Slow iMac, should I erase and reinstall?
Discussion
My iMac has been plodding along since it was bought refurbished in 2011.
Not used for any high end stuff, just a glorified typewriter for my work invoices, accounts and emails plus looking at PH.
It is soooo slow now. Mail takes an age to open and if I ask it to do anything there is always the pin wheel of death.
Its connected to a hard drive back up using Time Machine.
So is it just a case of erasing and reinstalling then asking Time Machine to bring back all my stuff or is it more complicated than that?
Cheers for any help.
Not used for any high end stuff, just a glorified typewriter for my work invoices, accounts and emails plus looking at PH.
It is soooo slow now. Mail takes an age to open and if I ask it to do anything there is always the pin wheel of death.
Its connected to a hard drive back up using Time Machine.
So is it just a case of erasing and reinstalling then asking Time Machine to bring back all my stuff or is it more complicated than that?
Cheers for any help.
My 2011 iMac behaved like this for a few months, then the hard disk failed.
At the time, I couldn't find an approved repairer willing to install an SSD. Something to do with not being compatible with the iMac's fan speed controller (lack of temperature sensor on SSDs I believe). I was told it was possible to disable the Apple hardware controller, and use an app to do the job.
This was 2 or 3 years ago. Have things changed now - are there any fully compatible SSDs?
At the time, I couldn't find an approved repairer willing to install an SSD. Something to do with not being compatible with the iMac's fan speed controller (lack of temperature sensor on SSDs I believe). I was told it was possible to disable the Apple hardware controller, and use an app to do the job.
This was 2 or 3 years ago. Have things changed now - are there any fully compatible SSDs?
agree with others- install a SSD hard drive and maybe even update the ram.
i did this with my 2012 macbook pro about 1-2months ago on the recommendations from here, as it had slowed down and a new one was £2.5k!!! flies along now and even if it buys me another couple of years out of the machine it’s worth it for a couple of hundred quid and a couple of hours of your time.
i did this with my 2012 macbook pro about 1-2months ago on the recommendations from here, as it had slowed down and a new one was £2.5k!!! flies along now and even if it buys me another couple of years out of the machine it’s worth it for a couple of hundred quid and a couple of hours of your time.
Opening an iMac is a pain. A real pain. I know why many companies refuse to do it.
However, You can buy a thunderbolt caddy, add an SSD, boot from it and use your internal hdd for storage. Or just buy a small (say 128gb ssd thunderbolt hdd)...
I’ve been using this for 4 years with no issue.
However, You can buy a thunderbolt caddy, add an SSD, boot from it and use your internal hdd for storage. Or just buy a small (say 128gb ssd thunderbolt hdd)...
I’ve been using this for 4 years with no issue.
Thanks guys. All a bit over my head tho.
Install a new OS? From where? If the new SSD is empty how do I install something on it that can download the OS from the Web? Or have I got that wrong.
Do I still use my Time machine back up as all my important stuff is on it?
I changed the hard drive on my 2006 Mac book years ago but that was just plug and play if I remember correctly.
Go easy on my as although I have bluffed my way thru a couple of IT jobs fitting stuff into systems with a mate a couple of times I'm really an idiot.
Install a new OS? From where? If the new SSD is empty how do I install something on it that can download the OS from the Web? Or have I got that wrong.
Do I still use my Time machine back up as all my important stuff is on it?
I changed the hard drive on my 2006 Mac book years ago but that was just plug and play if I remember correctly.
Go easy on my as although I have bluffed my way thru a couple of IT jobs fitting stuff into systems with a mate a couple of times I'm really an idiot.
As already said, SSD is the answer. I did this to my 2007 iMac core2duo and it was totally transformed.
Opening an iMac isn't really that difficult, just a couple of suction cups to pull the magnetically held glass off and a selection of screws - it is awkward though juggling the 2 halves of the case.
With a view to definitely opening up the mac, I'd start with a 2.5" USB3 SATA enclosure and at least a 500GB SSD. (Mine was from Cruicial).
