punchoutkid

Q: Computer running slower and wondering processes are necessary

Hello guys,

 

I am having issues with a slow running computer and am seeking help. I have been monitoring my activity monitor when things  seem to get slow and it says that 3.98 GB of memory are being used of my 4GB, plus another 4.9 GB in virtual memory, and that's generally when I'm running lean and don't have all that much stuff open at once. My plan is to put more RAM in the computer, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try and clean some things up and make sure that no unnecessary processes, had found there way on to my computer. I am particularly curious about "kernel_task" which eats up the most memory, but there are so many other smaller ones that I am sure all add up, but I am guessing many are necessary.

 

I am going to go back through and read some more of the previous questions and threads, but wanted to go ahead and post my report to see if I could get the ball rolling for help.

 

Thanks in advance for any willingness to help!

 

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

Report generated September 3, 2014 at 9:26:21 AM EDT

 

Hardware Information: ?

    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) (Verified)

    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

    1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

    4 GB RAM

 

Video Information: ?

    Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB

        Color LCD 1280 x 800

 

System Software: ?

    OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 10:40:12

 

Disk Information: ?

    ST9500325ASG disk0 : (500.11 GB)

    S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (289.85 GB free)

        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

 

    MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8

 

USB Information: ?

    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

    Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

    Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

    Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

 

Thunderbolt Information: ?

    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

 

Gatekeeper: ?

    Mac App Store and identified developers

 

Launch Daemons: ?

    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

    [loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support

    [loaded]    com.smithmicro.vzwwirelessd.plist Support

    [failed]    com.torch.update.agent.plist Support

 

Launch Agents: ?

    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

 

User Launch Agents: ?

    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

    [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist Support

 

User Login Items: ?

    iTunesHelper

    Spotify

    Spotify

    Google Drive

    vzwwirelessd

    VZAccess Manager

 

Internet Plug-ins: ?

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.176 - SDK 10.6 Support

    Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

    Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.176 - SDK 10.6 Support

    LogMeIn: Version: 1.0.961 - SDK 10.7 Support

    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.2 Support

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

    LogMeInSafari32: Version: 1.0.961 - SDK 10.7 Support

    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.4 - SDK 10.6 Support

    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30317.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version

 

Audio Plug-ins: ?

    BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

    AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

    AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

    iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

 

iTunes Plug-ins: ?

    Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

 

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

    Flash Player  Support

 

Time Machine: ?

    Time Machine not configured!

 

Top Processes by CPU: ?

        24%    plugin-container

         4%    firefox

         4%    WindowServer

         1%    sysmond

         0%    Google Drive

 

Top Processes by Memory: ?

    520 MB    plugin-container

    451 MB    firefox

    131 MB    com.apple.IconServicesAgent

    98 MB    Spotify

    82 MB    mds_stores

 

Virtual Memory Information: ?

    38 MB    Free RAM

    1.47 GB    Active RAM

    1.44 GB    Inactive RAM

    1023 MB    Wired RAM

    597 MB    Page-ins

    24 MB    Page-outs

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Sep 4, 2014 6:26 AM

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Q: Computer running slower and wondering processes are necessary

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  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Sep 4, 2014 7:05 AM in response to punchoutkid
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 4, 2014 7:05 AM in response to punchoutkid

    Hello kid,

    -- First of all: Mavericks handles ram very differently than earlier OS: basically it "eats" it all, to distribute time slices to the apps that need it. Magnificent!

    If you look in Activity Monitor click the memory tab and look at the middle field at the bottom "memory pressure" to see want the memory pressure is. Only when you have much more ram than needed say 8 or more GB in your case, you will see a higher amount of free ram. You see when ou need more ram: then the Page-outs increase above 1GB or so in (part) of a day of use.

    But being "cheap" it never hurts to put more ram in, be sure that you buy the exact specs, macs are very sensitive for that, Crucial and OWC are the most recommended here.

