My iMac Sequoia 15.7.1 is running very slow and constantly 'beachballing'. Is there a program I can run to see if there is a virus problem or some other problem?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: BeachballingMac
iMac 27″, macOS 15.7
peterfrombridlington wrote:
My iMac Sequoia 15.7.1 is running very slow and constantly 'beachballing'. Is there a program I can run to see if there is a virus problem or some other problem?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: BeachballingMac
1 - Yes, for performance issues
2 - No, for Viruses
To avoid a session of Q&A, Q&A and Q&A
A1 - Download the Application Etrecheck ( External Link ) directly from the Developer.
This is a Diagnostic Tool that makes no changes to the computer.
It makes a coherent and readable inventory of both the Hardware and Software used on the computer
The application is free or paid for added features.
The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information.
Post back the Full Report - Share Report >> Copy , then paste >>>> using the Additional Text Icon <<<<
A2 - Windows-like viruses that self-replicate and affect macOS don’t exist because of the underlying UNIX Foundation and permission limitations.
The macOS operating system resides in a sealed and read-only volume that can’t be opened by users or third-party applications.
Mac app security enhancements are sufficient to protect computers from malware.
Adware and Malware can affect computers and are often downloaded from “shady” websites or developers who inject them into downloads.
Source: User tip from @Kurt Lang
What is malware? - Apple Community
peterfrombridlington wrote:
My iMac Sequoia 15.7.1 is running very slow and constantly 'beachballing'. Is there a program I can run to see if there is a virus problem or some other problem?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: BeachballingMac
1 - Yes, for performance issues
2 - No, for Viruses
To avoid a session of Q&A, Q&A and Q&A
A1 - Download the Application Etrecheck ( External Link ) directly from the Developer.
This is a Diagnostic Tool that makes no changes to the computer.
It makes a coherent and readable inventory of both the Hardware and Software used on the computer
The application is free or paid for added features.
The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information.
Post back the Full Report - Share Report >> Copy , then paste >>>> using the Additional Text Icon <<<<
A2 - Windows-like viruses that self-replicate and affect macOS don’t exist because of the underlying UNIX Foundation and permission limitations.
The macOS operating system resides in a sealed and read-only volume that can’t be opened by users or third-party applications.
Mac app security enhancements are sufficient to protect computers from malware.
Adware and Malware can affect computers and are often downloaded from “shady” websites or developers who inject them into downloads.
Source: User tip from @Kurt Lang
What is malware? - Apple Community
I hold wholeheartedly agree with den.then and Owl-53 in that the WD software that came with the drives is not needed and should be removed according to the developer's instructions.
Use the shareware app Find Any File to search for any files with a particular file name. For the Western Digital software you'd do the following search(es):
1 - Name contains wd
Do the same for Disk Drill as it's showing excessive CPU use.
Any files that are found can be Option dragged from the search results window to the Desktop to get a copy of the file.
FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.
Also it's advantageous to reboot at lest twice a week as the reboot clears out temporary system and application swap and cache files. Those files can become damaged which can cause a number of issues including slowness.
As your first reboot boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and then reboot normally. See if there's any change in the problem.
Note: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will assure a successful boot into Safe Mode.
Have you tried running Disk Utility's First Aid on the external drives? If not do so and see if it finds any issues.
peterfrombridlington wrote:
... the "The Find any File" app has revealed approximately 1,300 files with 'WD' in their titles! I am just going to look at the ones that obviously refer to Western Digital, but I shall go carefully. Next I will follow other suggestions about using Disk Utility to format the external drives one at a time. I'll try and finish by Christmas. A sincere thank you for all your help.
The vast majority of those "WD" finds can be easily sorted into ones that appear to be related to the WD disk software versus other random times that those two letters appear together in another context. I recall doing this once a few years ago and it is easy to go through them quickly. No need to open each file, and if in doubt, don't delete a specific file one the first pass through. You really will be better off with that WD software removed; with it still there, you will need to be careful with every update to the OS in case the version you are using is not fully compatible.
However I think you should try operating your Mac with ALL the external drives (and other devices) not connected to see if the slowness and beach balls go away. That would tell you one of them is problematic and then you can figure it out by reconnecting each one, one at a time.
A machine with these Hardware Configurations should be chugging along just nicely
Running with 3 USB Drives connected should also not directly cause any issues
Below is what I have found. Let be said, I do very much welcome additional observations / inputs from both @den.thed and @ Old Toad as I may have possible missed somethings here
Regarding the usage of Disk Drill to salvage from external drive. Have never used it so will not speak to that except that should the drive be failing or failed plus the usage of WDV software to manage the drive. This could spell trouble
1 - All 3 external drive appears to be managed by Third Party Software from Western Digital, which under normal conditions would not be required
2 - As mention by you, one of the drives is acting up which couple with the WD software would certainly impact overall performances
Q - Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed that could be malicious and should be reviewed.
