Processes that take 50% or more of processor, spooling up the fans, etc...

Suggest downloading the Application Etrecheck directly from a well Respected ASC Contributor. And Safe to use.

The application is free or paid from added features. 

Run the application with Full Disc Access ( Security & Privacy - Full Disc Access ).

It will take a Snap Shot -  both the hardware and software.

 The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 

Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - using the Additional Text Icon ( 3rd Icon to last )

We can have a look at the report for possible issues and may have possible suggestions to resolve the issues.

Any Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS, alter, modify, remove or delete or attempt to do so is an invitation for disaster and may require a Reinstallation of the OS.

This includes AntiVirus, Disk Cleaners, Disk Optimizes, UnInstaller etc.

This will include CleanMyMac 

This will include BitDefender 

The The Built in Security  is all that is required.

jimchik2 wrote:

Thanks for the quick reply.

A couple of things at first glance, like the Spotlight issue I've already addressed (blocked it from accessing a couple of my drives). This was a good reminder. The unsigned files issue... they're all related to my music production work.

Trimming/cleaning the internal SSHD is a process that I need to do.

The External Drives: I count 6, inc. my Time Machine Drive. One of the 6 can be unmounted and used only as needed.

As for the percentage of used space on the internal SSD, or number of externals attached, how much of this is couched in "old school" solutions, that in the age of SSD's and such don't weigh as much on system performance as they did, say, 5-10 years ago?

Thanks again for the info.

Regardless of the age of the SSD - for the Operating System to function at peek performance - the 15% at minimum is suggested. Otherwise, the CPU will be forever swapping into Ram and Out of Ram and or creating a Swap File to handled the lack of Empty Space. The added workload will degrade performance.

Q - disk0 - APPLE SSD SM1024G 1.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

Q - disk1s1 - Macintosh HD - Data [APFS Virtual drive]

1.00 TB (Shared - 874.74 GB used, 129.70 GB available, 112.33 GB free)

A - Borderline and getting low on Empty Space. It is good practice to alway keep at least 15% of the Total Drive Capacity as Free Space

Q - Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed that could be adware and should be reviewed.

A - To be reviews by the user and actioned where required.

Q - Heavy CPU usage - Some processes are using an unusually high amount of CPU.

A - From what appears in this report - the computer is heavily configured.

Q - Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

A - One has mentioned removed some questionable Applications, So, will not waste your time detailing action plan.

Q - System modifications - There are a large number of system modifications running in the background.

A - Again, heavily configured for purposes required

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

A - Not a normal configuration and needs user review

Q - /Library/LaunchAgents/uk.co.canimaansoftware.ClamXAV.UninstallWatcher.plist

A - Not Required There are no known Windows-like Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS, because of the underling UNIX  Foundation and Permission Limitation. 

A - Running 8 External Drives all at the same time and attached to this computer is going to have its toll on the Spotlight and Indexing all at the same time.

Disk2 - Samsung Portable SSD T5 1.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk2s1 - H***************n (Journaled HFS+) 1.00 TB (952.51 GB used)

disk3 - Samsung Portable SSD T5 1.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk3s1 - H******2 (Journaled HFS+) 1.00 TB (938.20 GB used)

disk4 - LaCie Rugged FW USB3 1.00 TB

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk4s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk4s2 [APFS Container] 1000.00 GB

disk7 [APFS Virtual drive] 1000.00 GB (Shared by 4 volumes)

disk7s1 - T***************e (APFS) (Shared - 106.87 GB used)

disk7s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 20 KB used)

disk7s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 20 KB used)

disk7s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 8.59 GB used)

disk5 - APPLE SD Card Reader 1.02 GB (SD Card)

Internal USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk5s1 - P***1 (MS-DOS (FAT16)) 1.02 GB (952 MB used)

disk6 - ST310005 28AS 1.00 TB

External USB 480 Mbit/s USB

disk6s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk6s2 - S***************p (Journaled HFS+) 999.86 GB (909.77 GB used)

disk8 - Samsung PSSD T7 1.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: No)

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk8s1 - H******3 (Journaled HFS+) 1.00 TB (314.54 GB used)

disk9 - WD Elements 25A3 4.00 TB

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk9s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk9s2 - T********8 (Journaled HFS+) 4.00 TB (3.28 TB used)

disk10 - WD Elements 25A3 8.00 TB

External USB 5 Gbit/s USB

disk10s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk10s2 - S******************************s (Journaled HFS+) 8.00 TB (2.45 TB used)

Welcome and Thank you too.

Do come back to the ASC Forums, in the future, if / or when additional question may arise