Mac is running extremely slowly

Uninstall CleanMyMac as per the developer's instructions. No Anti-Virus software or so-called “cleaning” apps are needed or recommended for Mac OS. They can conflict with Mac's own built-in security. At best they will slow your Mac by using unnecessary resources and at worst will bork your entire system. Your Mac has all the built-in protection you need. CMM is known to over-aggressively clean important system files.

https://www.apple.com/macos/security/

After that, please download and run Etrecheck.

It is a diagnostic tool that's very useful to us in finding problems. Also it will give us further specs on your Mac. After it runs post the log file here. It will contain no personal information. Allowing full drive access will improve the quality of the report.

To post the log file click on share report and use the Additional Text icon in your reply window.

1) Please provide the already requested EtreCheck output.

2) Unless you have upgraded your disk to an SSD, there is a very good change, based on the age of your Mac, that you rotating disk is starting to fail. When this happens, the on-board disk controller starts doing lots of retries, and since it can only retry once per rotation, it can take a while until it gives up, and if the next read needs lots of retries, that take awhile, Eventually these retires add up to a slow system.

I'm not saying you have a failing disk, just that it is a good chance.

3) Taking CleanMyMac at its word, running out of Virtual Memory would imply you have an app running that has a memory leak. That is to say, it asks macOS for some more memory. macOS allocates some virtual address space for the app, then gives it a pointer to that virtual address space, and as the app access that address space macOS put real memory under it. The app uses the memory and then forgets to give the memory back. It then asks for some more memory. This repeats until the operating system is maintaining a very large virtual memory addressing map and if it starts to add more it will be using more real memory to keep track of the apps virtual address space using, then it has room to actually keep any apps in memory.

The app could be a very badly written kernel extension, it could be a LaunchAgent, it could be a LaunchDaemon, it could be a web browser plug-in, it could be a webpage running Javascript.

So you do not need to be running much at all to have this situation happen to you.

Then again, it is possible that CleanMyMac and I are not talking the same language. I learned about Virtual Memory back in 1975 when I wrote a hardware diagnostic for a Virtual Memory implementation on a 16-bit mini-computer. If CleanMyMac and I are not talking the same language, then I do not know where they came up with their ideas 😀

How much free space is on the Hard drive 1st off, & then, have you emptied the Trash lately?

Zeobit, Macpaw, Advanced Mac Cleaner, are all similar applications that you will need to find with FindAnyFile or Devon Technologies EasyFind if issues persist, and remove those files while in safe mode. Shift key boot the Mac to get into safe mode.

Go to the Finder

Click on it once there so a Finder window appears. Pick Downloads from the Go menu:

Then in Downloads double click EtrecheckPro.zip

Then double click EtrecheckPro.App

Scroll through the agreement:

Using the right scroll bar so you can agree to their terms.

You don't need updates when it asks for them.

Allow access to anything it asks for. To share the document, click on Copy report from the square icon in the top of the report.

Then you will need to use the Edit menu to Paste text in the field Macjack recommends adding the text body.

use http://www.pastebin.com to copy paste the results of the report into the form here.

I think the R&W speeds are due to so little RAM & it having to page things in & out.

From your Finder menu > Go > Go to Folder and copy and paste this file path:

/Library/Launch Daemons

Find and delete: CleanMyMac4.Agent.plist

But I'm not sure this is the source of your problem. I would suspect the hard drive may be failing as your Read/Write speeds are very low. You are also running a minimum of RAM which compounds the problem.

"[Loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac4.Agent.plist (? 0 - installed )"

Remove all Macpaw files while in safe mode. To remove files such as that, download Devon Technologies EasyFind

and run the .app after double clicking its .zip file by rebooting the Mac holding the shift key using the Apple menu to restart.

OK, good luck & stay safe Maureen. :)

Hi a brody, sorry I don't use Pastebin and don't know how it works. I use the Additional Text icon to paste the Etrecheck report:

To post the log file click on share report and use the Additional Text icon in your reply window.

Macjack, I am not going to be anywhere to help Maureen for the next 10 hours. Please a visual guide to Pastebin.