3 - As evidenced from the report, some of the WDC software is reported as Unsigned meaning the Notarization from the Developer is no longer accepted as valid by Apple
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
iMac Model: iMac20,1
3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7 (i7-10700K) CPU: 8-core
16 GB RAM - Upgradeable
Video Information:
AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT - VRAM: 8 GB
iMac (built-in) 4096 x 2304
disk0 - APPLE SSD AP1024N 1.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)
Q - disk2 - SanDisk Extreme 55AE 2.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: No)
Q - disk3 - StoreJet Transcend 4.00 TB
Q - disk5 - StoreJet Transcend 2.00 TB
Q -System Software: macOS Sequoia 15.7.1 (24G231)
Installed 2025-10-27
A - FYI to be addressed afterwards. The current Sequoia is now version 15.7.2 as of Monday Nov 3
Q - Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.wdc.SanDiskPrivilegedHelper.plist
Q - Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist
Q - [Running] com.cleverfiles.cfbackd.plist (Justin Johnson - installed 2025-08-19)
A - Backups by an way or means are usually best done to an External Drive that is Directly connected to the computer
Q - [Loaded] com.wdc.SanDiskPrivilegedHelper.plist (Not signed - installed 2023-11-20)
Q - [Loaded] com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist (Not signed - installed 2025-07-02)
Q - [Other] com.adobe.ElementsAutoCreator-17.0.plist (Not signed - installed 2022-06-29)
A - As evidenced from the report, some of the Adobe ElementAutoCreator software is reported as Unsigned meaning the Notarization from the Developer is no longer accepted a valid by Apple
Q - [Running] com.wdc.WD-Discovery.plist (Western Digital Corporation Branded Products Group - installed 2023-10-07)
Q - [Loaded] com.wdc.WDTrashObserver.plist (Western Digital Corporation Branded Products Group - installed 2023-10-07)
Q - Finder sync extensions: [Loaded] WDDesktop Finder Extension - /Library/Application Support/WDDesktop.app
Q - Clean up:
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.ElementsAutoCreator-17.0.plist
/Applications/Adobe Elements 2019 Organizer.app/Contents/Elements Auto Creations 2019.app/Contents/MacOS/Elements Auto Creations 2019
den.thed wrote:
I concur with Owl-53 that the WD software is not needed nor recommended for managing external drives.
When you first purchase an external drive for Mac, it should be formatted using Disk Utility.
see > Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
It looks like one of your external drives is either corrupt or failing and causing the beach-balling.
Problem is, it's hard to tell exactly which one of the three from the EtreCheck Pro report.
You may already know which external drive is causing the problem..
For verification, run Disk Utility > Repair on each of the three external drives.
see > https://www.insanelymac.com/blog/fix-corrupted-external-hard-drive-mac/
Thoughts on DriveDx ??
Have not used it myself so could not suggest it
I don't have a lot to add to the excellent inputs you have received already from den.thed, Owl-53, and Old Toad.
But I can say this:
I concur with Owl-53 that the WD software is not needed nor recommended for managing external drives.
When you first purchase an external drive for Mac, it should be formatted using Disk Utility.
see > Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support
It looks like one of your external drives is either corrupt or failing and causing the beach-balling.
Problem is, it's hard to tell exactly which one of the three from the EtreCheck Pro report.
You may already know which external drive is causing the problem..
For verification, run Disk Utility > Repair on each of the three external drives.
see > https://www.insanelymac.com/blog/fix-corrupted-external-hard-drive-mac/
You are welcome
Please for the Best Results visa vie Posting the Etrecheck report
Follow the the advise from my good and knowledge colleague @den.thed
Only as an illustration
" Post back the Full Report - Share Report >> Copy , then paste >>>> using the Additional Text Icon <<<<
den.thed wrote:
Owl-53 wrote:
Thoughts on DriveDx ??
Have not used it myself so could not suggest it
Not really, I only dabbled with the free version a long time ago and as I recall the free version was only able to check the internal drive.
FYI, the free version of DriveDx can check the external drives as well, but requires installing a special USB driver since macOS does not natively support the necessary communication protocol. IIRC, the DriveDx app will prompt you to install this special USB driver when attempting to check the health of an external USB drive.
However, things are more complicated than this. The controllers used by an external drive, enclosure, adapter may not allow the necessary communication because they may not support SMART or SMART passthrough. Most physical drives (the HD or SSD within the USB drive enclosure will support SMART, but not the drive enclosure). Some OWC drives/enclosures/drive docks don't support SMART even if the HD or SSD within them do so even a good vendor/manufacturer drops the ball. I always make it a point that all my USB3 devices must support SMART and the UASP protocol....it also usually indicates a higher quality product as well.
den.thed wrote:
We can not see your EtreCheck Pro report.
Please follow the instructions, at > How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community
Edit: OK I see that you posted the Report in a new thread.
Late Edit: Which is now gone....?
Where is this new thread if you please my friend
den.thed wrote:
@ Owl-53 No it was not a double post. It was a new post that included Peters EtreCheck Pro report.
@ Peter Please repost your EtreCheck Pro report here in this thread.
How every this plays out you are almost there 👍 visa vie you know what
Reformatting the external drives may fix issues that are ON the external drives
But, the real issue, as I see it.
The Installation of the Third Party Software from Western Digital onto the Internal Drive will remain
We can not see your EtreCheck Pro report.
Please follow the instructions, at > How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community
Edit: OK I see that you posted the Report in a new thread.
Late Edit: Which is now gone....?
That was strange.
I replied to Peter that we couldn't see the EtreCheck Pro report.
Then I saw that Peter had posted the report in a new thread.
Then when I went back to it, that new thread was gone.
den.thed wrote:
That was strange.
I replied to Peter that we couldn't see the EtreCheck Pro report.
Then I saw that Peter had posted the report in a new thread.
Then when I went back to it, that new thread was gone.
Hum, double posting same question elsewhere ?
iMac running macOS Sequoia 15.7.1 experiencing slow performance and beach balling
