Migrating from my old iMac to new 21.5" Retina 4K

Question

I have just replaced my 7 year old 21.5" iMac running Sierra with the new 21.5" Retina 4K iMac. I migrated my old mac to the new one using an ethernet cable between the two, which worked fine. The reason I upgraded was simply because my old one was running extremely slowly, taking up to around 40 mins to boot up. Also when I downloaded App for WhatsApp to my old machine the icon for the app appeared covering the Applications icon in the Dock, so my Applications folder looked like App for WhatsApp. Now that the new Mac is set up, the same thing applies. I cant see the Applications icon, although when I click on it the Applications folder does oped normally. I am wondering if, when I migrated my old iMac, it brought with it any problems I may have been experiencing before. My other concern is speed. Before any problems, my old Mac would boot up very quickly, but now it takes 1m 12 secs and I have to watch a white progress bar. This may not seem a long time, but I would have expected it to be quicker. Also opening programmes takes longer than I had hoped. Mail - 37 secs, Photos - 72 secs, Word - 35 secs etc. Am I being unreasonable. I love the iMac and just want reassurance that all is well. One last thing; can anyone tell me how to delete the App for WhatsApp icon covering the Applications app in the dock.

den.thed · Answer

The upgrade options are only available when ordering on-line.see &gt; Buy iMac - AppleYes, that process will noticeable stifle any Mac.Do your homework.Intel iMac&#x27;s can easily startup from and be setup to run from an external drive. You will want an external drive that already has an SSD or an empty one that you can put an SSD into. Thunderbolt is faster, but more expensive. USB 3 is fast enough and less expensive, but not all portable USB 3 drives are suitable.For some good examples: see &gt; Thunderbolt External Hard Drives, Docks, Adapters and More

SeaPapp · Answer

The 21.5” iMac you purchased, unless you upgraded to an ssd, has a dog slow 5400 rpm hard drive. The startup and opening times you report are probably normal. That said you may have some poorly written or incompatible software that is causing things to slow down. It would help if you would run and post the result of Etrecheck so we could get a look  http://etrecheck.com/Check with the developer or google for instructions on how to remove whatsapp. DO NOT install an app remover to get rid of it.

