I just uninstalled this app and emptied the trash so hopefully it will be gone for good. MacBook Pro 2012 is slow on startup and launching apps and I wonder if the problem is MacKeeper or the 5400 RPM hard drive. What do you say?
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Getting rid of MacKeeper
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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Mid 2012? Could be a failing drive cable. Known issue, too -- happened to mine and Apple replaced it.
what process did you follow to remove MacKeeper?
http://osxdaily.com/uninstall-mackeeper-from-mac/
Your MBPro would be an ideal candidate for an SSD, which would fix slow boots, or slow launching apps.
And, the problem can certainly be a failing SATA cable. As BarracksSi says, Apple can replace it (likely without cost to you)
I would absolutely do that, even if you choose not to upgrade to an SSD.
http://osxdaily.com/uninstall-mackeeper-from-mac/
Your MBPro would be an ideal candidate for an SSD, which would fix slow boots, or slow launching apps.
And, the problem can certainly be a failing SATA cable. As BarracksSi says, Apple can replace it (likely without cost to you)
I would absolutely do that, even if you choose not to upgrade to an SSD.
Or it may have been MacKeeper as after I rebooted the Mac seems a bit faster.
If I have a bad SATA cable how would I know?
Doing more testing. Ran tech tools pro and it says my hard drive is fine as I ran the SMART check. I think the problem was MacKeeper combined with the limitations of a 5400 hard drive.
In my case, it was when I took it to an Apple Store and, when the tech genius rebooted my MBP with a diagnostic cable plugged in, it started beachballing.
Right away, she said that when a mid-2012 13" like mine started doing this, it usually meant a that the SATA cable was going bad. Plus, even though mine was well out of any warranty, it would be a free replacement because it was a known issue (even if it wasn't widely publicized).
Any other symptoms besides that? Why did you take it to the Apple Store? So far mine seems a bit faster without MacKeeper.
I've got no doubt that getting rid of MacKeeper was a good thing (although I've never ever used it myself; but that's because I don't trust a third party utility to manage the OS better than the OS manages itself).
For me, it was because everything started to slow down, and rebooting began to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Booting in Recovery Mode let me run Disk Utility, which wasn't finding anything (although it did say that the HD was on its way out a few months earlier), and I deleted some other things via Terminal but to no avail. When it eventually booted up, I backed up everything and reserved a Genius Bar appointment.
I think that a failing SATA cable wouldn't show up via a software-based check like Disk Utility anyway, so the Genius Bar test ended up being necessary.
Why would you need "other" symptoms?
If you are experiencing system response issues - slower response than you remember, beach balling, longer boots, etc, then those are pretty good symptoms.
(The Apple store "genius" would replace a potentially failing SATA cable, probably no charge (that's free...!)
Hard drive, and/or the SATA cable are both pretty easy to replace.
I wouldn't go from a 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM, when you have the opportunity for the better-than-new performance of an SSD, especially if you are running Sierra.
BTW - passing the SMART test is not necessarily your proof that the hard drive is good, or bad, for that matter. It really just means that it passed the SMART test. If you continue to experience poor performance from your MBPro (despite the SMART results), then a good next step is to simply replace the hard drive. Don't replace the hard drive without also replacing the SATA cable, due to issues that can be caused by THAT part.
But, if you are happy after removing MacKeeper (and I would be pleased, too!)
If you want some other checks, leave your Activity Monitor open, watching for processes that use a lot of CPU, or high memory use. If you see some processes at the top of the list, someone here can help you interpret that.
Another tip that a lot of users here like, is to download and run EtreCheck. That, by itself, can show you extensions, and other startup software that might be giving you issues. It will also report known malware/adware - which can easily be "helping" your system performance.
If you are experiencing system response issues - slower response than you remember, beach balling, longer boots, etc, then those are pretty good symptoms.
(The Apple store "genius" would replace a potentially failing SATA cable, probably no charge (that's free...!)
Hard drive, and/or the SATA cable are both pretty easy to replace.
I wouldn't go from a 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM, when you have the opportunity for the better-than-new performance of an SSD, especially if you are running Sierra.
BTW - passing the SMART test is not necessarily your proof that the hard drive is good, or bad, for that matter. It really just means that it passed the SMART test. If you continue to experience poor performance from your MBPro (despite the SMART results), then a good next step is to simply replace the hard drive. Don't replace the hard drive without also replacing the SATA cable, due to issues that can be caused by THAT part.
But, if you are happy after removing MacKeeper (and I would be pleased, too!)
If you want some other checks, leave your Activity Monitor open, watching for processes that use a lot of CPU, or high memory use. If you see some processes at the top of the list, someone here can help you interpret that.
Another tip that a lot of users here like, is to download and run EtreCheck. That, by itself, can show you extensions, and other startup software that might be giving you issues. It will also report known malware/adware - which can easily be "helping" your system performance.
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Thanks for your help. So far launching apps is much faster without MacKeeper. But I need to do some more test reboots to see if the problem was MacKeeper.
A couple of things I would do. If you download SMART Utility which has a free trial time period, even if the drive its self has no pending/reallocated/bad sectors, if you get CRC errors, that is usually a sign of a bad SATA cable. This means that there is errors in data transmission between hard drive and logic board due to the cable.
Second, if you had an issue with Mackeeper, I would install Malwarebytes which will remove Mackeeper and any other bad programs you may have accidentally installed.
If you want to make sure everything related to Mackeeper is removed from your computer, open terminal and type the following: sudo find / -iname "*mackeeper*"
Then press enter, and enter an admin password. This may take a while to run and will drop to a new line in terminal. It'll probably find a whole slew of left over stuff from Mackeeper. After reviewing to make sure the command didn't accidentally find anything you may need, which is doubtful, type: sudo find / -iname "*mackeeper*" -delete
This will find all the same stuff again but delete it as well. As always be careful when using terminal to delete things.
Second, if you had an issue with Mackeeper, I would install Malwarebytes which will remove Mackeeper and any other bad programs you may have accidentally installed.
If you want to make sure everything related to Mackeeper is removed from your computer, open terminal and type the following: sudo find / -iname "*mackeeper*"
Then press enter, and enter an admin password. This may take a while to run and will drop to a new line in terminal. It'll probably find a whole slew of left over stuff from Mackeeper. After reviewing to make sure the command didn't accidentally find anything you may need, which is doubtful, type: sudo find / -iname "*mackeeper*" -delete
This will find all the same stuff again but delete it as well. As always be careful when using terminal to delete things.
I agree with most of the above - but by far the best thing you can do is replace the 5400 RPM with an SSD - 10 to 15 times faster - a big difference.
And IMHO worth every penny - BTW I have a mid 2012 macbook pro and replaced the drive with an EVO 500
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1 Terabyte SSD?
Watch for sales, and you might find a 1TB for less than $250. More likely, between $300 and $450 should get one for you.
I don't think you would go wrong with a Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
Watch for sales, and you might find a 1TB for less than $250. More likely, between $300 and $450 should get one for you.
I don't think you would go wrong with a Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
Since I use my Mac primarily for personal/leisure/ministry use I can live with the 5400 RPM drive for the moment, but eventually will go for the SSD when they get cheaper. When I bought my MacBook they were shipping 128-256GB SSD's in Macbook's, so eventually the terabyte drive will drop in price.
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I plan to do this when they drop in price. For the moment $324 + shipping + install fee's is a bit high for my income.
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Also can someone answer this question. Why does Windows run faster on a 5400 RPM hard drive over Mac OS? At work plenty of PC's lack a SSD and on Windows 7 they run quite fast.