Why does my macbook pro keep on freezing

Question

Problem description:Mac keeps freezing and running slowEtreCheck version: 2.1.5 (108)Report generated December 29, 2014 10:37:51 PM ESTClick the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Click the [Adware] links for help removing adware.Hardware Information: ℹ️    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro7,1    1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core    4 GB RAM         BANK 0/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/nVideo Information: ℹ️    NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB        Color LCD 1280 x 800        spdisplays_display_connector System Software: ℹ️    Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: 10:20:49Disk Information: ℹ️    ST9250315ASG disk0 : (232.89 GB)        - (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 210 MB         Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /  [Startup]: 249.72 GB (12.24 GB free) (Low!)    HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS23N  USB Information: ℹ️    Apple Inc. Built-in iSight     Apple Internal Memory Card Reader     Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub         Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller     Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver     Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad Kernel Extensions: ℹ️        /Library/Application Support/Hotspot Shield    [not loaded]    com.anchorfree.tun (1.1.1 - SDK 10.8) [Support]        /System/Library/Extensions    [not loaded]    com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio2DJDriver (2.4.20) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBAudio4DJDriver (2.4.20) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBHardwareDriver (2.4.20) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorAudio2Driver (2.4.20) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolS4Driver (2.4.20) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.caiaq.driver.NIUSBTraktorKontrolX1Driver (2.4.20) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.native-instruments.driver.NIUSBDeviceHelper (1.0.6) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.numark.mixdeck.usb (2.0.2) [Support]    [loaded]    com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.74) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.74) [Support]        /System/Library/Extensions/NumarkMixDeckAudio.kext/Contents/PlugIns    [not loaded]    com.numark.mixdeck.usb_TIGER (2.0.2) [Support]Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️    [not loaded]    org.samba.winbindd.plist [Support]Launch Agents: ℹ️    [running]    com.epson.Epson_Low_Ink_Reminder.launcher.plist [Support]    [loaded]    com.epson.esua.launcher.plist [Support]    [running]    com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist [Support]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]    [running]    com.rim.BBAlbumArtCacher.plist [Support]    [running]    com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist [Support]    [running]    com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist [Support]Launch Daemons: ℹ️    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]    [loaded]    com.anchorfree.ajaxserver.plist [Support]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Support]    [running]    com.rim.BBDaemon.plist [Support]    [running]    com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist [Support]    [loaded]    com.tunnelbear.mac.tbeard.plist [Support]User Launch Agents: ℹ️    [failed]    com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist [Details]    [running]    com.codecm.uploader.plist [Support]    [loaded]    com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist [Support]User Login Items: ℹ️    Garmin Express Service    UNKNOWN (missing value)    NIHardwareAgent    Application (/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Hardware/NIHardwareAgent.app)    iCal    Application (/Applications/iCal.app)    BitTorrent    UNKNOWN (missing value)    Hotspot Shield    UNKNOWN (missing value)    BlackBerry Device Manager    ApplicationHidden (/Library/Application Support/BlackBerry/BlackBerry Device Manager.app)Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 13.9.8 - SDK 10.6 Check version    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Support]    OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 [Support]    Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.235 - SDK 10.6 [Support]    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.6.6    DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2 [Support]    o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.6.0 - SDK 10.8 [Support]    googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.6.0 - SDK 10.8 [Support]    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20513.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0Safari Extensions: ℹ️    codec-M [Installed]    DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 &lt;video&gt; [Installed]Audio Plug-ins: ℹ️    iSightAudio: Version: 7.6.6    NumarkMixDeckAudioHAL: Version: Unknown [Support]3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️    DivX  [Support]    Flash Player  [Support]    Native Instruments USB Audio  [Support]    Trusteer Endpoint Protection  [Support]    YAMAHA-USBMIDIPatch  [Support]Time Machine: ℹ️    Time Machine information requires OS X 10.7 "Lion" or later.Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️        17%    firefox         9%    plugin-container         9%    GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent         3%    WindowServer         1%    hiddTop Processes by Memory: ℹ️    691 MB    firefox    309 MB    plugin-container    99 MB    iTunes    82 MB    mds    73 MB    rapportdVirtual Memory Information: ℹ️    651 MB    Free RAM    1.98 GB    Active RAM    1.03 GB    Inactive RAM    370 MB    Wired RAM    405 MB    Page-ins    618 KB    Page-outsDiagnostics Information: ℹ️    Dec 27, 2014, 03:39:27 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/mds_2014-12-27-033927_[redacted].crash    Dec 29, 2014, 12:17:37 PM    Self test - passed    Dec 27, 2014, 03:39:27 AM    /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/mds_2014-12-27-033927_[redacted].crash

