Hello,

Two days ago, my computer suddenly got really slow, opening applications and using the web. The ball of death spun longer and longer as the hours passed.

Today, I had to restart my computer because it wasn't responding to anything. I held down the power button, because I couldn't get anything else to work. I restarted it and it was taking a really long time to restart. In fact, a black screen came up saying a few things didn't work (I didn't catch what they were) before starting up the OS (Tiger).

So far I tried moving my keychain folder out of both my home and HD Libraries. I also took the com.apple.keychainaccess.plist out of Library/Preferences. and com.apple.security.plist out of Harddrive/Library/Preferences.

It's a bit better, but not perfect. The beachball isn't showing it's colourful face as much it's just still slow.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading!

P.S. If I don't respond right away, this is why.

Try:

- Shutting down and boot up using Safe Boot Mode, then run Disk Utility to repair permissions and verify disk.

- restart normally and see if things improve.

- make sure you have a current backup if any data is needed and you want saved.

If that doesn't fix anything I'd suggest that your hard drive is dying and some data may already be corrupt.

Get a backup ASAP if you need your data.

First thing I would try is downloading and running OnyX. I run it monthly and have done for many years now to keep my Mac running smoothly and it is free. Find the correct version for Tiger here:

Titanium's Software; Download

This has the feel of a dying HD. So very first step is to back-up any critical files.

Possibly/probably too late to do a clone so just copy those files to an external or a thumb drive, then test to make sure they open. Do not forgot to back up your address book DB and if required Mail. Do the back-ups as a safety measure even if you do use TimeMachine.

Disconnect all peripherals. Since this is a laptop you should even disconnect BT KB and/or mouse if you are using them.

Check HD free space and if it is getting slim start deleting, or archiving and deleting non crucial files. Most of us have at least one movie tucked away. Just getting rid of that may give the HD enough breathing room to return to normal function.

Repairing permissions is a good next step. Forget the verify, if verify finds a problem you still have to repair it.

Running the periodic maintenance items and deleting caches using Onyx may help as well, but your description still has me thinking dead HD.

If you work with video files more extreme maintenance such as defragging and optimization may be in order. MacDoc can chime in with the curent best software for this. First back-up and routine maintenance then the more expensive stuff.

Thanks everyone!

Safety Mode results in turning circle on grey screen with apple indefinitely, so I couldn't try that.

I downloaded Onyx and did an optimization... Is that what you meant when you said "run" Onyx Sinc?

My HD is only half full I still have 70 GB free, so that's not the issue. I haven't installed anything new in the past little while. I have no peripherals, and have repaired permissions many times in the last few days.

I'm suspecting HD as well. This one is three years old - isn't that the usual life expectancy?

The thing is, I don't use any heavy applications, just Mail, Camino, Pages, numbers...

Wait! I have downloaded some excel file templates to use in Numbers, and I noticed my PB slowing down after that. Especially in Numbers, it took forever for cells to change to what I entered... Is there any way this could be the culprit???

Hard drives can fail after 3 years, 3 months, 3 days, 3 hours, 3 mins and even come DOA. There is no "culprit"...

+1.

Based on the symptoms, the OP's HDD is failing. No point in wasting time on Onyx or any other software solutions - you need to backup your data and replace the drive (or the machine, at this point).

No harm trying them but I would not waste money on something like DriveGenius.

If you can afford it, now may be a good time to look into something like a refurbished 13"MBP. Sounds like it would meet your needs nicely, hopefully without breaking the bank. Your current computer is about 8 years old, which means planned obsolescence is certainly catching up with it. I am facing a similar dilemma except it is a video card that is showing the first signs of failure. In my case I can afford a new computer but finding a way to keep some old stuff going in the new world is more than a little daunting.

Converting Excel Templates to Numbers format may take some time especially if the template is not entirely compatible. However only while the activity is ongoing. Check activity monitor to see if something else is overwhelming the OS.

There can absolutely be harm in trying useless fixes on a failing drive.

The more you access it, the more likely the drive is to fail entirely, limiting the chances for data recovery.

If you have a bootable cloned drive (ie: CCC), try booting from it and if everything is relatively speedy then I'd guarantee that the HD is failing.

I fixed a iMac two weeks ago with the same slooooow beachballing problem and the ONLY fix was to replace the HD. Getting their data back from their TM backup was a hassle as a lot of data had been corrupted but the recovery finally worked.

But maybe eMacMan's suggestion for a newer Mac should be considered.