How to remove old and outdated files after a slow macOS upgrade?

crash041 wrote:

I'm trying to upgrade my MacOS system from Sonoma to Sequoia after an alert from my Photoshop said that an upgrade would insure optimal performance. I began the update on Sunday around 3-4pm CT and am STILL waiting on it to finish Tuesday @ 3pm CT. The progress bar has been stationary at this point for more than 24 hours.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/1f94a82d-6911-4bd8-a067-bd84167df44c

A. I realize that this is probably a point of concern, but once it is finished (hopefully soon) is there a way to clear out old and out of date files from my system?

B. If I can identify the files that are slowing up my system, can I remove them safely without causing more damage to my operating system?

C. If for some reason they can't be removed, is there a way to isolate them so that my OS can operate more quickly and smoothly?

A - Maybe. It involves reinstalling macOS.

B - Probably, but it depends on what files are slowing up your system.

C - Maybe. Run an EtreCheck report for us so we don't have to play 20 questions.

First things first. Abort the upgrade process that you started over 24 hours ago by pressing and holding the power button until your Mac shuts down. Hold for 6-10 seconds, or so. An OS upgrade should take no more than an hour or so, max.

Then reboot the Mac and hope that the upgrade completes. Post back here with info about the free space available on your drive. Use Disk Utility to find that info. If your free space is too low you can run into upgrade problems.

Also please tell us the screen size and exact year of that Mac. Find that info by clicking the Apple menu  > About This Mac.

Finally, Please run an EtreCheck (free) evaluation of your Mac and post the generated report back here in a reply. EtreCheck is a safe and highly regarded utility from a trusted developer and respected ASC contributor. The report it generates will not include any personal info. It simply gathers specifics about hardware performance and installed software that might be in conflict with the OS.

Please navigate to EtreCheck.com to download the utility. Be sure to Allow Full Disk Access when you install the app. Once you’ve run the app and created your report please post it with your reply to this message. 

Please note you must upload the full report. To see how, please click >  How to use Add Text when posting… EtreCheck Report.

We’ll use your EtreCheck report to look for the things that may be causing your problem and advise how to correct them.

Thank you! Great job getting this EtreCheck report for us to look at.

I really didn't have to look too deeply to see what the problem with your iMac is.

This 2019 iMac was not a speed demon from the start. Apple chose to hobble this Mac with a 5400 RPM startup drive that was rather low-end for its time.

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

Your EC report identifies the drive as appearing to be failing.

EC also reports the write and read speeds of your startup drive to be 12 MB/s and 23 MB/s respectively.

Under normal circumstances, those numbers should be more like 60-120 MB/s, so you can see the performance is severely degraded.

Your startup drive also has 1 TB capacity with 877 GB used and roughly 120 GB free. This drive is operating very close to the low limit of acceptable free space. Guidance suggests that the startup drive be maintained with at least 10%-15% of its total capacity as free space.

One way to fix this is to replace the internal startup drive with an SSD. That's a little expensive to do and a bit risky since the sealed iMac has to be opened up at the risk of doing damage to internal components. The performance improvement would be noticeable, however.

A better option, though, would be to install macOS on an external SSD connected to one of the iMac's Thunderbolt 3 or USB-3 ports and use that as the startup drive.

This is Apple’s guidance on how to Install macOS on an external storage device and use it as a startup disk - Apple Support

Please see this great user authored tip: Use an external SSD as your startup disk - Apple Community (Thanks, Jack-19!)

Aside from the failing drive, there is very little that I see to severely impact the performance of your iMac.

Perhaps there is something that another user might see.

Following up -

If you'd like to learn more details about the failing of your internal drive, you might run the diagnostic utility Drive Dx from Binary Fruit.

Also, the failing drive with its abysmal write & read speeds explain the 24 hour upgrade time. 🙁

As @D.I. Johnson mentioned your Hard Drive is failing as those speeds are terrible. The slowest a Hard Drive should be is 40MB/s, but @D.I. Johnson is correct on the average normal speed range of a 2019 Hard Drive.

At least one of the two Kernel Panics shown is likely due to the Hard Drive issues. Many of the other apps/process crashes listed in the report are also likely due to the poor speed of the failing Hard Drive.

Some things you can do to lessen access to the Hard Drive:

• Turn off MalwareBytes always on real time scanning....you really don't need this on anyway, nor do you need MalwareBytes unless you suspect you have accidentally acquired malware or adware.
• Turn off BitTorrent.....this really will impact your system even with a healthy drive.
• You should also perform the cleanup suggested near the end of the EtreCheck report. You have Launch Agents installed for outdated versions of your apps which were not properly removed when that third party software was updated. The files that need to be deleted are the ones where ".plist" is mentioned (basically every other line)....most are located in the hidden "~/Library" folder within your home user folder, I think only one (Paragon NTFS driver) is located in the main "/Library". If you do this now and get a good backup, then it will help make your new external macOS SSD a bit cleaner when your restore from your TM backup (good job having that backup!).

Once you install macOS onto an external SSD and you have verified everything restored properly from your TM backup, then I would try to erase that internal Hard Drive with a secure erase so that your data is overwritten....hard to say if that is possible in its failing condition.

I would also configure macOS so it prevents that internal HD from being automatically mounted during boot in order to minimize access to it & to minimize the failing drive from causing problems. Here is an article with instructions for preventing a drive from automatically mounting in macOS:

Prevent a volume from mounting at startup - Apple Community

To keep using this iMac, follow @D.I. Johnson's suggestion for booting the iMac from an external SSD., otherwise I don't recommend spending any money to repair any Intel Mac (especially one with USB-C ports) for multiple reasons. The money spent on repairs is better put towards a new Mac. In your case I would recommend a Mac Mini with an external display instead of a M-series iMac. A Mac Mini will be less expensive now and it will make replacing that Mini less expensive as well since you can keep using that external monitor with the next computer.