    -- your list:

    1. in SystemPreferences->Users&Groups->LoginItems:  remove all entries, with the minus sign underneath. You even have Spotify started there twice, which can cause trouble already. Normally you start an app, when you need it, by hand and quit (from the menu) when you stop using it. If you use GoogleDrive continuously, let it be in the LoginItems, but keep in mind, that Google is always very slow to update their apps when there is an OS update, so regularly it causes issues. As soon as you go to Yosimite take it out of the LoginItems, to avoid issues we had after every OS upgrade...

    After this, restart and empty the Trash.

    2. I suppose you do not use Logmein: if you have it uninstalled, remove the following remnant:

    Macintosh.>Library->Internet-Plugins   delete   the two  Logmein  plugins.

    While being there also delete the Java applet plugin.

    If you need remote entry use the free Teamviewer version. Logmein is now paid only (and expensive).

    3. delete two updaters, one is a double entry and one is crap:

    In the Finder GO menu, click the alt(option) key and choose Library in there open LaunchAgents folder and delete

    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

    and

    com.google.keystone.agent.plist

    this last one comes back every time you install a google app or tool, There is a way to eliminate it for good, but that comes later.

    4. I am sure you are better off without the Torch browser.

    5. And the last:

    MacintoshHD->Library->LaunchDaemons   delete

    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist


    Now restart, empty the Trash, post the results

    Lex



  • by Sebastian Kuhn,

    Sebastian Kuhn Sebastian Kuhn Sep 4, 2014 7:43 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 4, 2014 7:43 AM in response to Lexiepex

    Sorry for this "me too", but I seem to have a slightly different problem. I am still running OS 10.8.5 on a MacBookPro (Early 2011) with plenty of RAM (8 GB), over 100 GB of free disk space and not that many login items (I believe). Even more strange, when I look at the Activity Monitor, it tells me that

    a) the CPU is idle more than 90%

    b) Plenty of free System memory (2.7 GB)

    c) No obvious big load on the disk or the network

    Yet, nearly everything I do on the Mac - in ANY software (Mail, Safari, MS Word, Finder) - takes forever, with plenty of spinning beach balls - resizing a window, changing the Desktop (1-4), scrolling, opening and closing folders - you name it. kernel_task is at the top of the activity list most of the time, but only with 1.2% or so.

     

    This problem has only slowly crept up over the past 1/2 year, and all of sudden (last 1-2 weeks) it has become unbearable.

    Any hints what I should look for first?

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Sep 4, 2014 7:52 AM in response to Sebastian Kuhn
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 4, 2014 7:52 AM in response to Sebastian Kuhn

    First make an etrecheck list (www.etresoft.com/etrecheck)

    it gives a lot of information about your system and software. post it here and I will answer tonight early.

    Lex

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 4, 2014 11:53 AM in response to punchoutkid
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 4, 2014 11:53 AM in response to punchoutkid

    Please describe the problem in as much relevant detail as possible. The "etrecheck" fad hasn't made that step any less necessary. The better your description, the better the chance of a solution.

    For example, if the computer is slow, which specific actions are slow? Is it slow all the time, or only sometimes? When did it start to be slow? Did you change anything just before it started? Have you seen any alerts or error messages? Have you done anything to try to fix it? Most importantly, do you have a current backup of all data? If the answer to the last question is "no," back up now. Ask if you need guidance. Do nothing else until you have a backup.

  • by Sebastian Kuhn,

    Sebastian Kuhn Sebastian Kuhn Sep 4, 2014 12:47 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Sep 4, 2014 12:47 PM in response to Linc Davis

    THNks to both of you for your quick reply. Unfortunately my problem appears hardware related. I just tried to run disk repair from a startup USB disk and it failed. So now I'm in the process of wiping the disk and reinstalling "everything". Fortunately I do have a timemachine backup.

