iTunes causes my Macbook Pro to freeze

[oliverpaul]

I have a lot of music that I run through iTunes (about 120GB worth I think) and so when I click to open iTunes it takes a while to load up, normally around 3 or 4 minutes. I use iTunes all the time and so rarely quit it but as of a few days ago when I open iTunes it opens up, and then within a few seconds causes the entire computer to freeze. It all stops reacting in any way, just the mouse moves around. I have looked all over the internet to find an answer but haven't found anything that seems to answer my problem.

Can anyone help? Really annoying me not being able to have any of my music.

I am using a Macbook Pro from July 2010
Version 10.6.8
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
4GB 1067MHz DDR3 Memory
iTunes should be the latest version

Has anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Even with 120GB of media in iTunes, it shouldn't take 3-4 mins for it to start. My iTunes Library is over 70GB and it only takes a couple secs to start.

Probable issues:
-HD is low on free space
-Corrupted iTunes Library
-HD is failing

I would do the following:
-Make a backup immediately
-Check the size of the HD and the amount of free space available
-Run a surface scan on the HD - Drive Genius, TechTool Pro, etc.
-Create a fresh iTunes Library, add a few songs, and check the startup speed

I can't stress enough how important it is to get a fresh Time Machine or other backup of your system as soon as possible. Hopefully you are simply low on free HD space, which would cause this issue and could possibly corrupt the HD further and prevent the MacBook from booting at all.

Let us know what you find,

C

 

[oliverpaul]

Thanks for your response.

My HD is low on space, but it is nearly always like this, only ever has about 10% or less available.

I have done a backup and a scan using Drive Genius which said that a few blocks were broken, not sure what this meant though. How would I create a fresh iTunes library? I can't uninstall it cos I can't open it, can I just make sure all the files are backed up, and then delete everything in the iTunes folder? Or would that not help. AppCleaner also doesn't let you remove iTunes so not sure how to sort it out.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Low HD free space can easily cause the freezing issue, especially with the size of your library.

If Drive Genius stated there were a few bad blocks, it means that the HD is failing. If the bad sections of the HD contain parts of the OS or your iTunes library, your computer will freeze and may eventually not startup at all.

If indeed the HD is failing, I would make a backup ASAP and then look into getting it replaced.

C

 

[oliverpaul]

I put the installation disk in and booted from that. It did a few installing things and then when it loaded, all of the files were still there in the same place (without using my backup) but when I loaded iTunes it still took about 5 minuted to load, and then caused it to freeze again. I verified the HD using disk utility and this time it said that it was OK. A drive genius scan still came up with a few bad blocks though.

If I did a complete reinstall (wipe the whole thing and start again) and then use my backup to load it up again would that solve the problem?
Thanks

 

[Cory Cooper]

If a Drive Genius scan is reporting bad blocks, then the HD is failing. It will need to be replaced as it is a hardware issue, not software. Unfortunately, wiping the drive and reinstalling will not change things.

C

 

[oliverpaul]

I've had the hard drive replaced and it seems all back to normal, and I think I managed to keep all the data. Thanks so much for your help. Very much appreciated.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Glad to hear it's sorted.

Not a problem, that's why we're here.

C