Files appear on Mac Desktop with delay
When user does a screenshot, there is a delay before it appears on the desktop, it normally appears once he has deleted something else.
Also, if user drags a file from an email or somewhere else on to the desktop or in to a folder, it again does not appear straight away, but will after some other form of action is taken.
This has been observed on couple of Macs: 10.10.5 and 10.9.5.
We have older Macs that do not have this problem.
Do you have any idea what may be going on there?
Also, if user drags a file from an email or somewhere else on to the desktop or in to a folder, it again does not appear straight away, but will after some other form of action is taken.
This has been observed on couple of Macs: 10.10.5 and 10.9.5.
We have older Macs that do not have this problem.
Do you have any idea what may be going on there?
Is the desktop area full of document or installer files? If so, try moving them to other folders:
- Documents
- Pictures
- Movies,
- Music
- etc.
- Documents
- Pictures
- Movies,
- Music
- etc.
Starting in Safe Mode will also do HD repair as well a cache cleaning
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262
Creating a test user can help isolate problems.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204443
Both take mere minutes.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262
Creating a test user can help isolate problems.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204443
Both take mere minutes.
ASKER
Thank you, I will try it out and post an update.
ASKER
It works fine under new account.
Under the affected user account you can save anything to Desktop but it will not show up for a while. However, if you try to save the same file to Desktop again (even though it is not on Desktop), then you will be told that the file is already there.
The affected user has got some apps which did not start under new account, like Cleanmymac, dropbox, few others that I am not sure what these supposed to do.
Things I also tried:
* we have plenty of free space
* repaired permissions
* verified disk
* there are only few folders and files on desktop totalling 2.75GB
* users profile is 80GB
I only have remote access to that Mac so won't be able to boot Safe Mode.
Do you have any more ideas?
Under the affected user account you can save anything to Desktop but it will not show up for a while. However, if you try to save the same file to Desktop again (even though it is not on Desktop), then you will be told that the file is already there.
The affected user has got some apps which did not start under new account, like Cleanmymac, dropbox, few others that I am not sure what these supposed to do.
Things I also tried:
* we have plenty of free space
* repaired permissions
* verified disk
* there are only few folders and files on desktop totalling 2.75GB
* users profile is 80GB
I only have remote access to that Mac so won't be able to boot Safe Mode.
Do you have any more ideas?
2.75 GB on the Desktop? That sounds like a lot. How many files does that total comprise? The Desktop is still a bit of a special case, in that a busy Desktop can slow down the computer.
Try disabling "Cleanmymac" and the other startup apps as well. Does it get better? If so, turn them on, one at a time, testing with a reboot each time. Which one (or which ones) cause slowness? Once done, remove the offending apps permanently.
If all else fails, back up the documents and move them to a new profile. Then delete the old one.
Try disabling "Cleanmymac" and the other startup apps as well. Does it get better? If so, turn them on, one at a time, testing with a reboot each time. Which one (or which ones) cause slowness? Once done, remove the offending apps permanently.
If all else fails, back up the documents and move them to a new profile. Then delete the old one.
ASKER
I created brand new account which did not have Cleanmymac or other software like Dropbox running and the screenshots are still taking awfully long to come up on the Desktop even though there is nothing on the Desktop.
Could it be hard disk slowing down, or CPU or RAM hitting threshold?
Could it be hard disk slowing down, or CPU or RAM hitting threshold?
Have you tried to reset the SMC, then reset the PRAM? Those are quick and should be done first.
Since you've done some of the other preliminary steps that would follow the SMC and PRAM resets, it's time to reinstall the OS. Reboot the Mac into Recovery mode and Reinstall the OS. Do not erase the disk with Disk Utility, and the user data should remain intact. The reinstall will overwrite all the OS system files in case they're corrupt.
How old is the Mac? Is it one with a spinning disk or SSD?
Since you've done some of the other preliminary steps that would follow the SMC and PRAM resets, it's time to reinstall the OS. Reboot the Mac into Recovery mode and Reinstall the OS. Do not erase the disk with Disk Utility, and the user data should remain intact. The reinstall will overwrite all the OS system files in case they're corrupt.
How old is the Mac? Is it one with a spinning disk or SSD?
ASKER
It is Macmini 4,1 with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz, with NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 8 GB DDR3 RAM. 320GB spinning HDD s/n: PB3AC60W.
I was wondering that since I have to go on-site and re-install OS, would it be better to put SSD in there and re-image current disk to SSD? Just trying to kill two birds with one stone.
Assuming that it is performance issue and even then having SSD would make OS re-install much faster. Also, I would get 250GB SSD but HDD is 320GB with over 100GB free space so would the imaging software allow me to put the image on smaller SSD as there is space to reduce the size?
I was wondering that since I have to go on-site and re-install OS, would it be better to put SSD in there and re-image current disk to SSD? Just trying to kill two birds with one stone.
Assuming that it is performance issue and even then having SSD would make OS re-install much faster. Also, I would get 250GB SSD but HDD is 320GB with over 100GB free space so would the imaging software allow me to put the image on smaller SSD as there is space to reduce the size?
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ASKER
Could I use some other third-party screenshot software to overcome this problem? Do you know any nice, convenient tools for screenshots?
No need for 3rd party software, which will only slow down the computer even more. Instead, use the built-in keyboard shortcuts:
SHIFT-CMD-4 gets you into the proper mode. From there you can:
- take a screenshot of any segment of the screen
- take a screenshot of a window
- take a screenshot of a menu
Read more here:
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201361
SHIFT-CMD-4 gets you into the proper mode. From there you can:
- take a screenshot of any segment of the screen
- take a screenshot of a window
- take a screenshot of a menu
Read more here:
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201361
ASKER
Tim, thank you but it takes very long for those screenshots to appear on the system and to have access to them (the way you said - this post is about that). That is why I am trying to replace it or fix it.
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ASKER
That is my conclusion too - thanks a million for summing it up. I already emailed the user about it. I will go for re-installing it but cannot go for the latest OS as they have some software which does not work with the latest Mac OS.
Shall I assign points between yourself (Tim Lapin) and serialband??
Shall I assign points between yourself (Tim Lapin) and serialband??
Ah, now that question is one that can only be decided by the author. :-)
If you feel that we both helped you materially then by all means split the points.
If you feel that we both helped you materially then by all means split the points.
Another possibility is a directory that needs repair. This can be done in Single User Mode
http://osxdaily.com/2013/08/07/how-to-repair-a-mac-disk-with-fsck-from-single-user-mode/
OR by booting in Recovery Partition and running Disk Utility
Memory Clean 2 shows free RAM - does it do it after a restart.
https://fiplab.com/apps/memory-clean-for-mac