[K12OSN] slow as molasses

[Peter Hartmann]

  I set up this qmail server a while back and was just about to put it
in service.  Now when I start it up it's INCREDIBLY slow.  Like 10
minutes to boot.  Really.  One might almost think it's frozen but it's
just running really slowly.  Launching FireFox takes 30 seconds. I
haven't made any software changes recently. The cpu usage is fine and
I'm not inclined to think it's heat related.  I think maybe it's the
drive but I can't seem to make a bootable dd image.  Has anyone had
any experiences like this?  Is  there any way of saving this
installation or can anyone suggest things I could check to find out
what's wrong? I've got MANY hours invested in this machine.


Gratefully yours,
Peter