IPhoto - spinning beach ball... doesn't end!

Hi, I desperately need help. Thanks in advance for anyone with some form of solution.
I have about 16GB of photos in my MBP.
After one of my recent trip, I tried to import the photos taken on my iPhone into iPhoto.
That's when the beach ball starts. It will spin and spin and spin and spin. I had to force quit it. Restart, and the same thing still happens. That's using iPhoto '09.
So, what I did was to copy my entire iPhoto Library to my Time Capsule.
Each time, it would take like 2 hours to copy and it always end up with this message:
"The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)".
Now, so when the Mac App Store went 'live', I purchased iPhoto '11 thinking that it will solve my problem.
Apparently, through this site (http://www.ditii.com/2010/10/25/backup-your-data-before-upgrading-from-iphoto-09 -to-iphoto-11/) I figured that I will need to:
(1) First backup my data
(2) Perform a "rebuild photo library"
Now, what I really wanted to do is the following:
(1) move my entire iPhoto library to the Time Capsule (is it a bad idea - I read somewhere that it is) because I want to be able to access my iPhoto library from my MBP and MBA when I am in the office. This has been a problem with this "The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)". -- *How can I fix this?*
(2) currently, I have a iPhoto library in my Time Capsule (which was whatever was copied despite the Error Code -36) and the thumbnails do not show up in my iPhoto '11. -- *Is it because of the Error Code -36?*
(3) i read somewhere in the discussion here that it's a bad idea to work from a 'wireless' iphoto library. but i really want to be able to access my library from my MBP and MBA when I am in my office. -- *Should I give up on this idea?*
Thank you for any help.

The TC is not designed for this purpose and it will cause problems if you are also using it for backing up.
If you're trying to edit the Library (that is, make albums, move photos around, keyword, make books or slideshows etc.) or edit individual photos in it via Wireless be very careful. Dropouts are a common fact of wireless networking, and should one occur while the app is writing to the database then your Library will be damaged. Simply, I would not do this with my Libraries.
As to the -36 error:
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your 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.
Regards
TD

Similar Messages

Solution to iPhoto spinning beach ball for Book projects with too many unplaced photos

A few days ago I discovered the solution to this problem for a client using iPhoto 9.5.1 in OS X Mavericks 10.9.4.
=====
TRIED ALL KNOWN SUGGESTIONS BUT NONE HELPED
My client had already tried repairing, rebuilding etc. the iPhoto Library, and I tried OS X's Disk Verify and Repair Permissions plus emptied the cache folder in system Library and in the hidden user Library folder (option-key "Go" menu, Library). None of this helped.
CLUE TO PROBLEM
I noticed several of her iPhoto Book projects each had thousands of "unplaced" photos. In each of those cases, each Book project only had 10-50 "placed" photos used to order the book but thousands of "unplaced" photos. In a Book project, clicking on the bottom-right corner's "Photo" icon-button caused an extremely long lasting spinning beach ball making iPhoto unusable for long periods.
I discovered the problem by clicking once on an existing Book project's name in the left column of iPhoto, then letting go of the mouse with its arrow cursor hovering over the selected Book project name. Within 1-7 seconds, a little pop-up appears listing the total number of photos (placed + unplaced) in that Book project. For many Book projects, the total number was just several more photos than the number of "placed" photos, e.g., a Book with 25 photos showed "(37)" in the pop-up info by the hovering stationary mouse, meaning 37 total photos (placed + unplaced) are associated with that Book project.
BUT...
...some projects listed over 5,000 (five thousand) photos associated with a single Book project that had only placed 20-40 photos in the final printed book. One Book project had 6,070 and several other small book projects showed over 1,000 photos. In each Book project with a mass of unplaced photos, clicking the bottom-right "Photo" icon-button caused a very long-lasting spinning beach ball, almost certainly because iPhoto struggled to build a huge list of thumbnails for the mass of unplaced photos.
My client didn't understand how to efficiently add photos to a new Book project and was clicking on the pull-down menu in the right column that appears after clicking the Photo icon-button within the Book project. From the menu she chose "Last import..." or other menu choice that added a mass of "unplaced" photos to the Book project.
She didn't realize that after creating a new Book project, she could simply drag an individual photo or multi-selected group of photos or an event or "faces" group from its respective library section and drop it onto the Book project's name in the left column, thereby adding only a small group of "unplaced" photos.
USER SOLUTIONS
=====Delete mass of "unplaced photos" within a Book project
This works best for cleaning up smaller number of unplaced photos from completed Book projects.
Problems with solution:
- if the number of unplaced photos is huge, e.g., 6,070, the list of unplaced photos won't appear for a long, long time if ever.
- even if the list of unplaced photos finally appears, there's no way to select more than one thumbnail at a time, i.e., command-a for Select All doesn't work, nor do shift-clicks and command-clicks for multi-item selecting. You must click one photo then tap the "delete" key on your keyboard repeatedly and fast for this to be practical (note: delete key presses are cached here (meaning accumulated until it catches up processing them later); tapping the delete key like mad then waiting for iPhoto to catch up takes lots of patience.
====Delete an entire existing Book project containing a mass association of unplaced photos
This is practical if you've already printed your Book project and no longer need it. My client chose this method for Book projects with a mega mass of unplaced photos.
Problem with solution:
- for incomplete Book projects in progress with a mass of unplaced photos, you'd have to start over after deleting the whole thing.
NEED FOR IMPROVED IPHOTO FEATURE(S)
(1) The existing "Clear Placed Photos" button within a Book project might be useful, but it'd be even better to also have a button to "Clear Unplaced Photos,” and this button should be available outside of the section that struggles to display thumbnails of large numbers of unplaced photos. Clicking "Clear Unplaced Photos" would do the trick.
(2) An additional iPhoto behavior might help: iPhoto should warn with an option to cancel when adding a mass of photos to the "unplaced photo" section if the number of photos exceeds ??? (400??).
(3) Add another choice to iPhoto’s special startup Administrative window (Repair, Rebuild, etc.): "Remove unplaced photos from existing projects. (Doesn't destroy any photos in Library)"
Whew!

Like I mentioned in the post, corruption was probably ruled out by running all the Admin features at iPhoto startup (e.g., Rebuild, etc.). I also stated in my post that I also ran a Disk Verify and Repaired Permissions in OSX (via Disk Utility). I also emptied system Library cache files as I stated in my post.
I was paid to figure out the solution and am not getting paid to troubleshoot for Apple. The more unplaced photos there are in a Book project, the longer it takes to build thumbnails. It's an old general problem in computing when building lists on the fly.
The delay happened for all Book projects with lots of unplaced photos (almost*** certainly more than Apple imagined a user would use), and the beach ball delay was proportional to the number unplaced photos, which super large numbers of photos.
I very much doubt photos are corrupt. But Apple will probably figure it out. It was EASILY reproducible. Try it with different number of unplaced photos known not be corrupt (they display fine elsewhere and iPhoto's and Disk Utlity's admin Verify, Repair etc features show no problems).
I'm done with this.
My client's iPhoto works well now and she knows how avoid placing exorbitant numbers of unplaced photos into her project. I'm not getting paid to answer all this, so good night.
=======
***"Science is the outcome of being prepared to live without certainty and therefore a mark of maturity. It embraces doubt and loose ends."
— A. C. Grayling

Going to 'Sent' gets me spinning beach ball

When I go to check my 'Sent' folder in Mail, I keep getting the spinning beach ball and I end up having to force quit Mail.
Any idea what's going on?
Thanks

This is also happening when I have an AOL account installed now for some reason. I have to go into Preferences real quickly to delete it and that takes care of the beach ball problem.
So basically, AOL account is causing my Mail problems.

Very Strange iPhoto problem and lots of spinning beach balls!

Hi - been using iPhoto 08 since it came out. Never a problem. About a week ago things starting going weird. It would crash and I'd get the spinning beach ball a lot. This never happened ever. It got so bad I jumped on here, followed some advice and downloaded iphoto library manager. I rebuilt my library - no change. I would double click a photo to enlarge it and it would just stop with a spinning ball. Other programs worked fine, just iPhoto would ground to a halt. Then I noticed some pics I would double click to enlarge would be corrupt. Grey half way down or black completely? They use to be fine. So I got so frustrated that I reinstalled Leopard. Everything worked fine. I even downloaded a trial Lightroom and it worked fine too with a project of mine. Tonight I decided to test iPhoto and it is still playing up. My iMac is a 24 with all latest updates. 4 Gig ram. Hard drive has 250 gig available. my iPhoto library is on an external drive which has 140 gig available. Something went wrong in the last week or so. Is there a way to search out and find a corrupt file or whatever is causing my mac to struggle using iphoto? Thanks so very much for any help.
Rob

Have you tried to rebuild the library? Make a backup of it first and then launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library. Select all the options.
If that doesn't clear up iPhoto's problems rebuild the library with iPhoto Library Manager as follows:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
1 -Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
2 -Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File->Rebuild Library menu option
4 - In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
5 - Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be untouched for further attempts at fixing or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory .
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier versions) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
NOTE: iPhoto 8's (09) new option in the library rebuild pane, "Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" may make this tip obsolete. We'll know when users have occasion to use it and see if that's the case.

IPhoto Unresponsive, Spinning Beach Ball

Whenever I attempt to open iPhoto, I get the spinning beach ball and have to force quit. This occurs every time. Any suggestions?

Try trash the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file from the HD/Users/ Your Name / library / preferences folder. (Remember you'll need to reset your User options afterwards. These include minor settings like the window colour and so on. Note: If you've moved your library you'll need to point iPhoto at it again.)
What's the plist file?
For new users: Every application on your Mac has an accompanying plist file. It records certain User choices. For instance, in your favourite Word Processor it remembers your choice of Default Font, on your Web Browser is remembers things like your choice of Home Page. It even recalls what windows you had open last if your app allows you to pick up from where you left off last. The iPhoto plist file remembers things like the location of the Library, your choice of background colour, whether you are running a Referenced or Managed Library, what preferences you have for autosplitting events and so on. Trashing the plist file forces the app to generate a new one on the next launch, and this restores things to the Factory Defaults. Hence, if you've changed any of these things you'll need to reset them. If you haven't, then no bother. Trashing the plist file is Mac troubleshooting 101.
If tht doesn't help:
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords 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. .
Regards
TD

IPHOTO 11 causing spinning beach ball and freezing. help

I have a mid 2009 macbook with 2.3 dual core and 2 gb ram. i installed iPhoto 11 after a very successful 10.7.3 install. all was well then i began to import my photos from a thumb drive that i downloaded from a macbook pro onto a thumb drive. after few hiccups i realized i had a file that was stopping the import as it cam eup with the error message. so i deleted that and then about 3/4 of the way through the laptop just choked up and the spinning beach ball started and wouldnt stop. couldnt get it to force quit etc..
so after several days of attempts i gave up ended up having to do a safe reboot too many times and have now deleted iphoto and all its contents. my mac is working alebit is a bit sluggishly.
any help? is this due to just 2 gig of ram do i need more ram? i am at a loss and i really need to upload these photos but it just doesnt seems worth the hassle

That shoots that theory down. Try this: launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and create a new, test library. Import some photos and check to see if the same problem persists. If that library works without a problem your current library is suspect.
In that case if you have the space available on your hard drive and don't aready have a backup copy of the library make a temporary, backup copy (select the library and type Command+D) and apply the two fixes below in order as needed:
Fix #1
Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
Select the options identified in the screenshot.
Fix #2
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
Click on the Create button.
Note: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments but not books, calendars or slideshows. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.

Spinning Beach Ball on Start Up of iPhoto 09'

I have suddenly started having problems with iPhoto '09. I have about 4500 photos in my library. I have a late 2009 i7 iMac running mountain lion with 12 gb of RAM.
When I start iPhoto, it opens quickly enough, but as soon as I move my cursor I get a spinning beach ball for about 20-30 seconds. Then everything seems to work OK. I have deleted my cache and plist files and rebuilt the thumbnails, etc. to no avail. I also turned off sharing and unclicked look for shared photos. I have "check for new published photos" set to manually.
Does anyone have any idea what the issue is or how to fix it?
Many thanks.

I went into the Console and when I open iPhoto I get the following messages. Does this mean anything to you?
Many thanks.
5/25/13 12:26:37.927 PM iPhoto[407]: This process is attempting to exclude an item from Time Machine by path without administrator privileges. This is not supported.
5/25/13 12:26:37.927 PM iPhoto[407]: This process is attempting to exclude an item from Time Machine by path without administrator privileges. This is not supported.
5/25/13 12:26:37.928 PM iPhoto[407]: This process is attempting to exclude an item from Time Machine by path without administrator privileges. This is not supported.
5/25/13 12:26:37.928 PM iPhoto[407]: This process is attempting to exclude an item from Time Machine by path without administrator privileges. This is not supported.
5/25/13 12:26:38.161 PM iPhoto[407]: CFURLGetFSRef was passed this URL which has no scheme (the URL may not work with other CFURL routines): /Applications/iPhoto.app
5/25/13 12:26:38.179 PM iPhoto[407]: CFURLGetFSRef was passed this URL which has no scheme (the URL may not work with other CFURL routines): /Applications/iPhoto.app
5/25/13 12:26:38.181 PM iPhoto[407]: CFURLGetFSRef was passed this URL which has no scheme (the URL may not work with other CFURL routines): /Applications/iPhoto.app
5/25/13 12:26:38.184 PM iPhoto[407]: CFURLGetFSRef was passed this URL which has no scheme (the URL may not work with other CFURL routines): /Applications/iPhoto.app

Transferring photos from camera or memory card causes iPhoto to hang up with the spinning beach ball - why

Transferring photos from camera or memory card causes iPhoto to hang up with the spinning beach ball - why? This happens only on a 5 year old iMac running 10.6.8. It is a recent developmemt. All other machines have no problen with the same card.

