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Resolved Question

Major corruption?

by Aug 4, 2014 12:03PM PDT

I have several different problems but I suspect they may have a common cause. If not, I can submit them as separate queries.

I have an iMac 2.7GHz i5 with 8GB of Apple-installed RAM, running OS 10.9.4. I have two 2 TB external HDs, one external super-drive.

In Mail there is no unread message count shown in the Dock, no matter what setting I choose in Preferences.

Time Machine will back up only when I select Back Up Now from the icon in the menu bar.

MS Word and Excel take a very long time to open and I frequently get a spinning beach ball for up to 10 seconds when I click on a document that's been minimised and again when I give a Print command.

Any ideas?

michael

Discussion is locked

fosterpapillon has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
21 Posts
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Best Answer

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Once the new account has been activated,
by Forum moderator Aug 14, 2014 9:35PM PDT

you will need to set up Time Machine.
If that runs correctly, without being prompted, then it would indicate that your original account has become corrupt in some way.

If it does not run correctly, then I would suspect the OS to be corrupt and in need of replacement.

P

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Time Machine is already set up ...
by fosterpapillon Aug 16, 2014 10:47AM PDT

... - identical to that on my original account. In both cases, Time Machine Prefs include a note, "Next backup: Today, 11.12 am" but 11.12 am comes and goes with no action.

Should I scrap my existing Time M settings and turn it off and then start again from scratch on my new account? My current thinking is that I'll wait for Yosemite, copy everything to external HDs and do a clean install.

I hadn't mentioned earlier, but I'm running the avast! anti-virus package and it gives me a clean bill of health.

michael

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Try turning OFF the Avast! package,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 16, 2014 10:57PM PDT

it's not really doing anything

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Meaning it's not worth having?
by fosterpapillon Aug 17, 2014 9:16AM PDT

So is avast! a waste of resources? A con? Would removing it help my other issues?

michael

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Let's try it and see.
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 17, 2014 9:57AM PDT

Given that there are no OS X viruses out there in the wild, Avast! is not really doing anything for you right now.

Note I said Viruses, (Viri? ). There are some trojans and other bits of malware but I have not yet seen any "Drive by" stuff.

Uninstall Avast! and see what the result is


P

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Makes no difference ...
by fosterpapillon Aug 17, 2014 2:03PM PDT

... to any of my problems.

michael

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Getting close to a reinstall.
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 18, 2014 2:35AM PDT

but, as you said, you may was well wait for Yosemite

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Thanks for your time
by fosterpapillon Aug 18, 2014 10:44AM PDT

on this problem MrMac.

michael

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Answer
Disconnect the externals and get back with us
by Forum moderator Aug 4, 2014 9:41PM PDT

on any improvement.

With externals attached, the OS will not complete any task until ALL the externals are spun up and in a ready state.
Modern drives have a tendency to spin down after a short period of non-use.

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That explains the slow Word response ...
by fosterpapillon Aug 5, 2014 10:21AM PDT

... and thanks for that but what about the Mail and Time Machine problems? Should I post them separately?

michael

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What Mail preference settings are you using?
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 5, 2014 9:45PM PDT

Check the General Tab, which is where the count is controlled from.

You may need to trash the Time Machine preferences but before you do that, are there any error messages from Time Machine?

P

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Nothing works ...
by fosterpapillon Aug 7, 2014 11:51AM PDT

I know how to set the Dock Unread Count and I've varied its parameters from time to time. Now, it's just dead - nothing works.

No error message from Time Machine - it's as inert as the Dock Count. No backup unless I tell it to do so.

Even with the two external drives disconnected, almost everything I initiate has to wait for the spinning beach ball. It's reminiscent of my old Mac Plus.

michael

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So now we lean toward a failing hard drive
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 7, 2014 9:55PM PDT

for the beach ball effect.

Replace the drive, install OS X, update and then restore using the latest TM backup

P

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That's major surgery ...
by fosterpapillon Aug 10, 2014 10:39AM PDT

... and major cost. Both Disk Utility and DiskToolsPro say that the HD has no problems and it wouldn't solve my Mail and Time Machine problems anyway.

What are the other possibilities in respect of those last two? I could contemplate a clean install when Yosemite is released - it would help to while away the dreary winter days (it's winter in Oz).

michael

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OK, if changing out the drive is not going to fly
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 11, 2014 1:12AM PDT

How about creating another Admin account on the iMac and logging into it.
Any changes now?

OR

how about installing OS X 10.9.4 on one of those externals and seeing if all your problems go away when booted from that drive?

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That's worth a try
by fosterpapillon Aug 11, 2014 10:12AM PDT

I'm downloading Mavericks and the 10.9.4 combo upgrade now - I'll try the OS on an external HD. I assume everything will be extremely slow because of the USB connection?

I haven't ruled out a change of drive - it's just that I prefer to leave it as a last resort for the reasons noted in my last post.

michael

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Understood,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 11, 2014 11:37PM PDT

what about the new Admin account experiment

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That's next on the list ...
by fosterpapillon Aug 12, 2014 9:13AM PDT

... but I've got to do some research on it first.

I still have no idea why the problems with Mail and Time Machine - I can't see them resulting from a faulty HD.

I've posted another problem separately to avoid clutter on this one.

michael

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The Admin account route
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Aug 12, 2014 9:52PM PDT

is the cheapest and fastest way to check out the problem


P

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I created a new account ...
by fosterpapillon Aug 14, 2014 9:08AM PDT

... but there's nothing there to test - no Mail account, no Time Machine. I set it to Admin privileges but that makes no difference. Do I have to set up a new Mail account and a new Time Machine HD? If so, how does that test the ones on my main account? I'm a tad baffled here.

michael

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Yosemite solved all problems
by fosterpapillon Oct 20, 2014 5:14PM PDT

Doing a normal upgrade to Yosemite fixed these problems without the need to do a clean install. Well, almost - Mail shows the count of unread emails in the dock but maintains that display even after I've read them - that's a minor issue which will probably be ironed out in time.

michael

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