Apple Computer Taking Forever to Boot [SOLVED]

Chasing the Horizon · Mar 28, 2012

My computer rather suddenly went from taking 30 seconds to boot to taking 5 minutes to boot. What's really strange is that its performance otherwise has remained the same. Once it boots, it's as fast as usual with no errors or freezes or other problems of any kind.

The specs on it are: iMac with 2.4ghz processor, 3gb RAM, 250gb hard drive with 31gb available, running OSX Lion.

Obviously it's not a computer that should take 5 minutes to boot. I can think of lots of things that would make the computer slow, but nothing that would effect only the boot time and not the overall performance. I haven't done anything strange to it that I can recall.

I can actually live with the 5 minute boot time (I don't reboot all that often), but I'm really afraid that one of these days it's just going to freeze and never boot up at all. Can any of the smart Apple people here think of a way to fix this, or at least diagnosis the problem?

kuwisdelu · Mar 28, 2012

Two things off the top of my head:

1. Go into System Preferences->Users and Groups->Login Items and see if there's a bunch of stuff there that shouldn't be.

2. Go to Applications/Utilities/Console.app and look at the entries timestamped during your boot time. See if there's anything that keeps repeating or looks extra funky.

You might also try resetting your PRAM.

Deleted member 42 · Mar 28, 2012

kuwisdelu said:
You might also try resetting your PRAM.

If you re-set your PRAM, be aware you'll need to revisit system prefs especially Date and Time settings.

The first thing I would try is to create a brand new User account.

Shut down, and reboot to that account.

Does it take as long? If it doesn't you've got a software issue for sure on the primary account.

The second thing I'd try is reseating your RAM; it may be hanging on the RAM check, if the RAM has become slightly unseated.

Chasing the Horizon · Mar 28, 2012

Medi, I created a new user account and the computer booted in about 30 seconds, so there's definitely a problem with the primary account. Can I fix it permanently by simply transferring all my stuff into a new admin account (in the process getting rid of all the accumulated crap I'm too lazy to delete, lol) and deleting the malfunctioning one?

Kuwi, there was absolutely nothing in my login items. The console showed so many repeating errors at booting that I'm not sure which ones to post, lol. The only one of the repeating errors that made sense to me was one complaining about not being able to find startup system files . . . which makes no sense because those are exactly where they've always been. I know better than to move systems files around.

Deleted member 42 · Mar 28, 2012

Chasing the Horizon said:
Medi, I created a new user account and the computer booted in about 30 seconds, so there's definitely a problem with the primary account. Can I fix it permanently by simply transferring all my stuff into a new admin account (in the process getting rid of all the accumulated crap I'm too lazy to delete, lol) and deleting the malfunctioning one?

That's exactly what I'd do with some small modifications.

1. Create a new Admin account. Don't actually use it. You really shouldn't run your Admin account as your daily main account. It's a potential security issue as malware becomes more common.

2. Create a new User account that isn't an Admin. This will be your "real" new account. Transfer your documents, and bookmarks from your Web browsers. You can export bookmarks and your Addressbook data, and your email can also be copied over.

3. Don't delete the original account for AT LEAST 30 days in case you discover you're missing something you need. Just don't use it.

4. If you really don't want to go through this, you can try downloading Onyx, which gives you a GUI for various Unix utilities, and then run it, verifying the drive, then Permissions, etc. This could take several hours and require repeating, depending on how badly things are borked. Personally, I'd go the new account way.

Chasing the Horizon · Mar 28, 2012

Thank you very much, Medi! I don't mind transferring everything into a new account. It will force me to organize my writing files so I don't spend 3 hours looking for my timeline again, lol.

Deleted member 42 · Mar 28, 2012

Chasing the Horizon said:
Thank you very much, Medi! I don't mind transferring everything into a new account. It will force me to organize my writing files so I don't spend 3 hours looking for my timeline again, lol.

And get yourself a free Dropbox account, too.

cray · Mar 29, 2012

Chasing the Horizon said:
Thank you very much, Medi! I don't mind transferring everything into a new account. It will force me to organize my writing files so I don't spend 3 hours looking for my timeline again, lol.

*derail*

love the avatar, chasing!

JoeEkaitis · Mar 29, 2012

Oh, and CCleaner for Mac is now available free from the App Store (if you're running Snow Leopard or later).

Apple Computer Taking Forever to Boot [SOLVED]

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Deleted member 42

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

Deleted member 42

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

Deleted member 42

cray

Superior Life form

JoeEkaitis

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