Mac starts to behave slowly

1. Back up your system. Your latest backup is over two months old.
2. Try booting your Mac without those Login items.
3. Update OS X. Version 10.9.3 is the latest.
4. Don't use Google Chrome, Google Talk, Google Drive or any other Google product for that matter. Google has yet to demonstrate the ability to develop efficient OS X apps and their products litter a Mac with a plethora of performance-sucking processes that demand full time root access to your system for reasons known only to Google.
5. Check your Mac's Hosts database:

In Terminal, copy and paste the following

cat /etc/hosts

It should only be a few lines of text completely identical to the following, and nothing other than the following, unless you have valid reasons for having changed it:

##

# Host Database

#

# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface

# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.

##

127.0.0.1 localhost

255.255.255.255 broadcasthost

::1 localhost

fe80::1%lo0 localhost

I just don't really know where to start to clean it up.

When discussing any Mac related concern you should purge the word "clean" from your lexicon. It's misleading in that it implies neglecting a Mac will cause it to somehow become "unclean", and after all who wants a filthy Mac. The emotional connotation results in many Mac users represented on this site relating tales of misery after using garbage "cleaning" apps. Avoid them as you would a social disease.

If you want to "erase and reinstall OS X" that will accomplish what you describe. To do that read Erase and reinstall OS X

Nickimarks, Too many of your installed software is invisible in this list.

I advise the TM backup disk to be a larger (physically) separate disk, only for TM. And use auto backup, no timer tools for TM. You may turn off the "snapshots" that come on your startup disk, with a Terminl command.

You have or had hacked software installed either downloaded with a torrent software, but more probably you used a keygenerator. (I guess Adobe software and I agree it is too expensive).

IMHO it is the best and easiest way, to really "reset" your system, to make a clean install of Mavericks (it will be updated to 10.9.3 at the same time), and install the software that you need: do not install Growl, Apptrap, and GPGtools, because you do not need them. Do not install anything optimizers, cleaners, and so on, as you have read often enough in the threads you followed. Do not install software that comes from so called "update" sites, like Softonics and CNET.com and others (read about this in Thomas Reed's Thesafemac.com site). Only from trusted sites.

At the same time install the latest version of Flashplayer. And Virtualbox if you need a Virtualizer.

Do not use Wine, Simbl, OSX Fusion. You do not need Java anymore, but it is gone already (same sort of service is in Safari now).

I am not very happy with F.Lux, but I can not really put a finger on it.

If you do not want to use Safari, do not install Chrome, but use Firefox or Opera instead, good fast and safe.

After the new installation, you may confirm that you at least have 50GB free disk space to be absolutely comfortable.

Another safety tip: before you do all this: start the Recovery partition (start while holding CMD + R keys) and choose DiskUtility and do the verify disk, it should end with 'OK'.

Then start your clean installation from a bootable stick with Mavericks on it. You make that stick by downloading Mavericks but do not install it. Then download the Diskmaker X and use it to make the bootable usb stick ((GB), with which you can install Mavericks on a freshly formatted startdisk. Do not recover from TM, but really install everything fresh. You will find precise instructions everywhere for the whole procedure.

Lex

Please describe the problem in as much relevant detail as possible. The tiresome "etrecheck" fad hasn't made that step any less necessary. The better your description, the better the chance of a solution.

For example, if the computer is slow, which specific actions are slow? Is it slow all the time, or only sometimes? When did it start to be slow? Did you change anything just before it started? Have you seen any alerts or error messages? Have you done anything to try to fix it? Most importantly, do you have a current backup of all data? If the answer to the last question is "no," back up now. Ask if you need guidance. Do nothing else until you have a backup.

Come on Linc, this "fad" remark about Etrecheck is not necessary: it is a tool available to help avoid questions about the users system. A lot of people consider this list tool helpful, it is here now and will probably not disappear whether you approve or not. The posters here have nothing to do with your feud with the list tool or it's developer.

If you want more or other answers, make a tool of your (good) script that you post regularly, and make the output better readable, so that everyone can use it.

This OP does not have any particular problem as he very well described, and wants to get rid of certain history dirt in his mac.

Lex

There was a world before Linc, and there will be one after Linc. Linc is a fad.

In addition to John's post: your hosts file is "compromised", but it will be correct after a clean system install.

Lex

I would be up for a clean install.

Back up all data to at least two different storage devices, if you haven't already done so. One backup is not enough to be safe. The backups can be made with Time Machine or with Disk Utility. Preferably both.

Erase and install OS X. This operation will destroy all data on the startup volume, so you had be better be sure of the backups. If you upgraded from an older version of OS X, you'll need the Apple ID and password that you used, so make a note of those before you begin.

When you restart, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process in Setup Assistant. That’s when you transfer the data from a backup.

Select only users and Computer & Network Settings in the Setup Assistant dialog—not Applications or Other files and folders. Don't transfer the Guest account, if it was enabled.

After that, run Software Update.

If the problem is resolved after the clean installation, reinstall third-party software selectively. I can only suggest general guidelines. Self-contained applications that install into the Applications folder by drag-and-drop or download from the App Store are usually safe. Anything that comes packaged as an installer or that prompts for an administrator password is suspect, and you must test thoroughly after reinstalling each such item to make sure you haven't restored the problem.

I strongly recommend that you never reinstall commercial "security" products or "utilities," nor any software that changes the user interface or the behavior of built-in applications such as Safari. If you do that, the problem is likely to recur.

Before installing any software, ask yourself the question: "Am I sure I know how to uninstall this without having to wipe the volume again?" If the answer is "no," stop.

Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it.