APPLEAL

Q: Slow surfing, loading apps etc

Problem description:

2009 iMac Running slower and slower.  Web pages loading slower.

 

EtreCheck version: 2.1.6 (109)

Report generated January 18, 2015 at 10:51:09 PM EST

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

 

Click 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

  iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) (Technical Specifications)

  iMac - model: iMac10,1

  1 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

  4 GB RAM Upgradeable

  BANK 0/DIMM0

  empty empty empty empty

  BANK 1/DIMM0

  empty empty empty empty

  BANK 0/DIMM1

  2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

  BANK 1/DIMM1

  2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

  Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

  Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

 

Video Information: ℹ️

  NVIDIA GeForce 9400 - VRAM: 256 MB

  iMac 1280 x 720

 

System Software: ℹ️

  OS X 10.10.1 (14B25) - Time since boot: 10:53:25

 

Disk Information: ℹ️

  WDC WD5000AAKS-40V2B0 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

  EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

  Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 379.31 GB (294.73 GB free)

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

  Sandbox (disk0s4) <not mounted> : 119.80 GB

 

  HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GA11N 

 

USB Information: ℹ️

  Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

  Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

  Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

  Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

  Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

 

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

  Mac App Store and identified developers

 

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

  /Applications/Utilities/DiskWarrior.app

  [not loaded] com.alsoft.Preview (4.4) [Support]

 

  /System/Library/Extensions

  [loaded] com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.3 - SDK 10.6) [Support]

 

Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️

  [killed] com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

  [killed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

  [killed] com.apple.icloud.fmfd.plist

  [killed] com.apple.nsurlsessiond.plist

  [killed] com.apple.printtool.agent.plist

  [killed] com.apple.recentsd.plist

  [killed] com.apple.security.cloudkeychainproxy.plist

  [killed] com.apple.spindump_agent.plist

  8 processes killed due to memory pressure

 

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

  [killed] com.apple.awdd.plist

  [killed] com.apple.ctkd.plist

  [killed] com.apple.ifdreader.plist

  [killed] com.apple.installd.plist

  [killed] com.apple.nsurlsessiond.plist

  [killed] com.apple.periodic-daily.plist

  [killed] com.apple.softwareupdated.plist

  [killed] com.apple.tccd.system.plist

  [killed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

  [killed] org.cups.cupsd.plist

  10 processes killed due to memory pressure

 

Launch Agents: ℹ️

  [running] com.epson.epw.agent.plist [Support]

  [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]

 

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

  [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]

  [loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Support]

  [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Support]

  [invalid?] com.rogueamoeba.hermes.plist [Support]

  [invalid?] com.rogueamoeba.instanton-agent.plist [Support]

 

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

  [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]

  [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Support]

  [loaded] com.shirtpocket.backupbytime.plist [Support]

 

User Login Items: ℹ️

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

  Airfoil Speakers Application Hidden (/Applications/Airfoil/Airfoil Speakers.app)

  Microsoft Database Daemon Application  (/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/Microsoft Database Daemon.app)

  BusyCalAlarm UNKNOWN  (missing value)

 

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

  o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.6.0 - SDK 10.8 [Support]

  Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 [Support]

  Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

  Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.3.8.1 [Support]

  Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

  FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.257 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

  Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.257 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

  QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

  googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.38.6.0 - SDK 10.8 [Support]

  SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.7 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

  AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.5 [Support]

  iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

 

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

  Flash Player  [Support]

  Flip4Mac WMV  [Support]

  Perian  [Support]

 

Time Machine: ℹ️

  Skip System Files: NO

  Mobile backups: OFF

  Auto backup: YES

  Volumes being backed up:

  Macintosh HD: Disk size: 379.31 GB Disk used: 84.58 GB

  Destinations:

  TIME MCH [Local]

  Total size: 289.31 GB

  Total number of backups: 13

  Oldest backup: 2014-10-22 15:11:19 +0000

  Last backup: 2015-01-15 04:27:35 +0000

  Size of backup disk: Adequate

  Backup size 289.31 GB > (Disk used 84.58 GB X 3)

  TMCH IMAC NEW [Local]

  Total size: 1.00 TB

  Total number of backups: 43

  Oldest backup: 2014-12-04 09:32:54 +0000

  Last backup: 2015-01-19 03:36:16 +0000

  Size of backup disk: Adequate

  Backup size 1.00 TB > (Disk used 84.58 GB X 3)

 

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

      5% WindowServer

      0% AppleSpell

      0% SystemUIServer

      0% mds

      0% fontd

 

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

  176 MB Safari

  137 MB BusyCal

  82 MB Microsoft Word

  73 MB Finder

  64 MB com.apple.WebKit.Networking

 

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

  93 MB Free RAM

  1.34 GB Active RAM

  1.23 GB Inactive RAM

  617 MB Wired RAM

  15.23 GB Page-ins

  195 MB Page-outs

 

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

  Jan 18, 2015, 11:58:17 AM Self test - passed

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10), late 2009

Posted on Jan 18, 2015 8:05 PM

Close

Q: Slow surfing, loading apps etc

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy Jan 18, 2015 8:10 PM in response to APPLEAL
    Level 10 (271,169 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 18, 2015 8:10 PM in response to APPLEAL

    Try these in order testing your system after each to see if it's back to normal:

     

    1. a. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

        b. Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

     

    2. Restart the computer in Safe Mode, then restart again, normally. If this doesn't help, then:

     

    Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the Utilities menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

     

    3. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.

     

    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.

     

    4. Reinstall Yosemite: Reboot from the Recovery HD. Select Reinstall OS X from the Utilities menu, and click on the Continue button.

     

    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible

                because it is three times faster than wireless.

     

    5. Reinstall Yosemite from Scratch:

     

    Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.

