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Mac running extremely slow


NancyA

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I have a Mac laptop running Mojave and Photoshop 2020. It is 3 years old, and has 16GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 392.46GB free out of 1TB. The last time I shut down was earlier today. I  have run cleanmymac and malwarebites. It has 2.8 GH Intel Core i7 processor.  It has an AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2048 MB graphics card which is updated. Airplay display is "off". Las image below is activity monitor. 

When I move sliders I have to "wait" for the effect to change and then it goes extreme because I have gone too far trying to see the change.  It happens with noise removal especially and now it has progressed to quick mask selection and levels sliders.  I have to "wait" for the green to show in QM.    Have cleaned off hard drive.  Including images showing what is causing the drain in RAM.  5.7GB free is with all programs closed.  635MB is with 1 image opened in RAW.  184MB free is with same 1 image opened in PS.  I was running CC 2018  & High Sierra when it started.  I had used both of these with no issues and then just all of a sudden it started.  At that point I cleaned off the hard drive thinking it was overloaded but that didn't help so I updated to CC 2020 and that didn't help so upgraded to Mojave and still the same.  I need to figure out what is causing the slow down when it has worked with no issues for 3 years!  Thanks.

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Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 3.23.47 PM.png

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Oops I knew I should have pulled that back before I did that screenshot.  Ok it's back but yes I will just plead the insanity bit and it has always been set that high so I don't see that as the issue.

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I turned it back.  It isn't a big issue for me anymore to have it that high.  It's a "security blanket" issue from way back.  If that will fix this issue it will gladly stay on 50 for eternity!!

 

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25 minutes ago, NancyA said:

 It isn't a big issue for me anymore to have it that high

That was why I made this statement.  I started using PS about 15 years ago with no training and did it the extreme hard way.  I used to flatten beyond belief and moved from that to stamp visible.  Using neither anymore there really is no reason to have 500 +.  It was just a habit.  ARC is still lagging on the sliders especially in noise removal.  Some things seem to be better.  I'll give it awhile to see what happens.  My main question is why would these things all of a sudden cause this issue.  I think I have always had the graphic processor turned on but I can see why that should help this issue.  But I honestly can't comprehend why the history settings would 1. all of a sudden affect the speed 2. affect anything that happens in ARC before getting to PS???

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Now I just got this warning! I have never seen this before. I have PS, Bridge, & safari with only facebook open when this popped up. First image is with safari open.  I shut it down and 2nd image is with just bridge & PS open

 

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Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 6.11.44 PM.png

Edited by NancyA
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SAFARI IS A RAM HOG!!! DO NOT USE SAFARI!!

PLEASE DOWNLOAD AND USE FIREFOX!!!

The only time I use Safari on my iMac is to download Firefox. :)

As far as disk space, you really don't want to go above 70% on a Mac, whether that is the internal HD or an external HD. If you have a full external, that could cause issues. So while you are trying to figure things out, just use your laptop and have nothing connected.

Instead of unchecking "Use Graphics Processor," I'd turn it back on and hit the "Advanced Settings" button and set the drawing mode to "Basic." Also, try freeing up more space on your HD. 390GB is decent, let's try to get that to around 500GB and see what happens.

Oh, one more thing...

How much crap do you have on your desktop? This is what your desktop should look like:
 

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 9.03.44 PM.png

The more files and folders you have on the desktop, the more resources are used by the OS and the slower the damn thing runs. So even though you have around 390GB free on the HD, your desktop should be immaculate. Now, I get it...it's easy to put things on the desktop for ease of access, like uploading photos to your printer or website. The trick is not to have them permanently reside on the desktop. The reason is, the MacOS treats ANY files or folders on the desktop as open windows, whether if you are using them or not. Got 1000 photos of the Smith Jones Wedding? That's 1000 open files...at least as far as the Operating System is concerned.

 

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I have hard drive down to 495 GB free.  I have Graphics Processor back to use with set on Basic.  I have firefox installed.  Bookmarks and everything synced and moved over and then somehow they all disappeared so it has no bookmarks at all in it.  Can you please tell me how to get them transferred back into firefox!  This is what my desktop looks like.  I cleaned it when you did that last post on facebook not too long ago stating it should be empty.  

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 8.56.24 PM.png

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  1. In Safari, open the File menu and choose Export Bookmarks. Save the bookmarks.html file to your desktop.
  2. In Firefox, open the Bookmarks menu and choose Show All Bookmarks.
  3. In the Library window, click the Import and Backup button and choose Import Bookmarks from HTML.
  4. Select the bookmarks.html file that was created on the desktop.
  5. Once your Bookmarks are back, delete the html file from your Desktop.

From what I can see, you seem to be running two different versions of CleanMyMac at the same time.

Screen Shot 2019-03-06 at 6.24.08 AM.png

Un-install the older version and reboot.

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The MacOS has its own version of the Windows' Task Manager. Click your Applications Folder and head to utilities. Select Activity Monitor and then click the Memory Tab. The items at the top are usually the ones consuming the most memory. The "Kernel_Task" at the top of the list is the OS itself. I'm more interested in items #2-10. Here is a sample of what mine looks like:

 

Screen Shot 2019-03-06 at 6.21.47 AM.png

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9 hours ago, Brian said:

you seem to be running two different versions of CleanMyMac at the same time.

I knew there were 2 but wasn't sure which to delete.  cleanmymac 3 I bought but celanmymac X is the trial vs I think but I did delete the cleanmymac3

Screen Shot 2019-03-06 at 3.12.45 PM.png

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Not energy. I need a screenshot of Memory. Click between CPU and energy.

Since you are using Mojave, you need to be running CleanMyMac X. They seem to be running sales now, as they are trying to get people to upgrade. That said, if you own CleanMyMac 3, to Upgrade to CleanMyMac X should be discounted. I think I got it for around $20 or so but then again, I was one of the first people to upgrade to CMM X.

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Oops sorry!  I knew mine didn't look like yours but was in a hurry so didn't take time to process the problem.  I'm not sure this is still the right thing.  It is the "memory" but still doesn't look like your example. 

Screen Shot 2019-03-06 at 7.16.32 PM.png

Edited by NancyA
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Here is another screenshot of same "memory" but used the drop down arrow under the word "memory" just right of "threads.  There is no "kernel_task" line at the very top.  This is scrolled so the very first line is showing.

Screen Shot 2019-03-06 at 7.22.33 PM.png

Edited by NancyA
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From what I see in the list, you have a bunch of things running and only have 16GB of RAM. There is only so much we can do. Remember, each browser you have open consumes memory, Each Browser Tab also takes up RAM, so if you are the type that has 30 tabs open at all times, that's an issue. There is also this ID.me and dropbox that is taking some RAM. I'm also noticing a _windowserver process that's taking up a half a gig of RAM. Here is some info on it and possibly something you could turn off (reduce transparency.)

Have you given this article a read? It's pretty well laid out and is the same stuff that I would tell you to try.

 

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Thanks.  I'll read it.  I normally only use 1 browser but yes may have about 5 tabs open    I'm in the process of changing to firefox and had Safari open getting some URL's/passwords that I needed and didn't realize I left it open.  Yes only 16GB RAM and it is not upgradable :(   The reason this is so frustrating this machine ran great for 3 years using safari (only)--no issues with PS at all and then just boom it started acting up so I felt like it was something new causing the issue.

9 minutes ago, Brian said:

ID.me and the _windowserver process

I don't know what these are.  How do I turn them off?  If it is in the article then you don't need to tell me.  I can figure it out from it.  Again thanks for all your time! 

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