Hard drive issues with new imac 27 inch empty space being eaten up

Hi There
I have been having a strange problem with my new imac . Ever since i got it the hard drive has been making sounds even when i have not been using the computer . It sounds as if it is loading a file . I looked at disk activity in activity monitor and it showed that the disk was being written to every few seconds . Then out of curiosity I did a get info on the disk and happened to notice that every few seconds approximately 500k gets written to the disk .
Can I some how track these writes , to determine which process is causing them?
Can't imagine it being a virus since it's been happening since i took it out of box .
Any ideas ?
Thanks for the help
Mrfish

If your machine is brand new, it could be Spotlight indexing your drive. If so, it's nothing to worry about and it will subside soon.
Here is some info about Spotlight that goes beyond what's available in OS X Help:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/stopspotlightindex.html
Message was edited by: inandoutofgrace

Similar Messages

I connected my external hard drive to my new imac to put all of the information from my macbook onto it. i have been working on the macbook now and want to reconnect the external hard drive so my imac is updated with the work. How is that done?

I connected my external hard drive to my new imac to put all of the information from my macbook onto it. I have been working on the macbook now and want to reconnect the external hard drive so my imac is updated with the work. How is that done? or is it possible?

As I said, I don't use Time Machine, so it'd be best to wait for an "expert" answer, but, with my very limited knowledge, I'd say: probably not - so, for now, I'd suggest you read up on Time Machine:
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Home.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=search&src=support_site.home.search&local e=en_US&q=time%20machine
And, you might be attracting more knowledgeable answers if you were to post this question in the Time Machine Forum (part of the Snow Leopard forums).

How do I restore from old hard drive to a new iMac ?

The logic board in my mid 2008 iMac 24" has failed just 3 months out of AppleCare. To replace this will cost me HK$ 6500. I was going to buy a new mac anyway, just waiting for the next refresh model to come out. So a new 27" i7 with highest spec and SSD and 2TB hard drive with AppleCare will cost me HK$ 24k. No brainer to just buy a new iMac rather than spend 25% of the cost to repair a 3+ year old iMac.
The hard drive is working ok so the repair centre said they will remove the hard drive for me and suggested I buy an enclosure for it , put the old drive in the enclosure and then transfer the program's, settings and files to the new IMac.
What is the best way to do this ? I obviously cannot boot up the old drive. Can I connect this drive to the new iMac and then use setup assistant to move settings and program's to the SSD on the new iMac , then use migration assistant to move the remainder of the files ( documents folder, iPhoto etc) to the hard drive on the new iMac ?
If not then any suggestions ?

Do as the repair center suggests and place the old drive in an enclosure then connect it to the new Mac.
When you first start new Mac run Setup Assistant and tell it to restore from the external drive.
It worked for me and should work for you.
Allan

How do I transfer data from a hard drive to my new Imac

Hello,
First off, I don't know much about computers, so please forgive me if I sound stupid... Anyways, I had a PowerMac G5 that took a dump. The hard drive is still good and so is the info on it. I want to transfer the pictures, itunes library, and word docs to my new Imac. I thought I had this info backed up to EXTERNAL HD, but I think I did it wrong and the info is not there. Is there a way to transfer the info from my old G5 HD to my new Imac. Genius Bar guy already removed my HD from my G5. My G5 will not start up past the grey apple screen. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Darren

What Larry means is buy something similar to OWC Neptune 3.5" Oxford 934 FireWire 400 (1394A) Enclosure Kit for SATA Hard Drives up to 1TB. All Cables Included http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/NP35SFW/ and then connect your old hard drive to your new iMac with FireWire 400. Mount the disk and transfer the data.
A good solution for only $48 USD.

Has anyone else been having hard drive issues with 13" MacBook Pro barely a year old?

Has anyone else been having hard drive issues with 13" MacBook Pro barely a year old?

