Audio Media

Q: Why Is my Mac 10.9.5 getting so slow

My Mac is getting slower at everything it does running software

 

EtreCheck version: 2.0.1 (82)

Report generated October 11, 2014 at 3:14:24 PM CDT

 

Hardware Information: ℹ️

  iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)

  iMac - model: iMac11,2

  1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2-core

  4 GB RAM Upgradeable

  BANK 0/DIMM0

  empty empty empty empty

  BANK 1/DIMM0

  empty empty empty empty

  BANK 0/DIMM1

  2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

  BANK 1/DIMM1

  2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

  Bluetooth: Old - Handoff not supported

  Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

 

Video Information: ℹ️

  ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

  iMac 1920 x 1080

 

System Software: ℹ️

  OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Uptime: 0 days 4:33:25

 

Disk Information: ℹ️

  WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 disk0 : (1 TB)

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

  EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

  Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /  [Startup]: 999.35 GB (630.01 GB free)

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

 

  HL-DT-STDVDRW  GA32N 

 

USB Information: ℹ️

  Western Digital My Book 111A 2 TB

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

  disk2s1 (disk2s1) <not mounted> : 32 KB

  My Book (disk2s3) /Volumes/My Book : 2 TB (320.01 GB free)

  Western Digital My Passport 071A 500.08 GB

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

  disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 32 KB

  disk1s2 (disk1s2) <not mounted> : 29 KB

  disk1s3 (disk1s3) <not mounted> : 29 KB

  disk1s4 (disk1s4) <not mounted> : 29 KB

  disk1s5 (disk1s5) <not mounted> : 29 KB

  disk1s6 (disk1s6) <not mounted> : 262 KB

  disk1s7 (disk1s7) <not mounted> : 262 KB

  disk1s8 (disk1s8) <not mounted> : 262 KB

  My Passport (disk1s10) /Volumes/My Passport : 499.94 GB (62.59 GB free)

  Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

  Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

  Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

  Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

  Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

 

Firewire Information: ℹ️

  G-TECH G-DRIVE 800mbit - 800mbit max

  S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

  EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

  G-DRIVE (disk3s2) /Volumes/G-DRIVE : 4 TB (3 TB free)

 

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

  Mac App Store and identified developers

 

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

  /System/Library/Extensions

  [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecDriverCore (5.1.1) Support

 

  /System/Library/Extensions/Seagate Storage Driver.kext/Contents/PlugIns

  [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_4 (5.1.1) Support

  [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.PowSecLeafDriver_10_5 (5.1.1) Support

  [not loaded] com.seagate.driver.SeagateDriveIcons (5.1.1) Support

 

  /Volumes/My Book/Extras/WD +TURBO Installer.app

  [not loaded] com.wdc.driver.1394HP (1.0.9) Support

  [not loaded] com.wdc.driver.USBHP (1.0.11) Support

 

Launch Agents: ℹ️

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

  [loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support

  [running] com.epson.epw.agent.plist Support

  [running] com.seagate.SeagateStorageGauge.plist Support

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

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

 

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

  [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

  [invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

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

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

 

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

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

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

  [running] com.memeo.Memeod.plist Support

 

User Login Items: ℹ️

  iTunesHelper ApplicationHidden (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

  Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

  Hightail Desktop App Application (/Applications/Hightail Desktop App.app)

  Nero MediaHome 4 Essentials Application (/Applications/Nero MediaHome 4 Essentials.app)

  ConnectService Application (/Library/Application Support/ArcSoft/Connect Service/ConnectService.app)

 

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

  Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.0.11 Support

  FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

  Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

  Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

  JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version

  QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

  SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.4 - SDK 10.6 Support

  Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 Support

  CouponPrinter-FireFox: Version: Version 1.1.5

  Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

  iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

 

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

  AdBlock

 

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

  Flash Player  Support

  Flip4Mac WMV  Support

  Growl  Support

 

Time Machine: ℹ️

  Skip System Files: NO

  Mobile backups: OFF

  Auto backup: YES

  Volumes being backed up:

  My Passport: Disk size: 499.94 GB Disk used: 437.36 GB

  Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 369.34 GB

  Destinations:

  My Book [Local]

  Total size: 2 TB

  Total number of backups: 98

  Oldest backup: 2013-06-09 12:38:10 +0000

  Last backup: 2014-10-11 19:16:31 +0000

  Size of backup disk: Too small

  Backup size 2 TB < (Disk used 806.69 GB X 3)

 

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

      3% WindowServer

      1% backupd

      0% com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64

      0% ConnectService

      0% fontd

 

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

  133 MB QuickBooks 2013

  129 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

  116 MB com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64

  103 MB Safari

  86 MB WindowServer

 

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

  188 MB Free RAM

  1.82 GB Active RAM

  1.63 GB Inactive RAM

  646 MB Wired RAM

  637 MB Page-ins

  0 B Page-outs

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Oct 11, 2014 2:03 PM

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Q: Why Is my Mac 10.9.5 getting so slow

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 11, 2014 2:06 PM in response to Audio Media
    Level 10 (271,169 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2014 2:06 PM in response to Audio Media

    Try installing more RAM.

