Q: Why is the new Photos app so slow on my Mac?

Since they are being reported as startup items, to remove them try http://www.computerworld.com/article/2868812/os-x-yosemite-how-to-take-charge-of -mac-startups.html

Thanks again for your advice Allan. I've tried going to Login items, but it's not there. I have searched for the file and folders in finder with no joy either. I don't have any m-audio stuff on my mac now...odd. 

Startup Items: (What does this mean?)

    M-Audio Firmware Loader: Path: /Library/StartupItems/M-Audio Firmware Loader

    MAudioAudiophileUSB: Path: /Library/StartupItems/MAudioAudiophileUSB

    Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

You should update this software or get rid of it. 

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [loaded]    com.f-secure.sync.BTCloud.plist [Click for support]

There's no need for any antivirus software.  Uninstall f-secure according to the developer's instructions. The same goes for the Pace software.  It's not needed.  See this post by Linc Davis:

Linc DavisMar 21, 2011 5:46 PM
Re: PACE error messagein response to offtheroad88

What you have is PACE Interlok, a copy-protection rootkit included with some commercial software. It's utterly hostile to your interests and serves no purpose except to keep you from exercising your fair-use rights. It gives a total stranger, the application developer, the same control over your data that you have yourself. It will destabilize your whole system and may intentionally cause a crash if it suspects you're doing something the developer wouldn't like. Not enough can be said against it.

If you recall the scandal a few years ago over the Windows DRM rootkit that Sony put on some music discs masquerading as CD's, PACE is similar to that.

What I would do in your place is contact the developer for instructions on how to remove it along with the rest of his garbage product, which of course is coded not to work unless the rootkit is installed. If he doesn't respond to your request, you'll just have to do your own research to find out where the PACE files are and remove them yourself.

In the future when tacking on to a multi page topic I suggest you crate your own topic as it's easier to know what's been suggested rather than have to go thru multiple pages to see what relates to your problem and what doesn't.

Hi Old Toad,

I'm also having trouble opening Photos which is what brought me to this discussion thread but after seeing my EtreCheck report I suspect I might have other problems (based on your recommendations for other people). I'll post here since Photos is what prompted my inquiry. I had not been having any problems with it until I tried to open it today -- it is opening and acting as if I had never used the app before, which I have (to my knowledge, the software was not updated between the last time I used it (yesterday) and today. Your help is much appreciated!

Problem description:

Photos is taking a long time to open (several hours — I forced quit an tried to reopen it again to no avail).

EtreCheck version: 2.4.2 (142)

Report generated 9/12/15, 7:18 PM

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

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

    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

    1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

    4 GB RAM Upgradeable

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM0

            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

    Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 387 - SN = 9G13705PZD3MA

Video Information: (What does this mean?)

    Intel HD Graphics 3000

        Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: (What does this mean?)

    OS X 10.10.5 (14F27) - Time since boot: about 2 days

Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

    TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

        Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 498.88 GB (226.05 GB free)

            Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

            Core Storage: disk0s2 499.25 GB Online

    MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8   ()

USB Information: (What does this mean?)

    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: (What does this mean?)

    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

    Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

        /Library/Extensions/HuaweiDataCardDriver_10_9.kext/Contents/PlugIns

    [not loaded]    com.MBB.driver.MBBACMData (5.01.03 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

    [not loaded]    com.MBB.driver.MBBActivateDriver (5.01.03 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

    [not loaded]    com.MBB.driver.MBBEthernetData (5.01.03 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]

Startup Items: (What does this mean?)

    HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

    Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

Problem System Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [killed]    com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.CallHistorySyncHelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.EscrowSecurityAlert.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.sbd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist

    6 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Problem System Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

    [killed]    com.apple.AssetCacheLocatorService.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.awdd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.ctkd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.emond.aslmanager.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.installd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.nehelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.periodic-daily.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.periodic-weekly.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.softwareupdate_download_service.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.wdhelper.plist

    10 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.rosettastone.rosettastonedaemon.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    HWPortCfg.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    ouc.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

    [running]    com.adobe.adobeupdatedaemon.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.fitbit.galileod.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

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

    [failed]    com.leadertech.PowerRegister.EPS2.fa8d34509cfddcea6fdfd2f145193825.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

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

Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

    o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

    AdobeAAMDetect: Version: 3.0.0.0 - SDK 10.9 [Click for support]

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.12 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30317.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Flash Player: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

    googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.41.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.5.4 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.12 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.0.4.0 Release - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 15.0.0 - SDK 10.10 Check version

User internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

    CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 [Click for support]

3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

    Flash Player  [Click for support]

    GoPro  [Click for support]

Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

    Skip System Files: NO

    Mobile backups: ON

    Auto backup: YES

    Volumes being backed up:

        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 498.88 GB Disk used: 272.83 GB

    Destinations:

        Padgitt Capsule [Network]

        Total size: 2.00 TB

        Total number of backups: 110

        Oldest backup: 2013-05-02 01:00:05 +0000

        Last backup: 2015-09-12 10:50:02 +0000

        Size of backup disk: Excellent

            Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 498.88 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

        12%    WindowServer

         7%    Google Chrome Helper(8)

         2%    Photos

         2%    Mail

         0%    fontd

Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

    770 MB    Google Chrome Helper(8)

    514 MB    kernel_task

    143 MB    Google Chrome

    115 MB    mdworker(9)

    94 MB    Mail

Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

    17 MB    Free RAM

    3.98 GB    Used RAM (646 MB Cached)

    56 MB    Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

    Sep 12, 2015, 02:43:22 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/AdobeReader_2015-09-12-144322_[redacted].crash

    Sep 10, 2015, 06:02:34 PM    Self test - passed

    Sep 10, 2015, 05:28:10 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/findNames_2015-09-10-172810_[redacted].crash

    Sep 10, 2015, 05:15:43 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Mail_2015-09-10-171543_[redacted].crash

    Sep 10, 2015, 08:07:04 AM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/LiveUpd_2015-09-10-080704_[redacted].crash

    Sep 10, 2015, 07:59:19 AM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Network Setup Assistant_2015-09-10-075919_[redacted].crash

    Sep 10, 2015, 07:52:15 AM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/LiveUpd_2015-09-10-075215_[redacted].crash

    Sep 9, 2015, 08:28:42 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/LiveUpd_2015-09-09-202842_[redacted].crash

    Sep 9, 2015, 08:14:13 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/LiveUpd_2015-09-09-201413_[redacted].crash

    Sep 9, 2015, 07:58:35 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/LiveUpd_2015-09-09-195835_[redacted].crash

    Sep 9, 2015, 07:56:06 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/LiveUpd_2015-09-09-195606_[redacted].crash

iPhoto was not deleted from your hard drive, only removed from the Dock.  If you have iPhoto 9.6.1 you can still use your iPhoto library.

If you don't have that version but some earlier version of 9.x try following Terence Devlin's instructions in this post to obtain iPhoto 9.6.1 from the App Store:

Terence Devlin

Apr 14, 2015 11:21 AM

Re: Is Iphoto gone ? i want it back!

in response to Johannes666

Recommended

 

Go to the App Store and check out the Purchases List. If iPhoto is there then it will be v9.6.1

 

If it is there, then drag your existing iPhoto app (not the library, just the app) to the trash.

 

Install the App from the App Store.

 

Sometimes iPhoto is not visible on the Purchases List. it may be hidden. See this article for details on how to unhide it.

 

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4928

 

One question often asked: Will I lose my Photos if I reinstall?

 

iPhoto the application and the iPhoto Library are two different parts of the iPhoto programme. So, reinstalling the app should not affect the Library. BUT you should always have a back up before doing this kind of work. Always.

Old Toad, having same problem on my MAC,  I ran the Etrecheck on my system as you suggested and would appreciate it if you could help me decipher the results. Thanks in advance!

Problem description:

Compuer running slow and freezes. Apple photo very slow

EtreCheck version: 2.4.2 (142)

Report generated 9/17/15, 11:08 AM

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

    iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) (Technical Specifications)

    iMac - model: iMac10,1

    1 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

    4 GB RAM Upgradeable

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            Empty  

        BANK 1/DIMM0

            Empty  

        BANK 0/DIMM1

            2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM1

            2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: (What does this mean?)

    NVIDIA GeForce 9400 - VRAM: 256 MB

        iMac 1920 x 1080

System Software: (What does this mean?)

    OS X 10.10.5 (14F27) - Time since boot: about one day

Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

    WDC WD5000AAKS-40V2B0 disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (57.90 GB free) - 12 errors

Drive failure!

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

    OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H   ()

USB Information: (What does this mean?)

    Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

    Seagate Backup+ Desk Mac 2 TB

        EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        Time Machine Backup (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine Backup : 2.00 TB (1.32 TB free)

    Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

    Fitbit Inc. Fitbit Base Station

    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

    Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Configuration files: (What does this mean?)