Yes, BUT...
... there are many problems that are really easy to eliminate by replacing the Hard drive, including ones that have nothing to do with actual Drive Hardware failure. These include corrupted install of Mac OS X, its EFI partition, clobbered partition tables, or the appearance of Bad Blocks in a critical area.
Any of these problems can sometimes be eliminated by re-initializing the entire drive and writing Zeroes, and re-installing from scratch. The trouble is, this process takes hours to complete, and is not guaranteed to be successful -- you may still need a new drive after all that effort.
I learned from my Plumber that consumers have no appetite for solutions that might work, and detest return visits for any related problems whatsoever. You or your friend may have had your drive replaced, not because it actually failed, but because the situation was troublesome, and the provider thought you would not tolerate anything less than a crisp, complete fix on the first attempt. And based on the cost of technician time, it may have even been cheaper that way.

Is WD3200BEKT hard drive replaceable with newer model, the WD5000BPKX ?

MINE IS HP PAVILION DM4 1009-TU.
Is WD3200BEKT hard drive replaceable with newer model, the WD5000BPKX ?
THANKS
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Yes, the newer model HDD you mention will be fine.
If needed, the procedure for replacing the HDD is detailed starting on Page 61 of your Maintenance & Service Guide.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

I needed a 2tb hard drive for my new iMac whats the best to work with time machine for around £100

Any suggestions about the best 2 tb hard drive to work with my imac,compatible with time machine for around £100

There is no such thing as "best" and "inexpensive", you either want one or the other but you cannot get both. IMHO I'd recommend OWC's Mercury Elite Pro (www.macsales.com) however because you are on the other side of the pond you may want to consider a Lacie product. High quality, not cheap but good stuff for the most part.

Need help & advice RE transferring from a hard drive to a new imac.

Hello, firstly I apologize if I am setting up this question in the incorrect location, I am technology illiterate even as far as forums. Recently my 2007 Imac stopped working, repair people removed the hard drive (I believe) from it for me as it was too expensive to fix the machine. My big worry now is hopefully files from my old computer can be transferred to a new Imac? Also if so, is it something I can be walked through, as there aren't really a lot of reliable tech repair businesses in my local area? Is there also anything I should be mindful of when purchasing a new computer? My old system was 20"Mac, 2.0GHz, 1GB, 250GB capacity, I am assuming as long as my new system has better specs a transfer would work, but I really have no clue? Is there any special equipment I would have to buy, should I be aiming to get a new computer with certain specs? (get a system with 320 GB capacity, as opposed to 250GB for example) Sorry for all the questions, more so if they should be obvious, any help much appreciated!

Hello and thank you kindly for taking the time to offer assistence. I believe its intel based, it is this model as linked to here.
http://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-2-duo-2.0-20-inch-aluminu m-specs.html
Please bare with me so I can see if I have this right. Migration Assistent is an application or feature on the Imac I will be getting (will be a newer model than the one I posted above) - my newer computer would be considered the host and my older computer the target? Here is a bit I get a bit unsure. When the last repairmen gave me back my computer, they gave it back with the hard drive seperated - is that a factor or something worth mentioning? I am assuming that I need a wire of some sort or can a transfer be done wirelessly? I have tried figuring all this out and seen firewire cables mentioned a bit, but err I can't even find any sockets on the hard drive given to me by the repairmen whick makes me wonder if I am even looking for the right kind of info. Oh and I ~ to be continued ~

Severe issues with new iMac. Do I need firmware update?

I purchased a new iMac at the end of September 2007. It still had Tiger on it and ran fine. I upgraded to Leopard at it's release and have had some problems ever since BUT THEY ARE GETTING WORSE.
I did a complete erase and install this past weekend but problems remain. I have to do a force shutdown with the power button sometimes and then things run slowly. I use Disk Warrior and rebuild the drive and also repair permissions and things seem to run fine for awhile. THEN the problems start again.
I know there is to be a Leopard update soon. Should I wait and see if that solves the issues? I also know there was a firmware update for the new iMac in the fall. When I did my erase and re-install this past weekend, I didn't do that update UNLESS it's already in the 10.5.1 update. Should I do it now?
I also recently got a LaCie 250 gig firewire hard drive. Sometimes it does not mount; but I've ran Disk Warrior and repaired permission on it also and no errors are reported. (I also have a 60 gb FireLite. It did not mount once; but mostly it's the LaCie that fails to mount ... but not always. 75% of the time it mounts fine.)
I just don't know what the problem is. I am very frustrated. I have NEVER had trouble like this with a Mac in all the years I've had one. I know one things for sure. I will NEVER again buy a new machine or operating system until they've been out at least six months
Any knowledgeable suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks so much.