Red Whopper · Answer

Thanks Mike, please see below.EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)Report generated 2017-11-13 11:46:08Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime: 4:46Performance: GoodClick the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Problem: Is Computer is too slow?Hardware Information: ⓘ    iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)     [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty &amp; Service]    iMac - model: iMac18,2    1 3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-7400) CPU: 4-core    8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]        BANK 0/DIMM0            4 GB DDR4 2400 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            4 GB DDR4 2400 MHz ok    Handoff/Airdrop2: supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac    iCloud Quota: 24.11 GB availableVideo Information: ⓘ    Radeon Pro 555 - VRAM: 2048 MB        iMac 4096 x 2304Disk Information: ⓘ    APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E632 disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)    [Show SMART report]        EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [EFI]: 210 MB         (disk0s2) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB        Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Recovery]: 650 MB USB Information: ⓘ     USB30Bus         Seagate Backup+ Hub             Seagate Backup+ Hub BK                 Backup+ Hub BK disk2: (4 TB)                    EFI (disk2s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [EFI]: 210 MB                     Seagate Backup Plus (disk2s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus : 4.00 TB (3.12 TB free)        Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller         Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)         Seagate Backup+ Hub         Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub             Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard         Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive      USB31Bus Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busVirtual disks: ⓘ    Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) /  [Startup]: 998.98 GB (301.82 GB free)        Physical disk: disk0s2 999.35 GB OnlineSystem Software: ⓘ    macOS Sierra  10.12.6 (16G1036) - Time since boot: about one day Gatekeeper: ⓘ    Mac App Store and identified developersSystem Launch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    6 Apple tasks    [loaded]    180 Apple tasks    [running]    97 Apple tasks    [killed]    2 Apple tasks    2 processes killed due to insufficient RAMSystem Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [not loaded]    37 Apple tasks    [loaded]    172 Apple tasks    [running]    103 Apple tasks    [killed]    5 Apple tasks    5 processes killed due to insufficient RAMLaunch Agents: ⓘ    [failed]    com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a 23d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-09-06) [Lookup]Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-09-06) [Lookup]    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-09-06) [Lookup]    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 564efddb - installed 2017-10-20) [Lookup]    [running]    com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-10-11) [Lookup]    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e 7ca9944 - installed 2015-06-04) [Lookup]User Launch Agents: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-11-09) [Lookup]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-11-09) [Lookup]    [running]    com.hp.devicemonitor.plist (HP Inc. - installed 2017-11-13) [Lookup]    [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2017-11-13) [Lookup]User Login Items: ⓘ    iTunesHelper    Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-11-09)        (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)    Dropbox    Application         (/Applications/Dropbox.app)    Spotify    Application         (/Applications/Spotify.app)    HP Device Monitor    SMLoginItem - Hidden (HP Inc. - installed 2017-10-29)        (/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/HPDeviceMonitoring.framework/Versions/1.0/Help ers/HP Device Monitor Manager.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Device Monitor.app)Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ    FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.183 (installed 2017-10-25) [Lookup]    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-11-09)    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (installed 2017-11-09) [Lookup]    AdobePDFViewer: 17.012.20098 (installed 2017-11-09) [Lookup]    CANONiMAGEGATEWAYDL: 2.1.0.1 (installed 2006-04-21) [Lookup]    CANONiMAGEGATEWAYLI: 2.1.0.1 (installed 2006-04-21) [Lookup]    Flash Player: 27.0.0.183 (installed 2017-11-09) [Lookup]    PepperFlashPlayer: Unknown (installed 2017-11-10)    SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.7 (installed 2017-11-09) [Lookup]Safari Extensions: ⓘ    [enabled]    AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (installed 2017-10-21)    [enabled]    Amazon Assistant for Safari - Amazon - https://www.amazon.com?tag&#x3D;amz-mkt-saf-us-20 (installed 2017-10-21)    [enabled]    DuckDuckGo - DuckDuckGo - http://duckduckgo.com (installed 2017-10-21)3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ    Flash Player (installed 2017-10-20) [Lookup]Time Machine: ⓘ    Skip System Files: NO    Auto backup: YES    Volumes being backed up:        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 998.98 GB Disk used: 697.16 GB    Destinations:        Seagate Backup Plus [Local]         Total size: 4.00 TB         Total number of backups: 80         Oldest backup: 16/12/2016, 16:55         Last backup: 13/11/2017, 11:30         Size of backup disk: Excellent            Backup size 4.00 TB &gt; (Disk size 998.98 GB X 3)Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ        20%       photolibraryd        16%       photoanalysisd         4%       kernel_task         4%       cloudphotosd         2%       WindowServerTop Processes by Memory: ⓘ    865 MB        kernel_task    519 MB        firefox    407 MB        com.apple.WebKit.WebContent    316 MB        plugin-container    291 MB        firefoxTop Processes by Network Use: ⓘ    Input         Output        Process name    10 MB         1 MB          Spotify    4 MB          630 KB        mDNSResponder    429 KB        219 KB        Dropbox    261 KB        273 KB        apsd    154 KB        63 KB         netbiosdTop Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ     47.66    photoanalysisd     27.56    photolibraryd      3.68    WindowServer      2.58    com.apple.WebKit.WebContentVirtual Memory Information: ⓘ    1.90 GB       Available RAM    70 MB         Free RAM    6.10 GB       Used RAM    1.83 GB       Cached files    43 MB         Swap UsedSoftware installs (last 30 days): ⓘ    Twitter: 4.3.2 (installed 2017-11-10)    Install information may not be complete.Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ    2017-11-10 20:02:41    com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService High CPU use [Open] [Details]

den.thed · Answer

1. For starters Mike is spot on! That system has the worlds slowest 5400 rpm HD, instead of a 7200 rpm HD, that you where more accustom to. Then to make matters worse, it is nearly ¾ full and working on the slowest part of the Disk.2. That system only has 8GB of RAM and must be cracked open in order to upgraded the Memory. This may not be a problem for light users, but it is another big stumbling block for user&#x27;s that run multiple RAM guzzling App&#x27;s and Pro App&#x27;s.3. It looks like your Photos App&#x27;s was very busy for an extended period of time on and around 11-10-2017. Which would also cause both high "CPU and Disk" activity, making matters even worse for that time period.Like many others that are in the same slow boat. You may also want to get and run macOS from an external SSD Thunderbolt or USB 3 box to help speed things up.

Red Whopper · Answer

Thanks, that&#x27;s helpful. I didn&#x27;t even ask the question when I went into the Apple Store; just assumed it would at least be on a par or even better than my last iMac (which was bloody quick before it started playing up). I guess there&#x27;s no recourse for me. Why the F**K do Apple have to mess with things. They never offered me the SSD option when I purchased.Yes I have been scanning all my hard copy photos for some time now, so Photos would have appeared to be pretty busy. Almost done now, so maybe that will help.Generally I would consider myself a light user, and I only had 8mb of RAM previously, so I guess I can live with that for now.I am not sure what running MacOS from and external SSD Thunderbolt or USB3 box entails. But if you think it will speed the machine up I will look into it as an option.Really appreciate the feedback. Many thanks.

Red Whopper · Answer

Thanks Mike,I have run Eltrecheck and have a report which I have saved as a PDF. How do I send it to you. There is no attachments facility with this reply.

SeaPapp · Answer

Just copy and paste it in a reply.