For everyone who has upgraded & is having issues try EtreCheck…
http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck
It was created for this very situation. It will generate a system report that may highlight what is happening with your system.
Post the report here for feedback or read this page for info on what the report sections mean…
http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck_story
Mavericks has major stability issues with older code, specifically…
Startup Items:
Inside /Library/StartupItems/
These have been discontinued by Apple since Mac OS 10.4, but still people have them installed! 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.
Kernel Extensions:
Inside /Library/Extensions/
These 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) & '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/
~/ is your home folder, use the Finders 'Go menu > Go to Folder…' to open the hidden ~/Library folder.
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.
Read the list of plug-ins carefully, there are often duplicate Flash player versions that won't help stability, it's just wasted space too.
Top Processes by Memory:
Top Processes by CPU:
'Memory & CPU hogs' will be shown here - if it is using a huge amount of RAM or CPU, check it is up to date.
Virtual Memory Statistics
How much memory is being used for applications & services on the computer.
The critical items to look at are:
page-ins - writing files from disk to memory (this is completely normal)
page-outs - writing memory to disk. This is a slow process, it's a sign your machine has run out of RAM.
Have a known good backup before you modify the system, reboot after removing anything that loads as the system, basically anything inside /Library. You can move the files in question to another disk or folder if you want to be extra careful, just make sure the original files don't still exist.
I hope that helps someone here. Post the report for assistance, but try the above first.