I click on the send feedback everytime it pops up with the force quit, so they'er getting it.
That sends a crash report. Its doubtful that these are ever seen by a human being, but more likely datamined. Sending feedback reaches an actual person.
My guess from yourdescription is that the portion of the OS (note, OS, not iPhoto) that manages the importing process is what's crashing.
Regards
TD

Entering URL in address bar causes spinning beach ball...doesn't return

entering URL in address bar causes spinning beach ball. Safari then doesn't return and I have to force quit. This happens every time I try to type a url. It only
does this on one account on the computer and not another on same computer.
Under library preference I dragged the internet pref pane into trash. This did not help. I also dragged the system user perference pane com.apple.safari.plist as well into the trash but also did not fix the problem.
I can not drag the internet pref pane from the trash back to the library folder. Will this cuase any problems?

Glad you took the next step. My next suggestion was going to be the History file, which too is in the Safari folder. Sounds like that was the culprit.
Thanks for the and Aloha from Big Island.

Iphoto stopped working,all i get now is spinning beach ball of death.help!

iphoto stopped working,all i get know is spinning beach ball of death.please help.

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords 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. .
Regards
TD

IPhoto 9 just sits there with a spinning beach ball of DEATH!

Hello. I upgraded my G5 power pc to OSX 10.5.8. I upgraded to iLife 9 (8.1.2). Since I did this iLife, iDVD & iMovie just sit there with the spinning beach ball of DEATH.
Before my upgrade I had 22 G of hard disk space. I’m now down to 4G of hard drive space. I cannot get into iPhoto to back up any of the pictures. I have run Tech Tool, Onyx, I did a hard wear test from my original Mac disks. Everything passed.
I reinstalled iLife 4 times so far. I have thrown out all the plists. So far nothing is working.
Any help would be wonderful.
Thanks.

That library may have been corrupted by having it on an over full disk.
Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and see if that will open it.
If not then Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your 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.
Regards
TD

IPhoto does not start - spinning beach ball of death

Hi
When I try to start iPhoto I get the spinning beach ball of death and the whole laptop freezes.
Cannot force quit, have to restart via power button.
I have tried starting iPhoto while holding the Option key - no difference.
Jenn

Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the *command and option (or alt) keys* while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your 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.
Regards
TD

IPhoto 09 and 11: spinning beach ball of death when accessing contextual menu.

Whenever I right click to access the contextual menu, iPhoto gives me the spinning beach ball of death. This happens only when I right click on a photo from the events in the iPhoto library. It freezes for a few seconds then the spinning ball appears.
This happened in iPhoto 09 so I upgraded to iPhoto 11, but the problem is still there. I have deleted all files from the previous version before installing iPhoto 11 but it didn't solve the problem. Those files were application support files, cache and preferences all in the library. I have even created a new library in iPhoto 11 and imported a few photos just to test it out, but the problem persisted. I just can't right click without having that spinning beach ball of death appear. The only solution is to force quit the application. This is very frustrating and I would appreciate any help.
I am running Mac OS X Mountain Lion.
Thanks

Try the following:
1 - delete the iPhoto preference file, com.apple.iPhoto.plist, that resides in your
User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.
2 - delete iPhoto's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your
User/Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder (Snow Leopard and Earlier).
or with Lion and Mt. Lion from the User/Library/Containers/com.apple.iPhoto/
Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.iPhoto folder
3 - try to launch iPhoto and check for any improvements.
NOTE 1: If you're moved your library from its default location in your Home/Pictures folder you will have to point iPhoto to its new location when you next open iPhoto by holding down the Option key when launching iPhoto. You'll also have to reset the iPhoto's various preferences.
NOTE 2: In Lion and Mountain Lion the Library folder is now invisible. To make it permanently visible enter the following in the Terminal application window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and hit the Enter button - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.

