Q: Macbook pro runs slow

a. "made the transition from PC many things are not evident to me"  read a lot of threads here, about what is different for mac: do NOT install software for antivirus and such, it will be counterproductive, do NOT install tools to clean, optimise, guard keep, and so on. The OS is very different from Windows.

b.

1. Click the little apple (left above) choose SystemPreferences from the Menu, in the SystemPreferences window, open the Users&Groups, in there choose the LoginItems tab, select the items in the list, click the minus sign underneath to remove them. It will not uninstall, only prevent them for starting up when you start the mac. They are not stopped immediately when taken out of the list so you have to do a restart of the mac after this.

2. Right-click (CTL+Click) Perian and choose "Remove".

3. Restart Safari after the removal.

c. iStats menu: all clear. The others hacked softwares effects are unpredictable, especially the Adobe ones (If you buy a Leica, you get Lightroom  free ). After all uninstalls the hosts file will stay as it is. It will do no harm now. There are several ways to "repair" the hosts file, but I would wait until you are a bit more comfortable with the mac. Repair of the hosts file should not be done before you have uninstalled all hacked software: the hosts file "changes" now prevents those softwares to communicate with the Developer sites ().

d. A file made in Windows can be read/edited in Mac. Reading, writing a disk that is formatted in NTFS is something else. I think Mavericks 10.9.4 (you should update) is not really happy with the actual Paragon driver, but we will see, there will be an update eventually.

e. Roxio is not really doing much for you, old hat.

Lex

b. Open SystemPreferences, CTL+click (rightclick) the Perian applet and choose "remove....". That's all.

Old hat, haha  , check that  both are the latest version. and hope that they are compatible enough not to cause issues.

Lex

great, have fun

Lex

So helpful, thank you!!!

Hi! I have done a report by EtreCheck and my system is just painfully slow.  Please advise. Thank you so much.

Problem description:

My computer is desperately trying to stay running and the spinning ball is almost constant.  I am sure there are things that are not working correclty and I would like to get it running at best speed again.

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated March 14, 2015 11:55:54 PM CDT

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Adware! - Remove] links for help removing adware.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

    MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008) (Verified)

    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro4,1

    1 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

    2 GB RAM

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM1

            1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 MHz ok

    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

    Battery Health: Replace Soon - Cycle count 380

Video Information: ℹ️

    GeForce 8600M GT     - VRAM: 512 MB

        Color LCD 1680 x 1050

        DELL S2340M 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz

System Software: ℹ️

    OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) - Time since boot: 19 days 14:52:43

Disk Information: ℹ️

    TOSHIBA MK2555GSXF disk0 : (250.06 GB)

        disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 249.20 GB (119.35 GB free)

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

USB Information: ℹ️

    TigerJet Network, Inc. USB Internet Phone by TigerJet 7.2 MB

        disk1s0 (disk1s0) <not mounted> : 6 MB

        disk1s0s1 (disk1s0s1) <not mounted> : 32 KB

        magicJack (disk1s0s2) /Volumes/magicJack : 176 KB (0 B free)

    Canon MX410 series

    The Neat Company Neat ADF Scanner

    Verbatim                       STORE N GO                     4.01 GB

        FINANCES (disk3s1) /Volumes/FINANCES : 4.01 GB (456 MB free)

    Kingston DT 101 G2 8.01 GB

        CDS (disk2s1) /Volumes/CDS : 8.01 GB (6.97 GB free)

    Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

    Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

    Anywhere

Adware: ℹ️

    Geneio [Adware! - Remove]

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

        /Applications/Hotspot Shield.app

    [not loaded]    com.anchorfree.tun (1.0) [Click for support]

Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️

    [failed]    com.apple.accountsd.plist [Click for details]

    [failed]    com.apple.AirPlayUIAgent.plist

    [failed]    com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist [Click for details]

    [failed]    com.apple.lookupd.plist

    [failed]    com.apple.printtool.agent.plist [Click for details]

    [failed]    com.apple.printuitool.agent.plist

    [failed]    com.apple.rcd.plist

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

    [failed]    com.apple.coresymbolicationd.plist [Click for details]

    [failed]    com.apple.wdhelper.plist

Launch Agents: ℹ️

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

    [loaded]    com.coupons.coupond.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

    [failed]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]

    [loaded]    com.ciscosystems.extender.daemon.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

    [failed]    com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

    [loaded]    com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.google.Chrome.framework.plist [Click for support]

    [not loaded]    jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

    GrowlHelperApp    Application Hidden (/Users/[redacted]/Library/PreferencePanes/Growl.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Gr owlHelperApp.app)

    iTunesHelper    UNKNOWN Hidden (missing value)

    Microsoft AU Daemon    Application Hidden (/Applications/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft AU Daemon.app)

    Google Drive    Application  (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

    Dropbox    Application Hidden (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

    Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX    Application Hidden (/Applications/Canon Utilities/IJ Network Scanner Selector EX/Canon IJ Network Scanner Selector EX.app)

    Google Chrome    Application Hidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

    AdobeResourceSynchronizer    Application Hidden (/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

    DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.0.2r122 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Easy-WebPrint EX: Version: 1.1.0 [Click for support]

    Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.0.1f1 [Click for support]

    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20125.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7

    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.06 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    CouponPrinter-FireFox_v2: Version: 5.0.3 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    EPPEX Plugin: Version: 3.0.5.0 [Click for support]

    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 25 Check version

User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

    Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.4 [Click for support]

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

    Evernote Web Clipper

    Omnibar [Adware! - Remove]

    Readability

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

    Flash Player  [Click for support]

    Growl  [Click for support]

    Java  [Click for support]

    MacFUSE  [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

    Mobile backups: ON

    Auto backup: YES

    Destinations:

        Amy - 1TB [Local]

        Total size: 0 B

        Total number of backups: 0

        Oldest backup: -

        Last backup: -

        Size of backup disk: Excellent

            Backup size 0 B > (Disk size 0 B X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

        98%    Google Drive

         1%    WindowServer

         1%    dynamic_pager

         1%    NeatScannersICDriver

         0%    imagent

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

    94 MB    WebProcess

    79 MB    Finder

    64 MB    Google Drive

    60 MB    mds

    60 MB    Safari

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

    617 MB    Free RAM

    801 MB    Active RAM

    292 MB    Inactive RAM

    435 MB    Wired RAM

    43.96 GB    Page-ins

    22.69 GB    Page-outs

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

    Mar 14, 2015, 11:43:30 PM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Neat_2015-03-14-234330_[redact ed].crash

Your system has been infected !!

Download  AdwareMedic  from   thesafemac.com   and then run it. Your issues are gone mostly.

But you have to do some more since you have the bare minimum of Ram (2GB, 4GB is better but 8GB is very good):

I will post a second message for this in a quarter of an hour.

Lex

My follow up:

1. set GateKeeper (SystemPreferences->Security and Privacy)  at least to "allow MacAppStore and identified Developers".

2. You do not need Anchorfree Hotspotshield normally, it is counterproductive and you should uninstall it: why trust software that is going deep in the OSX bowels.

3. In  Safari/Preferences/Extensions tab: uninstall all extensions: you do not need them.

4. - In SystemPreferences uninstall Growl, Notifications is as good or better.

     - You should uninstall  Macfuse this is an old version and you probably do not need it at all.

    -  Update Flashplayer.

5. Remove ALL entries in  SystemPreferences->Users&Accounts->LoginItems, with the minus sign underneath, except the Canon IJ scanner (if you still have the Canon printer/scanner):  AdobeResourceSynchronizer should not run at all, GoogleDrive is crap (run it only when you need to use it, thereafter quit), Growlhelper can go after the uninstall of Growl, it is not necessary to have Microsoft AU running all the time, Chrome should be started by hand and quit when ready.

6. In the  MacintoshHD->Library->LaunchAgents  folder  delete coupon.couponsd  plist if it is still there after the foregoing.

7. In the  Finder click the GO menu while holding the Alt(option) key and open Library, in there open the LaunchAgents  folder  and delete both ...adobe... plists and the ....com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-...  and the  jp.co.canon.....  .

8. Restart, empty the trash, and see how it goes now.

If you can find Ram with the exact specs for this machine, you can consider putting more Ram in.

Have fun,

Lex

Hi Lex,

Thank you so much for the instructions.  I tried to reply via the

discussion forum from my iMini and no can do :-). I will go through the

list step by step and hopefully, an improvement is just around the corner!

Is it ok for me to send a fresh EtreCheck report afterward to make sure all

is well with the system?

Thanks again,

Amy

On Sunday, March 15, 2015, Apple Support Communities Updates <