Thanks. I will work on that list, and consider starting from the ground up if I continue to have issues. Much appreciated sir.

A few random points,

You have a few additional Time Machine exclusions that will probably prevent you restoring a full OS if you ever need to do so. Is there much benefit to excluding /System /sbin /usr etc?

You main HD is 320GB with about 270GB used?

It's not a massive problem, but it looks like a spinning disk HD. These drives will decrease in performance as they get fuller (read & write speed falls as data reaches the center of the disk). Free up more disk space if you feel it is getting slower. Here are some links that show how speed tapers off… (some folks only believe graphs )

http://techreport.com/review/24561/seagate-laptop-thin-sshd-500gb-hybrid-drive-r eviewed/4

http://macperformanceguide.com/Storage-Drive-Toshiba-HGST-3TB.html

Cleanup…

The FanControlDaemon startupitem is dubious

Too many Utilities: (are they even current?)

MacKeeper

AppTamer

Macaroni  <-("have been discontinued and are now free" - How old is this?)

Sophos version 8 (isn't v9 the latest?)

[failed] com.hidden.startup.plist <- Did you know your "Antitheft tracker" is crashing?

com.rim.BBDaemon.plist <- Are you using blackberry devices with this Mac?

Lee Collins wrote:

 

Startup Items:

          FanControlDaemon - Path: /Library/StartupItems/FanControlDaemon

 

Kernel Extensions:

          com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP          (1.0.0)

          com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower          (1.4.4)

          net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio          (1.0.5)

          com.sophos.kext.sav          (8.0.14)

 

Problem System Launch Agents:

          [loaded] com.paragon.NTFS.auth.plist

 

Launch Daemons:

          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

          [loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

          [loaded] com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist

          [loaded] com.atomicbird.macaroni.launchd.plist

          [loaded] com.bjango.istatserver.plist

          [loaded] com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitedaemon.plist

          [loaded] com.ciscosystems.ciscoconnect.daemon.plist

          [loaded] com.fitbit.galileod.plist

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

          [loaded] com.livescribe.PenCommService.plist

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

          [loaded] com.rim.BBDaemon.plist

          [loaded] com.sophos.autoupdate.plist

          [loaded] com.sophos.intercheck.plist

          [loaded] com.sophos.notification.plist

          [loaded] com.stclairsoft.AppTamerAgent.plist

 

Launch Agents:

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

          [loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist

          [loaded] com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitealerts.plist

          [loaded] com.carbonite.launchd.carbonitestatus.plist

          [loaded] com.flipvideo.FlipShare.AutoRun.plist

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

          [failed] com.hidden.startup.plist

          [loaded] com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist

          [loaded] com.seagate.SeagateStorageGauge.plist

          [loaded] com.sierrawireless.SwitchTool.plist

          [loaded] com.sophos.uiserver.plist

 

User Launch Agents:

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

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

          [loaded] com.facebook.videochat.leecollins.plist

          [loaded] com.microsoft.LaunchAgent.SyncServicesAgent.plist

          [loaded] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper.plist

 

User Login Items:

          Jing

          Dropbox

 

3rd Party Preference Panes:

          Adobe Version Cue CS3

          Carbonite

          RCDefaultApp

          Fan Control

          Flash Player

          Flip4Mac WMV

          Java

          Macaroni

          MacFUSE

          Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X

          Perian

 

Internet Plug-ins:

          AdobeAAMDetect.plugin

          AdobePDFViewer.plugin

          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

          AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin.plugin

          Default Browser.plugin

          Flash Player.plugin

          FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

          Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

          GlancePlugIn.plugin

          googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin

          iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

          JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

          npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin

          o1dbrowserplugin.plugin

          OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

          QuickTime Plugin.plugin

          SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

          Silverlight.plugin

          wkDimdimControl.plugin

 

User Internet Plug-ins:

          CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin.plugin

 

 

Red items are loaded at the system level

Blue items are loaded at the user level

Basic Overview

All the usual caveats apply, backup before you modify the system, delete the items (or move them to another disk or folder if you are worried about deleting the wrong thing) but ensure the originals are gone or updated.

Use the Finders "Go menu > Go to Folder…" to open the hidden ~/Library (your users library).

Reboot for the system changes to take effect.

