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My 2011 Mac Mini is slowwwwww

K

King of Canada

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 4, 2013
11
0
Beautiful Nova Scotia
I've had a number of Apple products over the years, but this is my first Mac. My previous PC was was an intel core2duo, and I bought it new in 2005. My problem is that from day one, my mac mini has been WAY slower than my ancient PC was? My PC had 2gb of RAM and a budget HDD, so it wasn't that my old system was fast. I am literally only using my mac mini to surf the web and download the odd movie, tv show, etc...

When I try to open any program or browser, the whole thing freezes for as long as a minute. It makes no sense that it is so slow. Same goes for any task. If I open Finder, and click and drag a tiny file to the desktop for example, it takes about five seconds before the file even acknowledges that I have selected it and am moving it. Any ideas? I'm practically pulling my hair out.
 
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You didn't mention how much RAM you have.

There is clearly something wrong, mine does not have any of the issues you have and is fast.

Try this, restart, then login again but right after login (Enter Key) hold the Shift key, does it make a difference?
 
- The Core 2 Duo wasn't available in 2005, I believe it was introduced in late 2006.
- What you are describing surely isn't normal. I know of older Macs who work a faster than that. Could you give us a bit more info by pressing the little Apple symbol and opening 'About this Mac'? For instance, which version of OS X are you using? What is your processor and how much memory do you have?
- Try to search for Activity Monitor with Spotlight. Perhaps there's a system process that's taking a lot of processor power. If you Force quit it, you might have solved your issue. If you recently installed your system, perhaps Spotlight is still indexing your files; when it's finished, your problem should be resolved.
- For how long have you had your Mac and this particular problem?
 
ResPublica said:
- The Core 2 Duo wasn't available in 2005, I believe it was introduced in late 2006.
-
Click to expand...

Right you are! I just checked. 2006/2007, and it was a 1.86ghz core2duo. 2gb ram.

My mac is a 2.3ghz Intel Core i5, 2gm ram. OSX 10.8.3.

----------

It doesn't look like there are any processes going crazy. The top process as far as CPU % goes is firefox at 5%. After that it's activity monitor. :)

Edited to add that I purchased my mac mini in mid 2012. Have had these issues from the second I started it.
 
King of Canada said:
Right you are! I just checked. 2006/2007, and it was a 1.86ghz core2duo. 2gb ram.

My mac is a 2.3ghz Intel Core i5, 2gm ram. OSX 10.8.3.

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It doesn't look like there are any processes going crazy. The top process as far as CPU % goes is firefox at 5%. After that it's activity monitor. :)
Click to expand...

Can't be a 2.3 i5

PROCESSOR

Processor Intel Core i5 or Core i7 (3210M, 3615QM, 3720QM) ("Ivy Bridge")
Processor Speed 2.5 GHz (Core i5) or 2.3 or 2.6 GHz (Core i7)

Try what I said before, or make a new User Account, login into that account and see if it is better, if so your User Account is the problem.

Edit: My Mini in SS below.

Edit Again:
King of Canada said:
Edited to add that I purchased my mac mini in mid 2012. Have had these issues from the second I started it.
Click to expand...

You make quite a few mistakes, there is no mid 2012 Mini.:p
 

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It can be the HDD. On my old Core2Duo things also feel a lot snappier than when I unboxed the Mini, no matter how crap 3,5 inch drive you have, IMO it always outperforms any 2,5 inch disk.
But when I upgraded to SSD, things became a lot different.
 
blanka said:
It can be the HDD. On my old Core2Duo things also feel a lot snappier than when I unboxed the Mini, no matter how crap 3,5 inch drive you have, IMO it always outperforms any 2,5 inch disk.
But when I upgraded to SSD, things became a lot different.
Click to expand...

I don't want to have to upgrade my HDD just to get average performance though. I'm hoping it's something else. Any computer should be able to surf the web or open a tiny photo without making you angry. :)
 
Dweez said:
My mid-2011 MacMini5.1 uses a 2.3 ghz i5.
Click to expand...

The title/opening post was and still is saying 2012.

That was the confusing part.

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King of Canada said:
I don't want to have to upgrade my HDD just to get average performance though. I'm hoping it's something else. Any computer should be able to surf the web or open a tiny photo without making you angry. :)
Click to expand...

Now start doing some of the things I suggested.;)
 
justperry said:
I don't know what you did, make new User account or the Shift key!

Depends what you did, if you held the Shift key after login you are not in Safe mode, it only prevents login Items from loading
Click to expand...

I held the shift key after entering my password to log in.

Also re: Fixed, I meant the subject line!
 
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King of Canada said:
I held the shift key after entering my password to log in.
Click to expand...

You say snappier but how much, is it OK now or still a dog?
If it is still so so then try a clean new user account.

Also, a "real" safe boot could also do some good, hold Shift right after a restart for this, login and then restart again, might clear some rubbish caches.
 
justperry said:
You say snappier but how much, is it OK now or still a dog?
If it is still so so then try a clean new user account.

Also, a "real" safe boot could also do some good, hold Shift right after a restart for this, login and then restart again, might clear some rubbish caches.
Click to expand...

It really does seem faster than before. Browser pops up right away. Same for a couple of folders I have set up. itunes took 6 seconds to open, but that is probably normal for itunes.

For your real safe boot mentioned above, you're saying I should hold shift the whole time, from pre-login to restart right on through to the second time it boots?
 
King of Canada said:
It really does seem faster than before. Browser pops up right away. Same for a couple of folders I have set up. itunes took 6 seconds to open, but that is probably normal for itunes.

For your real safe boot mentioned above, you're saying I should hold shift the whole time, from pre-login to restart right on through to the second time it boots?
Click to expand...

No, from a cold boot press power (release it, then instantly hold the Shift key until the Apple Logo arrives, but, if it is much better now I wouldn't bother.
From a restart instantly after the startup sound, or just guess.

Instead go to your Login Items, it is located in Users & Groups in System Preferences, then make a screenshot of what is there (For later), remove all items, logout and in again, now, is it still "fast", if so one of your Login Items is causing the problem, you can find the one causing the problem by adding one by one, after each one added logout and in again, if it is slow you know the problem, the App/process causing this might have an Update, look into it.
 
It's funny, because there are only three items there. Itunes Helper, Crossover CD Helper (no idea what that is), and the software for accessing my phone, which was just added two weeks ago. I don't need any of these at startup, or really ever with the exception of the phone software. Should I just can all three from my Login Items?
 
King of Canada said:
It's funny, because there are only three items there. Itunes Helper, Crossover CD Helper (no idea what that is), and the software for accessing my phone, which was just added two weeks ago. I don't need any of these at startup, or really ever with the exception of the phone software. Should I just can all three from my Login Items?
Click to expand...

Remove Cross CD Helper first, I suspect this one since it could potentially interfere, especially in Finder, remove, logout and in again, see if it makes a difference.

Btw, how is your startup time, reasonable?
 
2 GB of RAM isn't enough. You should have at least 4 GB. Looks like there are other things holding your Mini back, but RAM is definitely one of them.
 
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