Maverick eats up ALL Ram installed and knocks out the system

The virtualbox modules are "running" all the time (four kernel extensions are loaded all the time, after you have used Virtualbox the Launch agent and the launchdeamon stay loaded also).

But although I do not like apps that load kernel extensions, I think it is only GPGPreferences that causes the trouble (it is not fully Mavericks compatible, it is also not software that you need.

In the GPG applet in SystemPreferences may be an uninstaller. If not download the uninstaller:

https://releases.gpgtools.org/nightlies/GPG%20Suite-latest.dmg

If you do not succeed, we will uninstall it manually.

Lex

Suspicious means they are startup agents that can affect system library calls. Disable them and see.

If you maintain that nothign causes problems, you wont find a cure!

Grant

I hesitate executing code from a stranger

So you should. You should hesitate a lot longer before running a compiled application such as "etrecheck," which (unlike a shell script) you have no way of verifying. I have no reason to think that "etrecheck" is harmful, but the practice of running an application that some stranger on a message board tells you to as a condition of helping you is very dangerous.

You are now getting what I call the "etrecheck effect," which is more or less random, time-wasting advice that has no chance of solving your problem. Enjoy.

I dont believe you need to uninstll to test. Just go to the activity monitor and kill processes one by one.

Just like you do for a runaway process (whcih it may be)

Grant

GPG is not (yet) compatible with Mavericks!

And why don't you provide Linc the answers he asks? He digs deeper than we to find out what is happening.

As for Etrecheck, yes it has been tested but there is no certificate with it 👿.

It is by a long way not as specific as the tests Linc asks, but it is a simple approach to see what are the mac specifics, and what is running.

Lex

Your script should be collecting data I guess?

Please do not run that script, or any other script, unless you have personally verified that it's safe. Do not trust strangers on a public message board.

You'd have to evaluate the commands themselves to be sure.

But you also might consider that Lync Davis has 95,900 points, whcih can only be accumulated by people he helped giving him credit 5 or 10 points at a time. Or searching here nad seeing how many have run it.

That said, i've suggested several tiems that you simpyl kill a fw of the processes that have been questioned, and see if the problem is reduced or alleviated. This, whil ento as comprehensive, is fully safe. And, its nto speculationn - its an actual test.

You keep asking how a clean install could misbehave. Its not a pure clean install, its a clean install that you ahve added stuff to that may or may not be interfering. At least one poster noted a known incompatability. Did you test that at least?

Grant

how could I verify that it's safe to do so?

I answered that question in my first comment. If you don't know how to verify that the script is safe, then you can't trust it. Asking me how to verify it doesn't help you, because you can't trust me. The only thing you can trust is your own knowledge. I use shell scripts because they can, in principle, be verified, though it may not be possible for everyone. If you can't verify the script, you shouldn't run it.

You should not have run "etrecheck" either, because it can't be verified by any means whatsoever. The people telling you it's safe don't know. As I wrote earlier, I have no reason to suspect that "etrecheck" is dangerous, but trusting strangers definitely is. Regrettably, there have been discussions on this site in which the developer of "etrecheck" told people they could trust his app just because he wrote it. When someone on the Internet tells you that you can trust him, run far away.

Hi Link, I know this isnt a good place to ask for a favor but I don't know of any other way to reach you. Anyways so I saw your helpful advice to someone regarding searching for keyloggers in their mac and I was wondering if you could figure out if my mac is infested with a keylogger - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5814845. Your help would be really appreciated. Thanks, Christian

Linc, this is going far (too far imho): if users are so knowledgeable that they can check all scripts, terminal commands, and apps they probably do not need our help at all.

So they have to have some trust in users here that propose actions to find out what the issues are and how to solve those. They may trust Apple Care also i think. And their car mechanic.

And the levelnumber also does someone not more or less trustworthy, it is an indication how good the help was in the past, and very much by the tips and general help pages he has written.

Although your warning certainly is necessary once in a while, I consider it a case of bad indigestion in the critical way it was brought.

I asked your help several times, and never had any doubt about the scripts and commands, because I trust first.

Lex