     

    Things You Can Do To Resolve Slow Downs

     

    If your computer seems to be running slower here are some things you can do:

     

    Start with visits to:     OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney;

                                      The X Lab: The X-FAQs;

                                      The Safe Mac » Mac Performance Guide;

                                      The Safe Mac » The myth of the dirty Mac;

                                      Mac maintenance Quick Assist.

     

    Boot into Safe Mode then repair your hard drive and permissions:

     

    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions Pre-Lion

     

    Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.

     

    Repair the Hard Drive - Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks

     

    Boot to the Recovery HD:

     

    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the Utilites Menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD disk icon and click on the arrow button below.

     

    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.

     

    Restart your computer normally and see if this has helped any. Next do some maintenance:

     

    For situations Disk Utility cannot handle the best third-party utility is Disk Warrior;  DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible.

     

    Note: Alsoft ships DW on a bootable DVD that will startup Macs running Snow Leopard or earlier. It cannot start Macs that came with Lion or later pre-installed, however, DW will work on those models.

     

    Suggestions for OS X Maintenance

     

    OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.  Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger.  These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or later and should not be installed.

     

    OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive.

     

    Under no circumstances should you install so-called maintenance software from MacPaw or ZeoBit (CleanMyMac/CleanMyDrive or Mac Keeper, respectively.) You do not need special software to maintain your computer.

     

    Helpful Links Regarding Malware Protection

     

    If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide and AdwareMedic.

     

    Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.

     

    The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.

     

    Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari

     

    Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.

     

    Quit Safari

     

    Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.

     

    Relaunch Safari

     

    If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.

     

    This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.

     

    An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

    Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

    See these Apple articles:

     

      Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

      OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

      OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

      OS X Mavericks- Protect your Mac from malware

      About file quarantine in OS X

     

    If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.)

     

    From user Joe Bailey comes this equally useful advice:

     

    The facts are:

     

    1. There is no anti-malware software that can detect 100% of the malware out there.

    2. There is no anti-malware that can detect everything targeting the Mac.

    3. The very best way to prevent the most attacks is for you as the user to be aware that

         the most successful malware attacks rely on very sophisticated social engineering

         techniques preying on human avarice, ****, and fear.

    4. Internet popups saying the FBI, NSA, Microsoft, your ISP has detected malware on

        your computer is intended to entice you to install their malware thinking it is a

        protection against malware.

    5. Some of the anti-malware products on the market are worse than the malware

        from which they purport to protect you.

    6. Be cautious where you go on the internet.

    7. Only download anything from sites you know are safe.

    8. Avoid links you receive in email, always be suspicious even if you get something

        you think is from a friend, but you were not expecting.

    9. If there is any question in your mind, then assume it is malware.

     

    Troubleshooting Applications

     

    I recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX, Mavericks Cache Cleaner, or Cocktail that you can use for removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc. Corrupted cache, log, or temporary files can cause application or OS X crashes as well as kernel panics.

     

    If you have Snow Leopard or Leopard, then for similar repairs install the freeware utility Applejack.  If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line.  Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. Applejack does not work with Lion and later.

     

    Basic Backup

     

    For some people Time Machine will be more than adequate. Time Machine is part of OS X. There are two components:

     

    1. A Time Machine preferences panel as part of System Preferences;

    2. A Time Machine application located in the Applications folder. It is

        used to manage backups and to restore backups. Time Machine

        requires a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of the

        drive being backed up.

     

    Alternatively, get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):

     

      1. Carbon Copy Cloner

      2. Get Backup

      3. Deja Vu

      4. SuperDuper!

      5. Synk Pro

      6. Tri-Backup

     

    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. For help with using Time Machine visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

     

    Referenced software can be found at MacUpdate.

     

    Additional Hints

     

    Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity as free space.

     

    Add more RAM. If your computer has less than 2 GBs of RAM and you are using OS X Leopard or later, then you can do with more RAM. Snow Leopard and Lion work much better with 4 GBs of RAM than their system minimums. The more concurrent applications you tend to use the more RAM you should have.

     

    Always maintain at least 15 GBs or 10% of your hard drive's capacity as free space, whichever is greater. OS X is frequently accessing your hard drive, so providing adequate free space will keep things from slowing down.

     

    Check for applications that may be hogging the CPU:

     

    Pre-Mavericks

     

    Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.  Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu.  Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order.  If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar.  Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process.  See if that helps.  Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

     

    Mavericks and later

     

    Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.  Select All Processes from the View menu.  Click on the CPU tab in the toolbar. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order.  If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar.  Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process.  See if that helps.  Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

     

    Often this problem occurs because of a corrupted cache or preferences file or an attempt to write to a corrupted log file.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Oct 11, 2014 4:25 PM in response to Audio Media
    Level 10 (207,983 points)
    Applications
    Oct 11, 2014 4:25 PM in response to Audio Media

    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? What changes did you make, if any, just before it became slow? 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 cbkittydisco,

    cbkittydisco cbkittydisco Jul 17, 2015 10:47 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 10:47 PM in response to Kappy

    WOW KAPPY - THANK YOU.

    That would have taken a LOT of time.

    I am soooo EVERNOTING ALL THOSE GOODIES.

    Maintenance on macs is meant to be minimal.

    Seems there's more effort STOPPING apps hijacking our MacLappies, Kappy!

    Keep rocking yo' mac bits, cheers CB Downunder but UP4 top tech tips2... always.