Imac is running very slow

Question

I've got a 24" imac with the 2.4 GHz Intel core 2 duo and 4 GBs of ram. In January I did a software update and the imac hasn't run the same since. At first I had problems booting up. I would get a file folder with a question mark in the middle. I thought the hard drive had gone bad so I replaced it with a new ssd. I did a new install with snow leopard and have only installed one other program- google chrome. Everything else on the machine is stock leopard software. I have everything backed up with time machine on an external drive. I assumed all of my problems would go away with the new drive/ reinstall but they haven't. I can boot up now like normal but now the imac runs very slow. If I run one application everything is mostly fine but when I try to run something else the spinning beach ball pops up. This will last anywhere from 10-60 seconds. Example- I run google chrome with one tab open and I try and run itunes the computer will freeze up for a few seconds. Then I will try and kill itunes and it will freeze up again. When I am finally able to exit itunes chrome will run normal.
Any help/ thoughts would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Jacob

Answer 1

Usually OWC's RAM is just fine however they will probably acknowledge the issue and if pressed will upgrade you to Samsung RAM. However first let's try 2 things. If they don't resolve your problem remove one of the DIMMs so you have 12GB installed:
1. Do a SMC reset (instructions below)
2. In Disk Utility Repair Disk Permissions
_SMC RESET_
• Shut down the computer.
• Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
• Release the power button.
• Attach the computers power cable.
• Press the power button to turn on the computer.
_PRAM RESET_
• Shut down the computer.
• Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
• Turn on the computer.
• Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
• Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Test to see if the problem has been resolved.