Spinning Beach Ball of Death (Mainly from idle)

Hey folks..
This might be a long one, so please bare with me !
After about 3 fabulous faultless years of using my Macbook Pro, recently I've had lots of issues with the dreaded spinning beach ball of death !
I wish I could say I was able to narrow it down to one application or one specific event, but sadly it's proving to not be that easy!
Recently, the SBBOD has appeared MOSTLY when the macbook is sitting there idle. I tried all the suggestions I could find on the forums - ie not putting the HDD to sleep, etc etc.
What generally happens, is I come back to the computer - and try to open an application (doesn't matter which one) and it bounces in the dock, and then the SBBOD appears, I can usually get to try and open other apps as this is happening, but in 20 seconds or so - everything is frozen except the mouse. I have tried leaving it for 5 mins, 10mins 2 hours, but in the end the only option is to manually turn off and swtich it back on. I thought it might have been just my user, but I tested when leaving it idle when other users logged on, and in the end - the same SBBOD
This started happening about 3 weeks ago, when I was on Leopard (not snow).
I tried to make sure the HDD was ok - so I install the SmartReporter app to monitor it - and nothing is pointing towards a HDD failure? SMART status is always showing ok.
In the end, I backed up and formatted the HDD. I bought a copy of Snow Leopard and did a total fresh install. I didn't migrate any applications, just user data and re-install all Applications etc.
I have Clean My Mac installed and MainMenu which runs all the repair permissions, and I keep it really clean and efficient since the fresh install - but still, the SBBOD is coming whenever I have the machine idle. I tried also, to install the smcFanControl to cool the CPU incase, it was over heating and then failing??
So, in conclusion (thanks for reading this far !!) I really don't know what else to do?
Seeing as it happened to all users logged in, I can assume it's not user specific?
Meaning it could very likely actually be a HDD issue?
Are there any good free diagnostic tools to see if it is a HDD issue?
I'm almost tempted to buy a new HDD, and install that and not use the Migration Assistant to bring files across, but to just manually bring my information and documents.. thus creating the user from scratch? Are there any opinions on the Samsung SpinPoint M7's ?
Honestly - I'm at a loss here, I can't see what else I can do?
It's a Macbook Pro MA609LL from 2007 3Gb RAM, with a Samsung 500GB HDD (added way back in Nov 2008)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
CIAO!
Alessandro

I would try running the extended version of your Apple Hardware Test.
It's not perfect but may flag something.
DALE

My mac is running slow, the spinning beach ball constantly appears. it seems that when i am in the apple store with fast wifi its a bit better. genius at the apple store checked the hard drive, it's all fine. what can it be?

my mac is running slow, the spinning beach ball constantly appears. it seems that when i am in the apple store with fast wifi its a bit better. genius at the apple store checked the hard drive, it's all fine. what can it be? can it be a software issue with the wifi?
also i noted that it has only been doing this since quite recently, before it was fine
please help!

First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
Step 1
This diagnostic procedure will query the log for messages that may indicate a system issue. It changes nothing, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'GPU |hfs: Ru|I/O e|find tok|n Cause: -|NVDA\(|timed? ?o' | tail | open -ef
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key.
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the command will produce no output, and the window will be empty. If the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window) has anything in it, stop here and post it — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the TextEdit window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.
Step 2
There are a few other possible causes of generalized slow performance that you can rule out easily.
Disconnect all non-essential wired peripherals and remove aftermarket expansion cards, if any.
Reset the System Management Controller.
Run Software Update. If there's a firmware update, install it.
If you're booting from an aftermarket SSD, see whether there's a firmware update for it.
If you have a portable computer, check the cycle count of the battery. It may be due for replacement.
If you have many image or video files on the Desktop with preview icons, move them to another folder.
If applicable, uncheck all boxes in the iCloud preference pane. See whether there's any change.
Check your keychains in Keychain Access for excessively duplicated items.
Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, and run Repair Disk.
If you have a MacBook Pro with dual graphics, disable automatic graphics switching in the Energy Saverpreference pane for better performance at the cost of shorter battery life.
Step 3
When you notice the problem, launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
Select All Processes from the View menu or the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for User, System, and Idle at the bottom of the window.
Select the Memory tab. What value is shown in the bottom part of the window for Swap used?
Next, select the Disk tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in andWrites out.)
Step 4
If you have more than one user account, you must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Activity Monitor. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Select the 50 or so most recent entries in the log. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combinationcommand-C. Paste into a reply to this message (command-V). You're looking for entries at the end of the log, not at the beginning.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting. That should be easy to do if your extract is not too long.

IPhoto - spinning beach ball... doesn't end!

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