  • by sarwrobi,

    sarwrobi sarwrobi Sep 4, 2014 1:31 PM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 4, 2014 1:31 PM in response to Lexiepex

    I have been having some of the same problems, but the major problem is that my computer has been running slow lately, and I'm not sure how to check to see if it is running properly.  I used the etrecheck, and here is the information it gave me.

     

    EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

    Report generated September 4, 2014 at 4:26:27 PM EDT

     

    Hardware Information: ?

      MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)

      MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro7,1

      1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

      4 GB RAM

     

    Video Information: ?

      NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

      Color LCD 1280 x 800

     

    System Software: ?

      OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 22 days 17:20:39

     

    Disk Information: ?

      Hitachi HTS545025B9SA02 disk0 : (250.06 GB)

      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

      EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

      Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 249.2 GB (115.37 GB free)

      Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

     

      MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898 

     

    USB Information: ?

      Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

      Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

      Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

      Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

      Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

      Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

     

    Gatekeeper: ?

      Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Startup Items: ?

      AvgNetShieldLoader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/AvgNetShieldLoader

      HP IO: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO

     

    Launch Daemons: ?

      [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

      [running] com.avg.apiServices.plist Support

      [running] com.avg.avgconfigd.plist Support

      [running] com.avg.avgnotifyd.plist Support

      [loaded] com.avg.avgprivd.plist Support

      [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support

      [invalid] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

      [loaded] com.regularrateandrhythm.rowmotehelperaide.plist Support

     

    Launch Agents: ?

      [running] com.avg.LinkScannerAgent.plist Support

      [running] com.avg.LoaderAgent.plist Support

      [invalid] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

     

    User Launch Agents: ?

      [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

      [failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

      [loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist Support

      [loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist Support

      [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

     

    User Login Items: ?

      iTunesHelper

      Boingo Wi-Finder

      Dropbox

      AdobeResourceSynchronizer

      uTorrent

      Rowmote Helper

      HPEventHandler

      HP Scheduler

     

    Internet Plug-ins: ?

      DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.5.9r615 Support

      Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 5.2 Support

      Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

      Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16   - SDK 10.8 Support

      net.juniper.DSSafariExtensions: Version: (null) Support

      CouponPrinter-FireFox: Version: Version 1.1.5

      AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

      FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.176 - SDK 10.6 Support

      OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 Support

      RealPlayer Plugin: Version: (null) Support

      Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.176 - SDK 10.6 Support

      iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

      QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

      SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.6 Support

      AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

      Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

      JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version

     

    Safari Extensions: ?

      Cuevana Stream

      Adblock Plus-2

     

    Audio Plug-ins: ?

      BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

      AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

      AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

      iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

     

    iTunes Plug-ins: ?

      Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

     

    User Internet Plug-ins ?

      CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 Support

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

      Flash Player  Support

     

    Time Machine: ?

      Time Machine not configured!

     

    Top Processes by CPU: ?

          5% iTunes

          5% avglnsd

          3% WindowServer

          3% usbmuxd

          2% SyncServer

     

    Top Processes by Memory: ?

      283 MB Safari

      135 MB mds_stores

      110 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

      86 MB Microsoft Word

      74 MB mds

     

    Virtual Memory Information: ?

      21 MB Free RAM

      1.06 GB Active RAM

      1.05 GB Inactive RAM

      687 MB Wired RAM

      24.99 GB Page-ins

      741 MB Page-outs

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Sep 4, 2014 1:46 PM in response to sarwrobi
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 4, 2014 1:46 PM in response to sarwrobi

    Whatever anyone says, the first thing to do is to get rid of the AVG software.

    Completely.

    Lex

  • by sarwrobi,

    sarwrobi sarwrobi Sep 4, 2014 1:55 PM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 4, 2014 1:55 PM in response to Lexiepex

    How do I remove it?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 4, 2014 2:51 PM in response to punchoutkid
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 4, 2014 2:51 PM in response to punchoutkid

    Your thread is about to turn into a disaster, so if you expect to get any useful information out of it, you need to act fast.