My problems are: 1)Sometimies when I try to restart the computer, I get either a spinning beach ball or a blue screen and nothing else. OR sometimes it does re-start but keeps the other spinning circular thingie going. In either case, I have to push the power button for a few secons causing it to shut down hard. On the other hand, sometimes it behaves normally.
Other problems include slowness, such as finder windows opening very slowly or files showing up in finder windows very slowly.
I don't notice that this happens with any particular program. It seems sporadic. Sometimes the computer runs fine and then all of a sudden, the issues reappear.
I have used Disk Utility, Disk Warrior, repaired permission, etc. All the programs report that the discs are fine (the internal disc, the LaCie drive and the FireLite drive.) I did a complete erase and re-install. I have not used a hardware test disc. (I suppose there is one with the original restore discs; but I am using Leopard now so I'm not sure how that works. That was Tiger.)
I have suspected a lot of things. I stopped iDisk automatic mounting & syncing. I stopped syncing altogther. I've turned off Spaces and Time Machine. I don't let any programs load automatically except the bare minimum. I'm just very frustrated.
I did hear there was a firmware update in early November but 10.5.1 was released after that; and I have done all the software updates so I don't know if I need to do the firmware update. (This machine is one of the new thin aluminum iMacs introduced in August. I got mine in September.)

Bootcamp issue with new iMac

Hi - I just purchased a new 21.5 inch iMac with Intel Core i7. I used Bootcamp to partition a new drive, and I installed 32bit Windows 2007 Home Premium. Everything worked without a problem, until I tried to install Bootcamp in the Windows environment. It says that "the version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you are running". I searched the forums for similar issues - I tried to re-download the Bootcamp update in OSX; I tried to use the command prompt to go right to the msi file, and nothing worked. Unfortunately, I cannot connect to the internet through Windows until I instal all the drivers, so I am stuck.
Does anyone know if the Bootcamp drivers are supported on the new iMac i7?

Hi, ta know, they don't mention it here, but I'm wondering if 10.8 might not require 64 bit Win7?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4840
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3986
I's not the 3 TB Drive you got is it?

How can i view and upload photos from an older version of iPhoto which are on an external hard drive to my new iMac? i currently have copied the application version 9.4.2. on my lacie backup and want to view and upload this to my new iPhoto version 9.5.1

our old iMac died suddenly, but i had backed up the iPhoto application to a lacie external hard drive. however, when i try to open it in my new iMac which is installed with version 9.5.1 and is upgraded to maverick, it comes up with “cannot be opened, to open you must upgrade to latest version” and then makes you press the quit button.
the iPhoto version on the external hard drive is iPhoto 9.4.2 which i upgraded on 29/11/12 onto our old iMac (early 2007 version)
my new iMac is running on version OSX 10.9.1
i have looked at buying iphoto library manager and have emailed them about whether this would work, but any advice would be gratefully received as i cannot be the only person that has had this problem but i cannot find any answers that work.
thanks
Julie

YOu can rebuild with Library Manager and this does not require a purchase:
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.

Hard drive issues with early 2011 13" please help!

Hello everyone,
I'm new here but I need immediate help! I'll try to make the story somewhat short:
I have a macbook pro early 2011 13".
- Closed my lid one day (I did not make any changes or installed anything new recently) and upon reopening many hours later, the system was frozen.
- Did a hard shut off and upon turning it on, I get the crossed out circle.
- Recovery HD also gave me the same crossed out circle.
- Used internet recovery and formatted/partitioned the drive.
(Note that the drive in the bay at the moment is a Kingston HyperX SSD, not the OEM Samsung HD as I am actually using that as my secondary hard drive in my CD drive bay, which has been working fine the entire time before and during everything)
- Tried to reinstall Lion from internet recovery but it wouldn't detect the SSD.
- Strange, so I decided to install Lion onto an external hard drive and installed Mavericks onto the internal drive from there, successfully too.
- Same results (crossed out circle) upon booting into the internal drive (likewise for the recovery HD).
- I pulled out the drive and popped it into an enclosure and it could boot up from there.
- Took it a step further and purchased an additional SSD, partitioned it and installed Mavericks on it via the external hard drive (not the SSD in the enclosure)
- I can boot up from the new SSD, however it is extremely sluggish and freezes every few seconds with the spinning beach ball.
I am about to reinstall a newly downloaded copy of Mavericks onto the new SSD to see if it will fix the issue (which I doubt)
Could it be a problem with the drives or is it the SATA cable that is malfunctioning?
I'm not sure whether or not it is worth spending so much time repairing it because I've already spent a good three or four days getting this far.
Are the parts, repairs, hard drive replacements worth it or should I just replace it?