    /etc/sysctl.conf - File exists but not expected

Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

    Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

        /System/Library/Extensions

    [not loaded]    com.leapfrog.codeless.kext (2) [Click for support]

    [not loaded]    com.leapfrog.driver.LfConnectDriver (1.9.6 - SDK 10.7) [Click for support]

    [not loaded]    com.philips.iokit.DLconnect (85 - SDK 10.4) [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.97) [Click for support]

Problem System Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [killed]    com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.CallHistorySyncHelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.cmfsyncagent.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist

    5 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Problem System Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

    [killed]    com.apple.ctkd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.ifdreader.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.nehelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.wdhelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.xpc.smd.plist

    5 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.hp.help.tocgenerator.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.newwellnesssolutions.DLconnectMonitor.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

    [loaded]    com.adobe.agsservice.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.crashplan.engine.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.fitbit.galileod.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

    [failed]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

    CrashPlan menu bar    Application  (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

    Fitbit Connect Menubar Helper    Application  (/Applications/Fitbit Connect.app/Contents/MacOS/Fitbit Connect Menubar Helper.app)

    HPEventHandler    UNKNOWN  (missing value)

    HP Scheduler    Application  (/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/Software Update/HP Scheduler.app)

Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

    OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 [Click for support]

    NP_2020Player_WEB: Version: 5.0.94.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Silverlight: Version: 4.0.60531.0 [Click for support]

    Flash Player: Version: 18.0.0.232 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.5.4 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.0.3.0 Release - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 60 build 27 Check version

User internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.0 [Click for support]

3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

    Flash Player  [Click for support]

    Java  [Click for support]

Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

    Skip System Files: NO

    Mobile backups: OFF

    Auto backup: YES

    Volumes being backed up:

        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 441.35 GB

    Destinations:

        Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local]

        Total size: 2.00 TB

        Total number of backups: 116

        Oldest backup: 2014-01-02 23:45:46 +0000

        Last backup: 2015-09-17 14:21:24 +0000

        Size of backup disk: Excellent

            Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 499.25 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

         5%    WindowServer

         3%    mdworker(7)

         1%    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

         1%    Fitbit Connect Menubar Helper(2)

         1%    com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64

Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

    534 MB    kernel_task

    143 MB    Finder(2)

    102 MB    Safari(2)

    86 MB    CrashPlanService

    78 MB    mdworker(7)

Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

    51 MB    Free RAM

    3.95 GB    Used RAM (742 MB Cached)

    538 MB    Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

    Sep 17, 2015, 03:00:26 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/galileod_2015-09-17-030026_[redacted].crash

    Sep 16, 2015, 03:00:24 PM    Self test - passed

    Sep 16, 2015, 02:56:17 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/PDApp_2015-09-16-145617_[redacted].crash

    Sep 16, 2015, 02:56:01 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/PDApp_2015-09-16-145601_[redacted].crash

    Sep 15, 2015, 01:52:06 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/galileod_2015-09-15-135206_[redacted].crash

    Sep 14, 2015, 11:37:41 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/galileod_2015-09-14-233741_[redacted].crash

Your hard drive is dying an d needs to be replaced.

You should probably consider increasing the amount of RAM in your Mac.

It appears your FitBit software is having problems. You might want to uninstall and reinstall FitBit.

     /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/galileod_2015-09-17-030026_[redacted].crash

Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

    WDC WD5000AAKS-40V2B0 disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (57.90 GB free) - 12 errors

Drive failure!

This pretty much says it all.  The first thing you should do is make a backup of your boot drive.  Don't rely on CrashPlan to successfully backup and restore any iPhoto or Photo libraries.  It just can't do that.  Make sure you have Time Machine do one more successful backup.  Then get an appointment at the nearest Genius bar for a free diagnostic.

You can also try the following:  boot into the Recovery volume (boot with the Command + R keys held down), select Disk Utility and repair the disk permissions and the disk.  If you get any notification that errors were fixed rerun the Disk Repair until there's no notification of repairs being made.  Reboot normally and rerun Etrecheck to see what it says about the HD. 

This should not stop you from having Apple do a thorough diagnostic test to positively determine if the drive is failing or not.

Thanks Allan appreciate you looking at this.

Toad, thanks. It was pretty self explanatory. I just wanted to see (hoping) if I was missing something. Appreciate the advice

I've seen repairing the disk from the Recovery volume get rid of those errors but it doesn't mean there can't be a problem with the drive.  So it's best to get a diagnostic check as soon as you can.

Alan just beat me to it.  You should start your own topic, state your problem specifics, your system and app versions used, etc.  State what fixes you've already tried, where you library is located, its size and any other info about your setup or problem. With a topic this long it makes it difficult to know what one has offered previously and what responses to those suggestions are. 