How to find updates:

The critical launchd jobs & kernel extensions use reverse domain notation e.g.

com.logmein.hamachi.plist means look at http://logmein.com for updates (if you don't recognize it removing it may be appropriate)

In short: You want to try to update or remove all the system level items.

Startup Items: Stored in /Library/StartupItems/

Startup Items have been discontinued by Apple since Mac OS 10.4. They are responsible for making changes at a system level. Remove them all or spend time ensuring ALL related software is up to date. You need a very good reason to have anything installed in here. The developers are ignoring Apple guidelines by installing these - not a good sign.

Kernel Extensions: Stored in /Library/Extensions/

Kernel Extensions also load third party code, but they insert it into the 'core' of the OS. These can be safe, however you must ensure the related tools or apps are up to date, otherwise the system is basically built upon quicksand. Remove them all & see if the OS works better.

Launchd jobs: several types

LaunchAgents          - Stored in /Library/LaunchAgents

LaunchDaemons       - Stored in /Library/LaunchDaemons

User LaunchAgents   - Stored in ~/Library/LaunchAgents

These are all background jobs, they are not necessarily bad, but if they are loading old code it could be doing untold damage to the performance & stability of the entire OS. Focus on the System level jobs (the ones inside /Library - the system level) also remove ['failed'] jobs.

EtreCheck gives a status on launchd jobs…

[loaded]                  - a running job

[not loaded]            - jobs that are set not to run, basically harmless, remove them unless you plan to use the associated software (if it is up to date)

[failed]                    - jobs in a crashed or unknown state, it could be forking processes or using all the system resources, remove these.

User login items:

Applications and helpers that are managed inside 'Systems Preferences > Users and groups > Login Items tab'.

These are loaded at the 'User level', consider removing all of them whilst you troubleshoot.  When you decide to re-add them ensure the software is up to date.

3rd Party Preference Panes: & Internet Plug-ins:

/Library/PreferencePanes/ and ~/Library/PreferencePanes/

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ and ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/

Once again these items all must be up to date, or remove them from your system. If the prefpanes manage additional software use the uninstaller or see the developers site for uninstall instructions. You can also right click to remove 3rd party preference panes in System preferences

Read the list of Internet plug-ins carefully, there are often duplicate Flash player versions that won't help stability, it's just wasted space too.

Don't forget to also update Safari's extensions in it's preferences (if you have any).

Re-run EtreCheck after cleaning up to see if items have returned (some apps will reload the background jobs when re-opened, so either update or remove the software).

Hope that isn't too daunting, the OS should be better if there are less old items running at the system level.

Thanks guys. I have significantly cleaned up my system and will see how it has helped tomorrow. There are a few persistent issues that I was not able to remove, noted below.

1. the kernel extensions. I have removed every instance of both these I can find, and yet they remain. Scouring the web I have followed all instructions I can find, including instructions from the websites. no love.

2. the paragon ntfs agent. Removed it every way I could, I even downloaded, installed then uninstalled and it again and it remains. persistent little bugger.

3. I don't need facebook video chat but can't find a way to get it removed.

4. I actually do NOT have any Time Machine exclusions noted in the configuration, so I'm not sure why these are showing up as excluded. See here: http://screencast.com/t/lV4zA3259cM

New report below - note it looks MUCH better. Thanks so much for all the help and for any suggestions for the remaining items. System seems to be running better but I haven't had much time today to really get a gauge on it.

Kernel Extensions:

          com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP          (1.0.0)

          net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio          (1.0.5)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

Problem System Launch Agents:

          [failed] com.paragon.NTFS.auth.plist

Launch Daemons:

          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

          [loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

          [loaded] com.hidden.daemon.plist

          [loaded] com.livescribe.PenCommService.plist

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

Launch Agents:

          [loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist

          [loaded] com.flipvideo.FlipShare.AutoRun.plist

          [loaded] com.seagate.SeagateStorageGauge.plist

User Launch Agents:

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

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

          [loaded] com.facebook.videochat.leecollins.plist

          [loaded] com.microsoft.LaunchAgent.SyncServicesAgent.plist

User Login Items:

          Jing

          Dropbox

3rd Party Preference Panes:

          RCDefaultApp

          Flash Player

          Flip4Mac WMV

          Java

Internet Plug-ins:

          AdobeAAMDetect.plugin

          AdobePDFViewer.plugin

          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

          AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin.plugin

          Default Browser.plugin

          Flash Player.plugin

          FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

          Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin

          GlancePlugIn.plugin

          googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin

          iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

          JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

          npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin

          o1dbrowserplugin.plugin

          OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

          QuickTime Plugin.plugin

          SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

          Silverlight.plugin

          wkDimdimControl.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

          CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin.plugin

Bad Fonts:

          None

Time Machine:

          Skip System Files: NO

          Mobile backups: ON

          Auto backup: YES

          Volumes being backed up:

                    Macintosh HD: Disk size: 319.21 GB Disk used: 268.42 GB

          Destinations:

                    Data [Network] (Last used)

                    Total size: 2 TB

                    Total number of backups: 15

                    Oldest backup: 2013-11-06 04:18:26 +0000

                    Last backup: 2013-11-10 03:02:32 +0000

                    Size of backup disk: Excellent

                              Backup size 2 TB > (Disk size 319.21 GB X 3)

          /sbin excluded from backup!

          /usr excluded from backup!

          /System excluded from backup!

          /bin excluded from backup!

          /private excluded from backup!

          /Library excluded from backup!

          /Applications excluded from backup!

For the kernel extensions, try typing this at terminal:

sudo launchctl unload com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP

Then do the same for TeleStream audio.

Result:

lee-collins-mbp:~ leecollins$ sudo launchctl unload com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP

launchctl: Couldn't stat("com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP"): No such file or directory

nothing found to unload

lee-collins-mbp:~ leecollins$ sudo launchctl unload net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio

launchctl: Couldn't stat("net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio"): No such file or directory

nothing found to unload

lee-collins-mbp:~ leecollins$

That won't work, those are kernel extensions launchctl handles launchd jobs!

darnit, sorry!

I meant 'kextunload'

So sudo kextunload com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP

Result:

lee-collins-mbp:~ leecollins$ sudo kextunload com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP

Can't create com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP.

lee-collins-mbp:~ leecollins$ sudo kextunload net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio

Can't create net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio.

lee-collins-mbp:~ leecollins$

Does kextunload prevent future loading after reboot?

Lee,

You can find the extensions in 2 ways.

A:

Open System information ('Apple menu > about this mac > more info > system report')

Look in Software > Extensions in the sidebar, let it load them all & then dig around for for the kexts SierraVSP and TelestreamAudio. WARNING They may have different names!

Select them & compare to the 'app.identifiers'…

com.sierrawireless.driver.SierraVSP

net.telestream.driver.TelestreamAudio

Then note the Location.

Open that location & rip out those kexts (admin privileges needed)

B:

You can look in /Library/Extensions or /System/Library/Extensions. The trouble is the second directory is belongs to Apple - naughty developers install in there & make a mess of cleaning up. Also the names may not match the EtreCheck output.

Avoid removing anything that you are not certain about (copy to an external to be safe )

The clue to finding the paragon job is …

Problem System Launch Agents:

          [failed] com.paragon.NTFS.auth.plist

System means once again they installed in /System. In this case it will be …

/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.paragon.NTFS.auth.plist

Touch nothing else in there !

User Launch Agents:

          [loaded] com.facebook.videochat.leecollins.plist

User means ~/Library. In this case it will be …

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.facebook.videochat.leecollins.plist

Use the Finders Go menu to open your hidden ~/Library.

Reboot to clear out the loaded jobs etc.

Check your permissions and repair.

Application/Tools folder (in swedish it's called "verktyg" it might have a nother name than tools)

This will make your MAC faster. You can do this often.

If you get a Warning SUID-file just ignore that.

Lasse

Thanks Drew - that took care of items 1, 2 and 3. Still puzzled about the time machine excludes (that aren't really excludes) though. System appears to be running much better although I will know more when I put it through its paces tomorrow. Much appreciated.

Yeah, I'm guessing Apple are being 'helpful' by not informing you about some of the hidden items, doesn't explain /System or /Library.

I'd add /Applications to the exclusions list & then remove & see if it has any effect on the report. It could be EtreCheck is getting the info from somewhere incorrectly.

Also see if there is history for the apps directory.

I'll ponder on that one

Good luck OP - the advice provided to me above seems to have worked amazingly well. I do still have a little cleanup and updating to do but this is the first time since upgrading that I have gone all morning without a single freeze or total lock-up. My system is smooth as butter at the moment. Thanks everyone for giving me back my productivity!