You can download the El Capitan installer from the AppStore for free on your current Mac installation, it's about 6GB and downloads to the Applications Folder. Just run this to install El Capitan on the external SSD in the enclosure - loads of guides about this on the internet to format the drive correctly first.
Then you'll have a bootable external drive (hold option at startup) to test, you'll also be able to have both drives mounted to start copying all your stuff across. Or just restore from a Time Machine backup. I prefer to start clean though.
From El Capitan you can upgrade to Sierra or whatever the latest one is, my mac is too old so I don't pay much attention to the latest OSX!
Good luck!
Opening an iMac isn't really that difficult, just a couple of suction cups to pull the magnetically held glass off and a selection of screws - it is awkward though juggling the 2 halves of the case.
With a view to definitely opening up the mac, I'd start with a 2.5" USB3 SATA enclosure and at least a 500GB SSD. (Mine was from Cruicial).
You can download the El Capitan installer from the AppStore for free on your current Mac installation, it's about 6GB and downloads to the Applications Folder. Just run this to install El Capitan on the external SSD in the enclosure - loads of guides about this on the internet to format the drive correctly first.
Then you'll have a bootable external drive (hold option at startup) to test, you'll also be able to have both drives mounted to start copying all your stuff across. Or just restore from a Time Machine backup. I prefer to start clean though.
From El Capitan you can upgrade to Sierra or whatever the latest one is, my mac is too old so I don't pay much attention to the latest OSX!
Good luck!
timmymagic73 said:
Opening an iMac isn't really that difficult, just a couple of suction cups to pull the magnetically held glass off and a selection of screws - it is awkward though juggling the 2 halves of the case.
It's a frigging hassle. Yes you need suction cups, upteen screws and dust always gets behind the screen.I did it for my 2007 as well 
The 2011 has thunderbolt, just use that. I forget the exact process but it is quite simple to install the OS to the SSD, then just change the boot drive by holding down option on boot. You can then reinstall your apps to the SSD.
If you don't want the hassle of starting from scratch.
I have used this method before
1/ Buy a USB - SATA Cable.
2/ Buy SUPERDUPER to clone your drive ( it makes it bootable too )
3/ Swap out drives
4/ Buy CLEANMYMAC - it will get rid of all of the crap you dont need ( eg Hungarian language etc etc )
5/ Get CCLEANER
Oh and check the Crucial link I posted above - it will tell you if memory can be upgraded also.
I have used this method before
1/ Buy a USB - SATA Cable.
2/ Buy SUPERDUPER to clone your drive ( it makes it bootable too )
3/ Swap out drives
4/ Buy CLEANMYMAC - it will get rid of all of the crap you dont need ( eg Hungarian language etc etc )
5/ Get CCLEANER
Oh and check the Crucial link I posted above - it will tell you if memory can be upgraded also.
clockworks said:
My 2011 iMac behaved like this for a few months, then the hard disk failed.
At the time, I couldn't find an approved repairer willing to install an SSD. Something to do with not being compatible with the iMac's fan speed controller (lack of temperature sensor on SSDs I believe). I was told it was possible to disable the Apple hardware controller, and use an app to do the job.
This was 2 or 3 years ago. Have things changed now - are there any fully compatible SSDs?
Not that I know of but the app thing works. I’ve done a few that way no complaints.At the time, I couldn't find an approved repairer willing to install an SSD. Something to do with not being compatible with the iMac's fan speed controller (lack of temperature sensor on SSDs I believe). I was told it was possible to disable the Apple hardware controller, and use an app to do the job.
This was 2 or 3 years ago. Have things changed now - are there any fully compatible SSDs?
Vaud said:
It's a frigging hassle. Yes you need suction cups, upteen screws and dust always gets behind the screen.I did it for my 2007 as well
The 2011 has thunderbolt, just use that. I forget the exact process but it is quite simple to install the OS to the SSD, then just change the boot drive by holding down option on boot. You can then reinstall your apps to the SSD.
