Slow Macbook Air with new SSD and Monterey install...

[Jaywilliams]

I have a 2017 Air, cosmetically in great condition so reluctant to invest in new one.

Running Catalina and started to slow down almost over night. Really slow starting up, even just opening folders etc really, really slow.

I've now swapped out the SSD for a new/bigger disk which I know works ok, and done a clean install of Monterey but still very slow as before.

Could it be the Logic Board or something else, or is it time to let go.

Thank you in advance

 

[MacBiter]

We need more to go on.
- Have you installed some new software recently?
- Have you recently got an anti-virus, e.g. Sophos?
- Have you tried a new user account to see if that's slow too?
- Have you cleared all your caches and temporary files?
- Have you done an analysis of your drive to see if there's a large file, e.g. a log file, that's growing fast and needs to be investigated?
- Have you run Etrecheck (free download if not) to see if there's any messages in red that indicate a problem?

Just some things to look at first....

 

[Jaywilliams]

Thanks @MacBiter for your help.
I would have thought the new SSD I installed and clean install of the system would mitigate most of the above?
In answer though, there was no new software loaded or antivirus loaded.
I ran Activity Monitor which didn't show anything startling, albeit to an untrained eye!
I'll give a new user account a try
Not heard of Etrecheck, will check it out!
Thanks again

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Could it be the Logic Board or something else, or is it time to let go.

It isn't "normal" to have your Mac slow down like yours has. I have an entire Web page devoted to restoring the performance of a Mac that has slowed down:

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions
http://www.macattorney.com/sd.html

I've never seen a slowdown case where the conclusion was that it was "time to let it go." It is almost always possible to restore your Mac to very close to the performance it offered when new. Go through all of the suggestions on the page and let us know how things go.

By far the most common thing that causes a Macintosh to suddenly slow down is to have installed fully interactive anti-virus software. Sophos anti-virus is most often the culpret. The next most common thing to cause a slowdown is having too full a hard drive.

 

[Jaywilliams]

Thanks @Randy B. Singer I'll take a look.
No software was loaded (I've been working on Macs for over 25years which is scary to think) so I steer well away from anti-virus. It had a 128SSD and still had 82gb free. I've now put a 256SSD in so more than enough room on the drink. So new disk and clean install.

Which is why I'm leaning towards a hardware issue, but not sure what other than a logic board it could be.

Thanks again, I'll give your page a read

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Does your Macintosh have a RAM upgrade that you put in yourself? That's the third most common source of a slowdown in my experience.

 

[Rod]

Yes, good question. Also, any newly logged in to iCloud device will tend to be a bit slow for a day or two while downloading and syncing old/new data. Other than the reasons already mentioned a full HD is the other major cause of slow performance but you have already indicated that you have plenty of storage free.
The thing that stands out for me is that this behaviour started suddenly and prior to your updates.

You should be able to run Apple Diagnostics on your model here are the instructions;

How to run diagnostics on your MacBook Pro for a full hardware check

If you're experiencing problems with your MacBook Pro, we've explained how to run Apple Diagnostics so you can test the internal hardware.

appletoolbox.com

If the above comes back clear Etrecheck is a great tool for finding software related issues available from the developer free here; EtreCheck

 

[Jaywilliams]

Thanks again @Randy B. Singer and @Rod for the support so far.
Ram is soldered in so not touched.
I’ve done a clean install, not even from Time Machine and iCloud all switched off so all it has is the system.

Zapped PRAM and SMC

Ran hardware test link from your page Randy, no issues there.


Incidentally I did run EtreCheck and activity Monitor supports its results


Heavy CPU usage - Some processes are using an unusually high amount of CPU.

Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:

Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)
mds_stores 98.66 % (Apple)
mds 60.28 % (Apple)
mdworker (2) 54.44 % (Apple)
WindowServer 28.36 % (Apple)
EtreCheckPro 14.06 % (Etresoft, Inc.)

Don’t even know what these are or why they have heavy use on the CPU. I’ll do some googling

Thanks

 

[Rod]

Most of the activities you list, an I'm no expert, are what I usually see after a clean install. They are as I mentioned earlier, data being updated, downloaded and synced. That usually settles down after 24/48 hrs dependent on your internet speed. I would leave the device running and ensure Wake for Network activity is on in Energy settings.
Se if it improves in a day or so. Also I don't know how much RAM you have, if it's only 4GB that's not really enough for today's applications. I know because I have a 2010 MacBook with 4GB and it took nearly 15min for the ESR (Extended Service Release) to install on High Sierra (after downloading). Probably partly because it's 64bit as all new Mac apps are now.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Top Processes Snapshot by CPU:

Process (count) CPU (Source - Location)
mds_stores 98.66 % (Apple)
mds 60.28 % (Apple)
mdworker (2) 54.44 % (Apple)

"mds" and "mdimport" are Spotlight processes. If they are what is causing the slowdown, either Spotlight is still indexing the drive after doing an install of the OS, or, if the problem has gone on for days, Spotlight probably has a corrupted database.
If the latter is the case, that's easy to fix:


Go to Sys Prefs --> Spotlight --> click the Privacy tab.

Then drag your boot (that is, startup) HD into the Privacy window. You may
not need to restart but I do it anyway.

After restart, remove your boot drive from the Privacy tab (click on it and then use the
minus sign).

Spotlight should then create a fresh new index. It may take some
time (maybe a couple of days if you have lots of data on your drive) to finish, so be patient.

 

[techiesteve]

Most of the activities you list, an I'm no expert, are what I usually see after a clean install. They are as I mentioned earlier, data being updated, downloaded and synced. That usually settles down after 24/48 hrs dependent on your internet speed. I would leave the device running and ensure Wake for Network activity is on in Energy settings.
Se if it improves in a day or so. Also I don't know how much RAM you have, if it's only 4GB that's not really enough for today's applications. I know because I have a 2010 MacBook with 4GB and it took nearly 15min for the ESR (Extended Service Release) to install on High Sierra (after downloading). Probably partly because it's 64bit as all new Mac apps are now.

The 2017 MBA's all had 8GB soldered into the logic board, no 4GB models.

Jay, what make and part # of new SSD did you purchase and fit? Why install Catalina, Monterey is a better option and more future proof. The only hardware issues I sometimes see at work causing a very noticeable slow performance on your MBA model is with sensors not reading. If a sensor can't be read the MBA will slow down as it believes it has a serious problem, and it is more commonly associated with the logic board. At work I would run MRI from Apples GSX, but you wouldn't have access to that. If you were close enough to an Apple Store they could.