K Shaffer · Answer

To take a look into the Console utility&#x27;s crash logs may be helpful to someone who couldunderstand the cause and effect relationship of the information stated there; but withoutdoing that, your computer needs to have several GB of items you have stored in its HardDisk Drive, moved to some other off-computer archive (an external enclosed hard drive)and once those files are copied to the external storage device, the originals may beremoved or trashed. Only after you have a good backup, and copies moved over to it.Since hard drives do wear out, that may be a suspect in the issues; however a diagnosticshould be performed by an authorized Apple service provider, maybe even at the Geniusbar if you could set an appointment; a larger capacity hard drive could help it. But beforeanything gets too worse, if you don&#x27;t already back up your content to an external, do that.A good backup plan should already in place so if the hard drive should fail, you won&#x27;tlose much data or works in progress, saved images, and other content. The backupwould be off the computer, and those copied items could be accessed by the computerso you do not necessarily need to keep them inside the computer.There are several kinds of backups, the Time Machine method, and also separate otherexternal hard disk drives; full system clones, and copies of your works on DVD or USBFlash or thumb drive, etc.So, the hard drive is way too full for the system to work adequately; and the computermay do better if it has more &#x27;free&#x27; or unused drive storage capacity than it has now. TheEtrecheck report fairly much makes it easy to learn more; for example, since the reportsays how much or how little chip RAM is installed, and the computer build model yearalong with good identifier information, I can tell from looking into some resources anyone could, and find the computer you have could also see an upgrade to up to 16GBRAM in memory chips, which could also help the computer run better.Random access memory, the chip RAM, is not the same as hard disk drive storagecapacity, where the system and software lives. However the computer can &amp; doesuse unoccupied or free space of the hard disk drive as temporary swap file read/writespace, and that is sorely lacking in your computer now the hard drive is nearly full.Maximum Memory    16 GB (Actual) 8 GB (Apple)Memory Slots    2 - 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM•MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory - Apple SupportBetween the lack of free hard drive space (too full of your saved content, do not usea &#x27;cleaning software&#x27; since they can damage your system and also slow it down) andsome other items that don&#x27;t seem necessary, you could speed it up by not having somuch stuff loading on startup, items indicated in the Report. And with the hard driveless full, the system can use the unused hard drive capacity as swap space for tempfiles and also for Virtual Memory. This is an automatic feature in OS X to help thesystem manage resources and ration what exists as best it can. So a too-full HDD isone likely cause of slowness, perhaps crashes if data on the hard drive has beencompromised or partially over-written due to being too full. And as the computer getsolder, it also may need to have the internal hard disk drive replaced, a new one withmore capacity could help. Also the RAM could be upgraded to as much as 16GB, asthere are two chips in it now, at only 2GB each; it could have up to two 8GB chips.This would allow the system to work better, especially if you chose to upgrade the MacOS X to a later version. Before a system&#x27;s upgraded, the computer hardware should be.Others may likely offer specific advice, and some ideas I have (not said) are generallythose kinds of things one would already have tried; such as boot from the install-restoresystem DVD, and run repair disk, plus repair disk permissions, and restart. This mayhelp in general, but just by starting up in SafeBoot alone could help, as I do that andrepair disk permissions from within the system itself. But, my computers run with about50% free or unused hard drive capacity, so there is plenty of room for swap files andVirtual Memory. Your Snow Leopard should be able to work OK with 4GB RAM, so otherstuff in there, plus the fullness of the hard drive, are contributing to the problem.A replacement hard disk drive of, say, 500GB could help, at least until it too gets full.The computer you have should be easier to upgrade the hard disk drive, as well asthe RAM. You could get and view the content of an iFixit.com repair guide for this info.The system Console crash logs may help, where there is a time and date in those whichmatch the crash time you experienced or know about. However, I suspect the HDD, first.Too full, and perhaps there may be a problem with it. They wear out &amp; can be replaced.A diagnostic test, should be helpful in determining a good path to consider in this matter.Sorry to not offer one specific item of helpful reply here...Good luck &amp; happy computing! 🙂