Spinning Beach Ball..How do I get rid of it?

Help!
I constatntly have the spinning beach ball that slows down my computer repeatedly. Why is this happening? What can I do to eliminate it? Do I need to run a diagnostic program? If so, which one?
Please help!
I appreciate any info & help.
Thanks.
Melissa

Melissa,
In addition to what Ferd's referral to the Dr. Smoke article provides, you could consider adding RAM if you are running hefty applications like Creative Suite.
OSX relies on writing data to the hard drive (called Virtual Memory or "VM") if it needs more RAM than what's installed, and that process is slow. You can't turn it off but you can reduce the "calls" for VM if you add RAM. I believe your G4 can hold up to 1.5GB of RAM by installing three 512MB RAM modules.

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    Report generated December 7, 2014 at 2:19:38 PM EST
    Hardware Information: ℹ️
      iMac (24-inch Mid 2007) (Verified)
      iMac - model: iMac7,1
      1 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core
      6 GB RAM Upgradeable
      BANK 0/DIMM0
      4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok
      BANK 1/DIMM1
      2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok
      Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
      Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
    Video Information: ℹ️
      ATI,RadeonHD2600 - VRAM: 256 MB
      iMac 1920 x 1200
    System Software: ℹ️
      OS X 10.10.1 (14B25) - Uptime: one day 23:48:17
    Disk Information: ℹ️
      ST3500630AS Q disk0 : (500.11 GB)
      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
      EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
      Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (150.13 GB free)
      Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB
    USB Information: ℹ️
      YAMAHA composite_device
      Logitech USB Receiver
      Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
      MICRONET FANTOM DRIVE 2 TB
      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
      EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
      Grafix-2TB (disk1s2) /Volumes/Grafix-2TB : 2.00 TB (1.92 TB free)
      Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
      Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
    Firewire Information: ℹ️
      LaCie d2 quadra (button) 800mbit - 800mbit max
      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
      EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
      1TB TimeMachine (disk3s2) /Volumes/1TB TimeMachine : 999.86 GB (10.50 GB free)
    Configuration files: ℹ️
      /etc/hosts - Count: 2
    Gatekeeper: ℹ️
      Mac App Store and identified developers
    Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
      /Library/Application Support/Roxio
      [not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (1.7) [Support]
      /Library/Extensions
      [not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.1 - SDK 10.8) [Support]
      /System/Library/Extensions
      [not loaded] com.FTDI.driver.FTDIUSBSerialDriver (2.2.14) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.elgato.driver.DontMatchAfaTech (1.1) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.elgato.driver.DontMatchCinergy450 (1.1) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.elgato.driver.DontMatchCinergyXS (1.1) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.elgato.driver.DontMatchEmpia (1.1) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.elgato.driver.DontMatchVoyager (1.1) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.keyspan.iokit.usb.KeyspanUSAdriver (2.5) [Support]
      [not loaded] com.prolific.driver.PL2303 (1.2.1) [Support]
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      EyeConnect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/EyeConnect
      HP IO: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO
      ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b
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      [loaded] com.adobe.CS4ServiceManager.plist [Support]
      [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]
      [loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Support]
      [not loaded] com.thinkyhead.TabletMagic.plist [Support]
      [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist [Support]
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      [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]
      [loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS4.plist [Support]
      [loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Support]
      [loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Support]
      [loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Support]
      [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist [Support]
      [running] org.samba.nmbd.plist [Support]
      [failed] org.samba.smbd.plist [Support] [Details]
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      [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]
      [loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist [Support]
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      iTunesHelper UNKNOWN (missing value)
      AdobeResourceSynchronizer UNKNOWN (missing value)
      Logitech Registration UNKNOWN (missing value)
      Logitech Control Center Daemon ApplicationHidden (/Library/Application Support/Logitech.localized/Logitech Control Center.localized/LCCDaemon.app)
      ConnectService Application (/Library/Application Support/ArcSoft/Connect Service/ConnectService.app)
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      DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.0.3r472 [Support]
      Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Support]
      Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
      Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.1.4 [Support]
      OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 [Support]
      Silverlight: Version: 4.0.60831.0 [Support]
      FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.239 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
      DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2 [Support]
      Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.239 - SDK 10.6 [Support]
      iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8
      QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
      AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Support]
      O3D: Version: 0.1.42.3 [Support]
      JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 71 Check version
    Safari Extensions: ℹ️
      Ultimate
      Wondershare Player-1
      ClickToFlash
      DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video>
    3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
      Adobe Version Cue CS4  [Support]
      DivX  [Support]
      Flash Player  [Support]
      Flip4Mac WMV  [Support]
      Java  [Support]
      Logitech Control Center  [Support]
      Perian  [Support]
      TabletMagic  [Support]
    Time Machine: ℹ️
      Skip System Files: NO
      Auto backup: YES
      Volumes being backed up:
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      Destinations:
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      Total size: 999.86 GB
      Total number of backups: 158
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      Last backup: 2014-12-07 18:52:43 +0000
      Size of backup disk: Too small
      Backup size 999.86 GB < (Disk used 349.11 GB X 3)
    Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
          13% Console
          10% mds
          5% WindowServer
          4% Mail
          2% Activity Monitor
    Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
      425 MB Adobe Photoshop CS4
      232 MB Mail
      180 MB Finder
      161 MB softwareupdated
      161 MB Pref Setter
    Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
      61 MB Free RAM
      2.82 GB Active RAM
      2.75 GB Inactive RAM
      702 MB Wired RAM
      12.87 GB Page-ins
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      Dec 7, 2014, 10:11:59 AM Pref Setter_2014-12-07-101159_Mikes-iMac-9.cpu_resource.diag [Details]
      Dec 5, 2014, 06:43:21 PM Adobe Photoshop CS4_2014-12-05-184321_Mikes-iMac-9.cpu_resource.diag [Details]
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      Nov 19, 2014, 02:53:27 PM Kernel_2014-11-19-145327_Mikes-iMac-9.panic [Details]

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