What would cause usb ports to slow down?

Try a PRAM reset (hold the PRAM reset for at least three chimes).

Try the USB sticks while booted into Safe Mode.

Your laptop only has USB2 ports. It was the 2012 MBPro which first received USB3 ports. Maybe your USB hub has a problem or a compatibility issue with the Mac or the USB sticks so try connecting the USB sticks directly to the laptop if you haven't already done so yet.

Writing to USB sticks can be painful, but reading from them should not be as painful. Macs can sometimes be very particular about the USB sticks used.

You should definitely uninstall CMM by following the developer's instructions. These forums are filled with people whose computers were not working correctly due to having CMM installed. Maybe a recent update to the app has caused this issue.

To look for other potential software issues you can also run EtreCheck and post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

Good catch! I was going to suggest you remove those items, but I don't see any actual drivers installed. It appears those cleaning apps may have removed them already and left behind the System Preference Panes. Have you checked the System Preferences to see if their respective Preference Pane has an uninstall option? If there are no uninstall options in System Preferences, then check your Applications folder for any third party apps from Seagate, Western Digitial, etc. and if any exist follow the manufacturer's instructions to uninstall them.

I see that the Paragon driver is also associated with FaceBook.

from the EtreCheck report:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paragon-software.facebook.agent.plist

       Executable: /Library/Application Support/Paragon Software/Paragon Software Facebook Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/Paragon Software Facebook Agent

If there is no uninstall option for this item, then boot into Safe Mode and click on the Finder's "Go" menu and type "/Library". Then in the Finder window which opens navigate to the "LaunchAgents" folder and manually delete the file:

com.paragon-software.facebook.agent.plist

Then navigate back to the previous "Library" folder and go to the "Application Support" folder where you will manually delete the "Paragon Software" folder and all its contents.

Since the EtreCheck report doesn't show any actual NTFS/FUSE drivers as being installed you can manually remove those items/icons (FUSE, MacFUSE, NTFS-3G) from your System Preference Pane. Open the System Preferences and see if you are able to Control-click the respective items and choose "Remove". Otherwise you will need to Option-click on the Finder's "Go" menu and select "Library" (the home user Library folder is hidden except when the Option key is held down and this folder is different from the previously mentioned Library folder). Navigate to the "PreferencePanes" folder and delete the respective items.

If you no longer use a BlackBerry, then you should consider uninstalling the BlackBerry software as well.

If this doesn't help, then try erasing the USB sticks on this Mac. I've seen issues where a USB stick made on another computer may not work well on a Mac (even if it was erased on another Mac). Make sure to erase the USB sticks as one of the following:

• GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled)
• MBR partition and FAT
• MBR partition and exFAT

If you still have problems, then remember try reading the USB sticks while booted to Safe Mode as well.

Performing a clean install of macOS without migrating or restoring from a backup is the best & quickest way to find out if the issue is hardware or software related.

You can create a bootable macOS 10.11 El Capitan USB installer using these instructions:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

I never connect any drives or USB sticks to a USB Keyboard port as it is very unreliable.

The multiple seemingly identical folders is common on *nix operating systems with the root Library containing third party items and the home user Library containing user specific items. As for the Adobe items if you don't want them, then uninstall the respective Adobe software according to Adobe's instructions, otherwise I have no clue since I don't have any Adobe products on my system. I'm also not that knowledgeable about Mac software.

Have you checked to make sure the laptop's USB ports are clean?

Do you have any third party apps that could be scanning the files as they are being transferred. Macs do not need any anti-virus or cleaning apps, they can impede the performance of your mac whilst also contributing nothing in practicality.

Perhaps your HD is beginning to fail, try Drive DX it has a fifteen day free trial.

https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx