Thank you Ronni. Check computer been running for about 3 hours now. Will let you know the result.
I upgraded to TechTool Pro 9 first. Opened 8 and got a warning that it had not been tested with Sierra. Even though I have kept 8 up to date. Fortunately I had just received an offer to upgrade to 9 for $39 US. So that seemed well timed ! > On 1 Mar 2017, at 5:55 am, Ronni Brown <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Stephen, > > Yes, if you have TechTool Pro 8 definitely run it to test your Mac! > > The best way is to start with Check Computer to perform a complete diagnostic > check of you Mac and hard drives. With a single click of your mouse, it > begins a SMART Check of the hard drive to detect impending drive failure, a > RAM test, analysis of disk directories and more. > If problems are found, advice is provided on how to proceed to repair the > problem. > > Its a good idea to use Check Computer regularly as a part of your preventive > maintenance program. > Because data changes so frequently, it can sometimes get scrambled which is > why it's important to be able to test drives for problems and then repair > them. > Unfortunately, if something is physically wrong with the drive, it will need > to be backed up and replaced, so the sooner this type of damage is detected, > the fewer files will be lost. > > Most drive problems, however, result from data being in the wrong place, and > can be repaired using Techtool Pro’s Volume Rebuild tool. > > Let us know the results from TechTool Pro. > — > A few other suggestions which might be helpful. > Your Mac is abnormally Slow - Speed up your Mac > > First Use Activity Monitor: Sometimes a rogue program can start chewing up > RAM or CPU cycles and not playing nice with others. If this happens, your > whole Mac can slow down. To find out what’s happening behind the scenes, turn > to Apple’s Activity Monitor. > Among the many things Activity Monitor can show is which apps (even ones not > normally visible) are using the most CPU power, RAM, and other system > resources. > First check the CPU category, which shows the amount of processor power being > devoted to various processes. You can sort and filter what you see in > Activity Monitor in various ways. I click the % CPU column header to display > processes in order of their CPU usage. > > Don’t jump to hasty conclusions based on what you see in Activity Monitor. > The fact that a process is using a lot of CPU power or RAM for a while isn’t > necessarily a problem, but it can be useful for identifying certain issues. > For example, if you notice that a background app you installed and then > forgot about is being a CPU or RAM hog, consider checking for an update or > uninstalling it. > > Check Free Disk Space: macOS needs plenty of room on your startup volume for > things like virtual memory swap files and software updates, and all sorts of > bad things can happen if you have too little. > > A few “quick fix” steps to take that can solve common performance problems: > > 1. Restart your Mac. After restarting, you may find that your Mac runs more > slowly the longer you use it. If so, continue with one or more of the > following steps. > > 2. Quit inactive apps. You may want to keep some apps, like your email > client, open all day. But anything that’s running in the background can drag > your CPU down. (Some apps are kinder than others about CPU usage when they’re > in the background; consult Activity Monitor to find out which ones are using > the most CPU.) > > 3. Prune login items. Once you’ve quit some background apps, you need to make > sure they don’t run automatically the next time you log in: > Go to System Preferences -> Users & Groups -> Login Items and locate any > items in the list you don’t need to open when you log in. Select each one and > click the minus [-] button. > > Note: Several other mechanisms exist to launch background processes, but > Suffice it to say that if an app includes a problematic background process, > uninstalling that entire app is usually the best and most reliable solution. > > 4. Log out of other accounts. If you use Fast User Switching, other logged-in > accounts may be draining system resources. Switch to another account using > the Fast User Switching menu in the menu bar, log out, and repeat this with > any additional accounts except your own. > > 5. Reset the SMC. In certain cases resetting the SMC can perk up an otherwise > slow Mac. > Reset instructions vary from one Mac to the next; see Apple’s support page > “Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac” at > <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295 > <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295>> for details. > > Cheers, > Ronni > > 13-inch MacBook Air (April 2014) > 1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost to 3.3GHz > 8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM > 512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage > > macOS Sierra 10.12.3 > >> On 28 Feb 2017, at 11:12 pm, Stephen Chape <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> Just wondering. >> Is there anything I could use in TechTool Pro to run checks ? >> I have that installed. >> >>> On 28 Feb 2017, at 11:12 am, Ronda Brown <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Stephen, >>> >>> Before we suggest other possibilities for Slow performance on your iMac. >>> >>> Did you uninstall Net Barrier & Intego Virus Barrier correctly? >>> To properly uninstall your Intego software it is important that you use the >>> latest Installer for your software. >>> >>> "NOTE: If you have already tried to manually uninstall portions of Intego >>> software, this will lead to a partial uninstall, even if you used Finder or >>> Spotlight search to locate Intego files. In this case, you will need to >>> first reinstall Intego software before being able to proceed to a clean and >>> complete uninstall." >>> >>> https://support.intego.com/hc/en-us/articles/207117548-How-to-Uninstall-Intego-Products >>> >>> <https://support.intego.com/hc/en-us/articles/207117548-How-to-Uninstall-Intego-Products> >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Ronni >>> Sent from Ronni's iPad4 >>> >>> >>> On 28 Feb 2017, at 9:44 am, Stephen Chape <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>>> That’s what puzzles me Peter. >>>> I only use it for Excel, Word and PDF files. >>>> My total use is 2.6 GB of my free 5 GB. >>>> >>>> >>>>> On 28 Feb 2017, at 7:24 am, Peter Hinchliffe <[email protected] >>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> On 27 Feb 2017, at 11:06 pm, Stephen Chape <[email protected] >>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Every so often my iMac slows down considerably. >>>>>> I can hear the HD humming away but I have no idea what it is doing. >>>>>> It seems to happen more often just after start up, but not always. >>>>>> Sometimes everything grinds almost to a halt and I have to simply sit >>>>>> and wait. >>>>>> >>>>>> A couple of weeks ago I uninstalled Intego Net Barrier & Intego Virus >>>>>> Barrier thinking they were the cause. >>>>>> However it happened again yesterday several times. >>>>>> But it has not happened today. >>>>>> >>>>>> I have checked Activity Monitor and noticed that DropBox seems very >>>>>> prominent a lot of the time. >>>>>> There are quite a few websites claiming that DropBox can slow a Mac down. >>>>>> I am not convinced that DropBox is the culprit though because it is so >>>>>> popular and well respected. >>>>>> >>>>>> Any ideas please folks ? >>>>>> >>>>>> iMac 21.5 inch Late 2012. >>>>>> i7 processor 3.1GHz >>>>>> 16GB RAM >>>>>> Latest Sierra macOS >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Regards, >>>>>> Stephen Chape >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Dropbox could well be involved, depending on what you have stored there. >>>>> Just as an example, Dropbox has the annoying habit of asking you if you >>>>> want to store your photos there, every time you attach a mobile device or >>>>> an SD card. A friend of mine brought her work’s network to its knees >>>>> after unwittingly agreeing to this, at which point Dropbox commenced >>>>> syncing over 1200 photos to its servers. The activity saturated their >>>>> little wireless router, rendering the network virtually unusable while >>>>> her computer was on. >>>>> >>>>> I’m not saying this is necessarily the problem in your case, but it would >>>>> be instructive to have a look at just what you have in your Dropbox >>>>> folder. Dropbox is certainly a safe, reliable service, but like >>>>> everything it does need a little care and attention. I make sure I only >>>>> use it for smallish files. The really important stuff I keep at home. >>>>> >>>>> Peter Hinchliffe Apwin Computer Services >>>>> FileMaker Pro Solutions Developer >>>>> Perth, Western Australia >>>>> Phone (618) 9332 6482 Mob 0403 046 948 >>>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>> Mac because I prefer it -- Windows because I have to. > > > > > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> Regards, Stephen Chape
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