Hi Old Toad. I too am having slow-Mac problems, which I'm pretty sure are originating from Photos. I was also having slow-Mac problems with iPhotos, so I did a clean-install of Yosemite, which helped a lot, and started rebuilding my photo library from scratch in Photos -- i.e. importing photos individually -- but suddenly lately the system is slowing down. Even when Photos isn't running, there's a burbling in the background, as if a process were running, and when I use Activity Monitor I see that "com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService" is sucking up a lot of CPU time. When I force-quite the process, it comes right back on. Anyway, here's my EtreCheck report. Clearly, low RAM is a problem, but the slowdown is very recent, so something else must be going on. Thanks for your help ...

Problem description:

slow computer

EtreCheck version: 2.4.2 (142)

Report generated 9/17/15, 11:38 PM

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

    iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications)

    iMac - model: iMac11,3

    1 2.8 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

    4 GB RAM Upgradeable

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM0

            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        BANK 0/DIMM1

            Empty  

        BANK 1/DIMM1

            Empty  

    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: (What does this mean?)

    ATI Radeon HD 5750 - VRAM: 1024 MB

        iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: (What does this mean?)

    OS X 10.10.3 (14D131) - Time since boot: about 10 days

Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

    WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

        Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 999.01 GB (494.83 GB free)

            Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

            Core Storage: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online

    OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H disk5 : (275.6 MB) ()

        disk5s1 (disk5s1) <not mounted> : 240 MB

        disk5s1s1 (disk5s1s1) <not mounted> : 32 KB

        Vermont 2015 (disk5s1s2) /Volumes/Vermont 2015 : 239 MB (0 B free)

USB Information: (What does this mean?)

    Apple Inc. iPhone

    Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

    Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

    Mattel Inc. Intel Play QX3 Microscope

    Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

    Mac App Store and identified developers

Problem System Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [killed]    com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.bird.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.CallHistorySyncHelper.plist

    [failed]    com.apple.cloudphotosd.plist [Click for details]

    [killed]    com.apple.cmfsyncagent.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.EscrowSecurityAlert.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.gamed.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.Maps.pushdaemon.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.printtool.agent.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.SafariCloudHistoryPushAgent.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.security.cloudkeychainproxy.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.telephonyutilities.callservicesd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.warmd_agent.plist

    14 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Problem System Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

    [killed]    com.apple.AssetCacheLocatorService.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.awdd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.ctkd.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.emond.aslmanager.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.ifdreader.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.nehelper.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.nsurlsessiond.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.periodic-daily.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.periodic-monthly.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.periodic-weekly.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.softwareupdate_download_service.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.tccd.system.plist

    [killed]    com.apple.wdhelper.plist

    14 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

    [unknown]    com.crashplan.engine.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.ea.origin.ESHelper.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

    [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

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

    Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

    Fantastical    Application  (/Applications/Fantastical.app)

    Google Photos Backup    Application  (/Applications/Google Photos Backup.app)

    CrashPlan menu bar    Application  (/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

    EvernoteHelper    Application  (/Applications/Evernote.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/EvernoteHelper.app)

    Photos2.sparseimage    Sparse Disk Image  (/Users/Shared/Photos2.sparseimage)

    Photos.sparseimage    Sparse Disk Image  (~/Photos.sparseimage)

Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 51 Check version

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.38 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

    Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.38 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.7 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 5.0.1f1 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

User internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

    Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Dashlane: Version: Dashlane 1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

Safari Extensions: (What does this mean?)

    Dashlane

3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

    Flash Player  [Click for support]

    Java  [Click for support]

Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

    Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

       318%    com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService

         8%    WindowServer

         2%    cloudphotosd

         2%    Google Chrome

         1%    Google Chrome Helper(15)

Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

    1.10 GB    Google Chrome Helper(15)

    567 MB    kernel_task

    168 MB    Google Chrome

    106 MB    com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService

    102 MB    Finder

Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

    192 MB    Free RAM

    3.81 GB    Used RAM (627 MB Cached)

    276 MB    Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

    Sep 17, 2015, 11:31:13 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/cloudd_2015-09-17-233113_[redacted].crash

    Sep 17, 2015, 11:00:48 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Photos_2015-09-17-230048_[redacted].hang

    Sep 17, 2015, 07:20:27 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/EvernoteHelper_2015-09-17-192027_[redacted].cra sh

It appears 4 GB of RAM is not sufficient for Photos and Chrome. You might want to consider increasing it.

Until you do that you might want to consider as a work around to stop using Chrome and reboot daily.

Thanks, Allan. I've ordered the full 16GB of RAM, that should help. The image-conversion process seems to be the major hurdle; my setup was working okay until I turned on iCloud Library, now the image-conversion just toils away in the background -- no idea if it's simply moving slowly, or whether it's just grinding its wheels and doing nothing. I turned off the iCloud Library temporarily, that solved the problem, but I'll need to turn it back on eventually ...