] 37 Apple tasks

[loaded] 176 Apple tasks

[running] 106 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 6fe7958c 834cfa51 - installed 2016-09-23) [Lookup]

[running] com.wdc.raidmanagerstatusmenu.plist (? d821e6c8 c56e12e2 - installed 2013-11-13) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] PT.updd.plist (? 0 ? - installed 2017-10-19) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 6cf41d3c - installed 2016-04-16) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e 442fdde9 - installed 2011-03-10) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2016-06-22) [Lookup]

[failed] com.sec.faxdb.plist (Samsung Electronics - installed 2016-09-22) [Lookup]

[running] com.wdc.WDRAIDDriveService.plist (? 180ae3f0 336bd0c2 - installed 2013-11-18) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.westerndigital.WD-Drive-Manager-Installer.plist (? b8f7fa94 389a0de3 - installed 2015-01-18) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents:ⓘ

[loaded] com.apple.SafariBookmarksSyncer.plist (? ? ? - installed 2009-09-29)

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]

User Login Items:ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-09-13)

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

System Events Application

(/System/Library/CoreServices/System Events.app)

AirPort Base Station Agent Application

(/System/Library/CoreServices/AirPort Base Station Agent.app)

fuspredownloader Application - Hidden

(~/Library/Application Support/.FUS/fuspredownloader.app)

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.2.0.16 (installed 2013-08-02) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.226 (installed 2016-04-22) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-10-11)

Flash Player: 21.0.0.226 (installed 2016-04-22) Outdated! Update

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.4.6 (installed 2014-11-27) [Lookup]

Silverlight: 5.1.40416.0 (installed 2015-07-05) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 101 build 13 (installed 2016-09-23) Check version

User internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

fbplugin_1_0_3: Unknown (installed 2010-02-26) [Lookup]

myVRnpOSX: 1.0 (installed 2009-08-30) [Lookup]

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2016-04-16) [Lookup]

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2013-03-29) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2016-09-23) [Lookup]

Time Machine:ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

,: Disk size: 999.01 GB Disk used: 415.66 GB

Destinations:

My Book [Local]

Total size: 1.00 TB

Total number of backups: 87

Oldest backup: 02.02.2015, 06.45

Last backup: 15.09.2017, 00.28

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 1.00 TB < (Disk used 415.66 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

14% ScreenSaverEngine

1% WindowServer

1% kernel_task

0% com.apple.WebKit.Networking

0% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

565 MB kernel_task

279 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

164 MB Safari

98 MB Finder

94 MB Mail

Top Processes by Network Use:ⓘ

Input Output Process name

49 KB 42 KB mDNSResponder

11 KB 26 KB com.apple.WebKit.Networking

9 KB 17 KB apsd

8 KB 4 KB netbiosd

841 B 816 B ntpd

Top Processes by Energy Use:ⓘ

26.00 QuickLookSatellite

9.78 WindowServer

8.64 sandboxd

2.20 Finder

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

1008 MB Available RAM

79 MB Free RAM

3.02 GB Used RAM

928 MB Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days):ⓘ

The Unarchiver: 3.11.3 (installed 2017-10-10)

Fotor Photo Editor: 3.4.0 (installed 2017-10-10)

C. Anatomy 2018: 3.1.1 (installed 2017-10-11)

Create Booklet: 1.3.10 (installed 2017-10-11)

Extreme Landings: 3.4.1 (installed 2017-10-11)

PopcornTime-latest: (installed 2017-10-19)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events):ⓘ

2017-10-19 12:42:50 Google Chrome 2.app Crash [Open]

Reply