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Sep 4, 2014 11:41 PM in response to sarwrobi
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 4, 2014 11:41 PM in response to sarwrobi
  • by Manolya Lake,

    Manolya Lake Manolya Lake Sep 5, 2014 5:16 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 5, 2014 5:16 AM in response to Lexiepex

    I don't have AVG but İ have the same slowing issue too those are what came up by the EtreCheck;

    EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

    Report generated 5 Sep 2014 15:10:21 GMT+3

     

    Hardware Information: ?

      MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) (Verified)

      MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

      1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

      4 GB RAM

     

    Video Information: ?

      Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: (null)

      Color LCD 1280 x 800

     

    System Software: ?

      OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 0 days 0:22:30

     

    Disk Information: ?

      APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500,11 GB)

      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

      EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

      Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499,25 GB (321,27 GB free)

      Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

     

      MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8 

     

    USB Information: ?

      Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

      Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

      Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

      Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

      Logitech USB Receiver

      Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

     

    Thunderbolt Information: ?

      Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

    Gatekeeper: ?

      Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Kernel Extensions: ?

      [not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMControl (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

      [not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungACMData (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

      [not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungComposite (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

      [not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungMTP (1.4.20 - SDK 10.5) Support

      [not loaded] com.devguru.driver.SamsungSerial (1.4.20 - SDK 10.6) Support

     

    Startup Items: ?

      FanControlDaemon: Path: /Library/StartupItems/FanControlDaemon

     

    Launch Daemons: ?

      [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

      [loaded] com.skype.skypeinstaller.plist Support

      [loaded] com.teamviewer.Helper.plist Support

      [not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist Support

     

    Launch Agents: ?

      [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

      [not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist Support

      [not loaded] com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist Support

     

    User Launch Agents: ?

      [loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

      [loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.LogRotator.plist Support

      [loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.Service.plist Support

      [loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.UninstallAgent.plist Support

      [loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.UpdaterAgent.plist Support

      [loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist Support

      [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

     

    User Login Items: ?

      None

     

    Internet Plug-ins: ?

      DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.1.3r153 - SDK 10.6 Support

      Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

      FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 Support

      JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version

      QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

      Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

     

    Safari Extensions: ?

      Searchme-2

     

    Audio Plug-ins: ?

      BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

      AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

      AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

      iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

     

    iTunes Plug-ins: ?

      Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

     

    User Internet Plug-ins ?

      BlueStacks Install Detector: Version: 0.3.6 - SDK 10.7 Support

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

      Fan Control  Support

      Flash Player  Support

     

    Time Machine: ?

      Time Machine not configured!

     

    Top Processes by CPU: ?

          4% mds

          0% fontd

          0% WindowServer

          0% uHD-Agent

          0% Google Chrome

     

    Top Processes by Memory: ?

      123 MB Skype

      106 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

      82 MB Google Chrome

      74 MB mds_stores

      74 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

     

    Virtual Memory Information: ?

      1015 MB Free RAM

      1.98 GB Active RAM

      472 MB Inactive RAM

      578 MB Wired RAM

      503 MB Page-ins

      0 B Page-outs

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Sep 5, 2014 5:56 AM in response to Manolya Lake
    Level 6 (10,536 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 5, 2014 5:56 AM in response to Manolya Lake

    You have enough ram and enough diskspace.

    But on the software side there a few things that better dissapear.

    Make new thread and post the link here. To avoid confusion.

  • by Manolya Lake,

    Manolya Lake Manolya Lake Sep 5, 2014 7:43 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 5, 2014 7:43 AM in response to Lexiepex

    What do you mean from making a new thread? How am I going to do it?

  • by Manolya Lake,

    Manolya Lake Manolya Lake Sep 5, 2014 7:45 AM in response to Lexiepex
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 5, 2014 7:45 AM in response to Lexiepex

    I think I have RAM slowing issue because it says 4gb memory and I use 3.98 this should be making some problems.

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