I didn't even realise that my iMac had Thunderbolt. I just checked, and it does.The 2011 has thunderbolt, just use that. I forget the exact process but it is quite simple to install the OS to the SSD, then just change the boot drive by holding down option on boot. You can then reinstall your apps to the SSD.
When my original HDD was dying, I ran it for a while from a USB HDD, which worked fine, if a little slower. I just used CCC to make a bootable clone drive.
Is an SSD in a Thunderbolt caddy really appreciably faster than using a standard internal drive? If it is, I'll look into doing this. Selecting a drive at boot time isn't an issue, as I only switch it off a couple of times a year when I go away.
clockworks said:
Is an SSD in a Thunderbolt caddy really appreciably faster than using a standard internal drive? If it is, I'll look into doing this. Selecting a drive at boot time isn't an issue, as I only switch it off a couple of times a year when I go away.
Yes, massively. I have the speed specs somewhere but the Thunderbolt is extremely fast. You might want to power cycle a bit more often, it helps with cleaning up caches and logs IIRC.
Before you start ripping the Mac apart you could run a test to make sure it's not something as simple as a software conflict causing the problems. There are certain apps that can bring a Mac to its knees - MacKeeper is perhaps one of the main contenders, but there are others. You could download and run Etrecheck and post it's report here and it may show if there is any problem software installed. Its reports do not divulge any confidential information.
https://etrecheck.com
(I've no connection with Etrecheck - it's just well-regarded trouble-shooting software often recommended on Apple Support Communities for trying to sort out slow Macs).
https://etrecheck.com
(I've no connection with Etrecheck - it's just well-regarded trouble-shooting software often recommended on Apple Support Communities for trying to sort out slow Macs).
I feel your pain, I have a 2007 24" iMac (not 2009 as I originally posted) and my iMac had been running slow for quite some time and despite running Disk Utility things weren't much better, having read posts on the Apple OSX forum on here I figured the old hard drive was possibly on the way out so thought it best to replace it before it died.
After much research I decided to fit a new HDD and reinstall the OS for a clean start.
So I took the iMac to pieces after watching a YouTube video on how to do it, and yes it was somewhat scary, but it was either that or buy a new iMac.
Anyway, it all went back together without any grief and thankfully there were no spare screws, etc. I installed the new OS from a DVD and it all booted up.
However, nothing was the same and I had forgotten just how much I liked the set up, so last month I though sod it, I'm going to fit a new SSD and clone the original drive onto it. Problem being is that I had never cloned a drive before so was pretty clueless.
So I bought a standalone docking station from Amazon which looks like a toaster, it has two slots, one for the old drive and one for the new, you insert the old drive in one slot, the new drive in the other, and press the button to clone/copy, and that's it. A few hours later the new drive was ready to be fitted.
In my case I went for it and cloned the original 320GB HDD onto a new Kingston 480GB SSD without any problems using the external docking station, and then went about replacing the internal HDD on the iMac.
Took me approx 50 minutes, though am sure I could do it quicker.
Main thing is to buy a couple of small suckers from Amazon to pull the screen off which is very easy to do on the early iMacs which are attached in place by magnets, note that the newer ones are glued on so not so straightforward.
My iMac now runs extremely fast and if I get a few more years life out of it then I will be well chuffed.
BTW, I assume you have connected up an external HDD for automatic Time Machine backups, if not, then nip down to PC World and buy an external WD HDD so that in the event the internal drive dies you won't be totally dead in the water.
EDITED TO ADD: Increasing the RAM on the iMac to whatever is the maximum will speed it up to some degree, in my case it was a heady 4GB DDR2 SDRAM!!! - Click on the Apple logo in the top left menu bar and select 'About this Mac' to see how much RAM is installed.
After much research I decided to fit a new HDD and reinstall the OS for a clean start.
