clean up mac

There is nothing you need to clean your Mac. All that those programs will do is damage your Mac further.

You have something installed that is causing your problems.

Etresoft, one of the users here, created a program to help in this area, http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck.

Run it and post the results. We might be able to help weed out the problems.

Agree with Barney, your Mac is basically self-maintaining. Third party utilities that promise to clean your Mac cause more harm than good. Follow Barney's good advice and find out exactly what's causing the slowdown, then fix it.

Hi Barney,

So I've done what you suggested as my mac is definitely slower than it used to be. I've recently upgraded from OS X to Mavericks and now to Yosemite. I figure its just something because Mavericks & Yosemite are for faster machines. Mine is a little older being that it was purchased early 2011.

I ran the etre check as suggested but have no idea what it all means

Problem description:

Mac running slower ever since upgraded to mavericks (now yosemite)

EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)

Report generated 7 November 2014 10:46:09 pm AWST

Hardware Information: ℹ️

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

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1

1 2.3 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

Video Information: ℹ️

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.10 (14A389) - Uptime: 1:2:52

Disk Information: ℹ️

Hitachi HTS545032B9A302 disk0 : (320.07 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

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

Macintosh HD (disk1) / [Startup]: 318.84 GB (107.24 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk0s2 319.21 GB Online

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5970H

USB Information: ℹ️

Fitbit Inc. Fitbit Base Station

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Configuration files: ℹ️

/etc/hosts - Count: 60

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Library/Application Support/Hotspot Shield

[not loaded] com.anchorfree.tun (1.1.1 - SDK 10.8) Support

/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.techsmith.TACC (1.0.2 - SDK 10.8) Support

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist Support

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[running] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[loaded] com.anchorfree.ajaxserver.plist Support

[running] com.fitbit.galileod.plist Support

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist Support

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

[loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist Support

User Login Items: ℹ️

iTunesHelper UNKNOWNHidden (missing value)

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

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.5.0 - SDK 10.8 Support

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.12 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.189 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.189 - SDK 10.6 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.5.0 - SDK 10.8 Support

NP_2020Player_IKEA: Version: 5.0.94.1 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.12 Support

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.5 - SDK 10.6 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 15.0.0 - SDK 10.10 Check version

User Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 Support

Picasa: Version: 1.0 Support

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Flash Player Support

Growl Support

Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X Support

Time Machine: ℹ️

Mobile backups: ON

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 318.84 GB Disk used: 211.60 GB

Destinations:

Time Machine Backups [Local]

Total size: 749.78 GB

Total number of backups: 8

Oldest backup: 2014-05-25 11:02:16 +0000

Last backup: 2014-09-07 07:34:45 +0000

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 749.78 GB > (Disk used 211.60 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

6% WindowServer

0% AppleSpell

0% fontd

0% Fitbit Connect Menubar Helper

0% askpermissiond

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

202 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

116 MB Finder

69 MB Safari

60 MB WindowServer

47 MB mds_stores

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

1.26 GB Free RAM

1.57 GB Active RAM

323 MB Inactive RAM

1.14 GB Wired RAM

1.15 GB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is marked solved, less people are likely to look at it. You can link to this one. Post in the Yosemite forum.

I don't see any of the normal trouble makers. More RAM would help.

The 2 places I’ve seen recommended most to buy reliable RAM are below. I have purchased RAM several times from Other World Computing and have always been very satisfied with the product and service. They have on-line instructions on how to replace the RAM. OWC has also tested RAM above what Apple states is the maximum. I now have 6GB installed on a machine supposedly limited to 4 GB.

Crucial

Other World Computing