Mac working much faster and more reliable on safe mode

The report includes:

[Loaded] com.piriform.ccleaner.CCleanerAgent.plist (Piriform Ltd - installed 2022-02-21)

Cleaning apps can cause problems. I agree with others to backup and then erase your startup drive and reinstall macOS and restore only your User, not apps or system settings.

Reinstall any apps you need.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

If you look right at the top of the report, you will see:

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

System Integrity Protection disabled - System Integrity Protection is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

Automatic updates disabled - Automatic updates are disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

Security updates disabled - Security updates are disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

Apple security disabled - Apple security software is disabled. This computer is at risk of malware infection.

So basically all security has been turned off... why, oh why?????

Please restore the system security, and do not install any third party "antivirus", or "cleaners" - at some point, you seem have installed avira, and subsequently uninstalled it.

See Effective defenses against malware and other threats

You also have a huge number of reported crashes, high cpu usage, and applications hanging.

You do have Chrome and video applications (Premiere Pro) on this system.

It is known that Chrome and, in particular, the "keystone" daemons that it installs, completely hog the system videotoolbox, for no sane reason, and cause any video applications to crash or hang, even lose pieces of functionality. Yes, this seems insane, but see how and why this happens, and how to uninstall: https://chromeisbad.com

I strongly recommend that you make full backups, and do an erase and install, followed by migrating ONLY the user accounts.

Since you are running in Monterey, you can restore a clean system without reformatting or anything.

See: Erase all content and settings on Mac - Apple Support

SimonSlo wrote:

OK, I will definitely try a full format... but I feel it can be also some software compatibility issue... does anyone see any possible issue in the Etre report?

Your EtreCheck report is showing great performance. If you are experiencing less than that, and crashing, then the cause is almost certainly a software incompatibility. Normally Safe Mode runs much more slowly than normal.

I agree that a full erase and reinstall would be the best approach. However, I don't recommend restoring from backup. That could put you right back in the same place. You have to identify what was causing the problem. Make sure to save your EtreCheck report. Generally speaking, if you are having a problem, and that problem is software, then it is going to be listed on your EtreCheck report. It may not be identified with "HERE! This is the problem" but it will be one of the things listed. If not, then it is a hardware problem. But since your machine works good in Safe Mode, then it probably isn't a hardware problem.

And don't disable SIP. Keep security updates enabled. Only reinstall the software that you absolutely require. And make sure you know how to uninstall it, if necessary.

With such a mess I'd backup, erase the volumes as APFS GUID (or maybe the whole SSD device (if that is still OK in M1 Macs?)), and do a clean install from a bootable flash drive. Then run it for a few days with no extra installs or peripherals. Then reinstall user data files and re-install apps one-by-one and again run it for a few days in between. Do not install any cleaners, virus apps etc. Install some other browser than Chrome (Firefox, for example).

According to that last EtreCheck report, the cause was Google Drive. That is a low-level system modification app that is deeply embedded in the file system. When it crashes repeatedly like that, it could easily lock up the file system and cause the problems you describe.

To be honest, these kinds of low-level system modifications are literally what built this site. They are definitely what would be framed in an "our founder" picture hanging on the wall of the EtreCheck board room.

That's basically what safe mode is made to do. A solution that you should try is to completely format the machine's storage device then do command+r on boot up to restore it back to Monterey or Big Sur. If this issue still persists I recommend going to an Apple Authorized Service center to have the device checked out. Hope this helps!

There are two sides to this security thing:

1) In System Preferences->Software Update->Advanced...

CHECK Install system data files and security updates

2) Restore SIP. This has to be done while booted in recovery: launch Terminal and type

csrutil enable

then restart normally.

A couple of weeks? I would say about half of an afternoon to get everything back at speed...

If you are not ready to do this (which, by the way, I can understand), you could do the install on an external SSD. This would let you still use your internal before you commit to a clean install.

+1