So I took the iMac to pieces after watching a YouTube video on how to do it, and yes it was somewhat scary, but it was either that or buy a new iMac.
Anyway, it all went back together without any grief and thankfully there were no spare screws, etc. I installed the new OS from a DVD and it all booted up.
However, nothing was the same and I had forgotten just how much I liked the set up, so last month I though sod it, I'm going to fit a new SSD and clone the original drive onto it. Problem being is that I had never cloned a drive before so was pretty clueless.
So I bought a standalone docking station from Amazon which looks like a toaster, it has two slots, one for the old drive and one for the new, you insert the old drive in one slot, the new drive in the other, and press the button to clone/copy, and that's it. A few hours later the new drive was ready to be fitted.
In my case I went for it and cloned the original 320GB HDD onto a new Kingston 480GB SSD without any problems using the external docking station, and then went about replacing the internal HDD on the iMac.
Took me approx 50 minutes, though am sure I could do it quicker.
Main thing is to buy a couple of small suckers from Amazon to pull the screen off which is very easy to do on the early iMacs which are attached in place by magnets, note that the newer ones are glued on so not so straightforward.
My iMac now runs extremely fast and if I get a few more years life out of it then I will be well chuffed.
BTW, I assume you have connected up an external HDD for automatic Time Machine backups, if not, then nip down to PC World and buy an external WD HDD so that in the event the internal drive dies you won't be totally dead in the water.
EDITED TO ADD: Increasing the RAM on the iMac to whatever is the maximum will speed it up to some degree, in my case it was a heady 4GB DDR2 SDRAM!!! - Click on the Apple logo in the top left menu bar and select 'About this Mac' to see how much RAM is installed.
Edited by rich888 on Wednesday 22 August 22:52
I've done a bit of googling to try and figure out what hardware I would need to use an external SSD on my mid-2011 iMac. It appears to be a bit of a minefield:
Several different versions of Thunderbolt. Which one do I need?
External caddies seem to be ridiculously expensive, more expensive than buying a small Thunderbolt SSD. Are Thunderbolt caddies really 10x the price of USB caddies, or am I looking at the wrong thing?
Some of the portable SSDs that I've seen recommended for Macs bang on about being USB3.1 USB C or some such. Is Thunderbolt the same as some form of USB?
I'm a bit confused!
Several different versions of Thunderbolt. Which one do I need?
External caddies seem to be ridiculously expensive, more expensive than buying a small Thunderbolt SSD. Are Thunderbolt caddies really 10x the price of USB caddies, or am I looking at the wrong thing?
Some of the portable SSDs that I've seen recommended for Macs bang on about being USB3.1 USB C or some such. Is Thunderbolt the same as some form of USB?
I'm a bit confused!
clockworks said:
I've done a bit of googling to try and figure out what hardware I would need to use an external SSD on my mid-2011 iMac. It appears to be a bit of a minefield:
Several different versions of Thunderbolt. Which one do I need?
External caddies seem to be ridiculously expensive, more expensive than buying a small Thunderbolt SSD. Are Thunderbolt caddies really 10x the price of USB caddies, or am I looking at the wrong thing?
Some of the portable SSDs that I've seen recommended for Macs bang on about being USB3.1 USB C or some such. Is Thunderbolt the same as some form of USB?
I'm a bit confused!
IIRC - not many external SSD's use thunderbolt 1Several different versions of Thunderbolt. Which one do I need?
External caddies seem to be ridiculously expensive, more expensive than buying a small Thunderbolt SSD. Are Thunderbolt caddies really 10x the price of USB caddies, or am I looking at the wrong thing?
Some of the portable SSDs that I've seen recommended for Macs bang on about being USB3.1 USB C or some such. Is Thunderbolt the same as some form of USB?
I'm a bit confused!
I have an external HDD using thunderbolt 1
If you have a CD drive in the MacBook - just get a Convertor.
Then replace CD drive - with the convertor - and insert an SDD
You can then clone drive using super duper
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