Did you format the external drive for use with OS X?
Open Disk Utility. Does Disk utility see the connected drive?
Format it to "Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Best Hard Drive Configuration on New iMac?

Hi all,
I am in the process of purchasing a new iMac and will be installing Lightroom on it. This will be my first installing Lightroom on one of my machines, so I am not very familiar with the program, though I have read up on it (and will continue to do so) and have seen it in action before.
I plan to get a 27' iMac, 3.4 i7 CPU, with at least 8GB of RAM (will probably upgrade to more later). I have the option of selecting a 1TB Fusion drive, which is sort of a hybrid drive (a small part of which is SSD for most often used files/programs and the rest is a regular old hard drive), or a 3TB Fusion drive. I'm trying to decide which would be better for Lightroom.
Obviously, the 3TB brings the convenience of size and the ability to store more pictures on a single HD without the need of an external drive (at least right now). However, I am leaning toward the 1TB because the 3TB does not allow one to install Bootcamp, which is a program that let's the user run Windows on the iMac, which I may want to do at some point for work purposes.
All things being equal, and except for purely backup purposes, do most users split up their storage when using Lightroom or they just use one large internal hard drive? Would this have any impact on performance? To be honest, the whole catalog thing is throwing me for a loop. Sounds like I could store the physical images on an external drive, and just have Lightroom itself and the catalog file on the internal Fusion drive, but I'm wondering if this would at all degrade performance/speed of loading/viewing/editing pictures. Obviously, I'm assuming much will depend on the speed of that external drive.
I will continue to read up, but I would appreciate any tips regarding the HD situation before I place my order, as well as any general pointers for a first time Lightroom user starting fresh so that I can get off on the right foot.
Many thanks!

Hallo,
I have the same or at least very similar question.
Just ordered the 21.5" imac with 1TB fusion drive. I need to transfer 450GB of photos from my old windows PC to the new imac set-up. This set-up will include some drive(s) for back-up, but not sure yet which drives.
Just moving the 450GB of photos to imac HD seems a bit much: with photos, applications and some other stuff 60-70 % of the imac HD would allready be consumed up right from the start.
I am using Lightroom for organizing, editing, etc. of my pictures. So this should run as smooth as possible.
Any advice on a good configuration on how to work with iMac, Lightroom, 500 GB of pictures, external HD, back-up is welcome.
thanks,
Maarten

EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE ISSUES WITH MACBOOK PRO 13"

My new macbook pro 13" is unable to read my new Toshiba Canvio 3.0 plus 1 TB hard drive. I have the new OS Lion that came with the computer. The computer is up to date. I am not sure what is causing this issue. Is this problem caused by a software issues or is my new Macbook deffective. Please some one help me or give me some advice. I am thinking about turning my MacBook in for a new one.
Clem

Did you format the external drive for use with OS X?
Open Disk Utility. Does Disk utility see the connected drive?
Format it to "Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Hard drive issues with my macbook pro

I have replaced my hard drive twice in 2 months. The beach ball continues to spin and I am concerned that this new hard drive will fail like the others! I am not getting anywhere with Apple support. They continue to tell me it is just the hard drive. Can't believe it anymore. I am ******!!
Any help with the above would be greatly appreciated?
Thanks

I want to know if someone else has had this issue?
Why would that matter? If you had it replaced twice in two months, it's highly unusual. If it happens a third time, Apple will probably take a commensurately unusual interest in your Mac. Perhaps they overlooked an underlying cause, such as a damaged cable connecting the drive to the logic board.
Whether it fails again tomorrow or ten years from now, if you value the information it contains, you need a backup strategy. All you need to buy is an external hard disk. They're very inexpensive.
The slow Mail performance you describe may have been a symptom of the disk's impending failure.

Hard drive issues with new imac 27 inch empty space being eaten up

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for