     

    How to Clean Install OS X Yosemite

     

    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible

                because it is three times faster than wireless.

  • by APPLEAL,

    APPLEAL APPLEAL Jan 19, 2015 7:24 AM in response to Kappy
    Level 2 (169 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 19, 2015 7:24 AM in response to Kappy

    After this, things have not really changed.  Is RAM an issue here? What's the significance of "memory pressure"?

    Thanks

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 19, 2015 9:41 AM in response to APPLEAL
    Level 10 (271,169 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 19, 2015 9:41 AM in response to APPLEAL

    Memory pressure is a way of measuring the system demands on memory. If it's in the green then the system's memory usage is OK, but when it changes color then pressure is increasing. This is an indication that you do not have sufficient memory for all the running processes. You either need to add more RAM, if possible, or quit some of the running applications in order to reduce the pressure.

     

    If you re-run EtreCheck and examine the output you may be able to identify things that could cause the system to run slowly. For example, if you have any third-party malware software installed or software that supposedly keeps your computer running smooth like CleanMyMac. These usually will cause the computer to slow down and should be uninstalled.

     

    Slow Mac Performance? This Article Solves It! | BjoKib – Photo, Music, Apple

     

    Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.  Select All Processes from the View menu.  Click on the CPU tab in the toolbar. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order.  If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar.  Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process.  See if that helps.  Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.


    Things You Can Do To Resolve Slow Downs

     

    If your computer seems to be running slower here are some things you can do:

     

    Start with visits to:     OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney;

                                      The X Lab: The X-FAQs;

                                      The Safe Mac » Mac Performance Guide;

                                      The Safe Mac » The myth of the dirty Mac;

                                      Mac maintenance Quick Assist.

     

    Boot into Safe Mode then repair your hard drive and permissions:

     

    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions Pre-Lion

     

    Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.

     

    Repair the Hard Drive - Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks

     

    Boot to the Recovery HD:

     

    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the Utilites Menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD disk icon and click on the arrow button below.

     

    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.

     

    Restart your computer normally and see if this has helped any. Next do some maintenance:

     

    For situations Disk Utility cannot handle the best third-party utility is Disk Warrior;  DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible.

     

    Note: Alsoft ships DW on a bootable DVD that will startup Macs running Snow Leopard or earlier. It cannot start Macs that came with Lion or later pre-installed, however, DW will work on those models.


    Suggestions for OS X Maintenance

     

    OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.  Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger.  These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or later and should not be installed.

     

    OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive.

     

    Under no circumstances should you install so-called maintenance software from MacPaw or ZeoBit (CleanMyMac/CleanMyDrive or Mac Keeper, respectively.) You do not need special software to maintain your computer.


    Helpful Links Regarding Malware Protection

     

    If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide and AdwareMedic.

     

    Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.

     

    The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.

     

    Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari

     

    Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.

     

    Quit Safari

     

    Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.

     

    Relaunch Safari

     

    If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.

     

    This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.

     

    An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

    Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

    See these Apple articles:

     

      Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

      OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

      OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

      OS X Mavericks- Protect your Mac from malware

      About file quarantine in OS X

     

    If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.)

     

    From user Joe Bailey comes this equally useful advice:

     

    The facts are:

     

    1. There is no anti-malware software that can detect 100% of the malware out there.

    2. There is no anti-malware that can detect everything targeting the Mac.

    3. The very best way to prevent the most attacks is for you as the user to be aware that

         the most successful malware attacks rely on very sophisticated social engineering

         techniques preying on human avarice, ****, and fear.

    4. Internet popups saying the FBI, NSA, Microsoft, your ISP has detected malware on

        your computer is intended to entice you to install their malware thinking it is a

        protection against malware.

    5. Some of the anti-malware products on the market are worse than the malware

        from which they purport to protect you.

    6. Be cautious where you go on the internet.

    7. Only download anything from sites you know are safe.

    8. Avoid links you receive in email, always be suspicious even if you get something

        you think is from a friend, but you were not expecting.

    9. If there is any question in your mind, then assume it is malware.


    Troubleshooting Applications

     

    I recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX, Mavericks Cache Cleaner, or Cocktail that you can use for removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc. Corrupted cache, log, or temporary files can cause application or OS X crashes as well as kernel panics.

     

    If you have Snow Leopard or Leopard, then for similar repairs install the freeware utility Applejack.  If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line.  Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. Applejack does not work with Lion and later.


    Basic Backup

     

    For some people Time Machine will be more than adequate. Time Machine is part of OS X. There are two components:

     

    1. A Time Machine preferences panel as part of System Preferences;

    2. A Time Machine application located in the Applications folder. It is

        used to manage backups and to restore backups. Time Machine

        requires a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of the

        drive being backed up.

     

    Alternatively, get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):

     

      1. Carbon Copy Cloner

      2. Get Backup

      3. Deja Vu

      4. SuperDuper!

      5. Synk Pro

      6. Tri-Backup

     

    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. For help with using Time Machine visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.

     

    Referenced software can be found at MacUpdate.


    Additional Hints

     

    Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity as free space.

     

    Add more RAM. If your computer has less than 2 GBs of RAM and you are using OS X Leopard or later, then you can do with more RAM. Snow Leopard and Lion work much better with 4 GBs of RAM than their system minimums. The more concurrent applications you tend to use the more RAM you should have.

     

    Always maintain at least 15 GBs or 10% of your hard drive's capacity as free space, whichever is greater. OS X is frequently accessing your hard drive, so providing adequate free space will keep things from slowing down.


    Check for applications that may be hogging the CPU:

     

    Pre-Mavericks

     

    Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.  Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu.  Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order.  If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar.  Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process.  See if that helps.  Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

     

    Mavericks and later

     

    Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.  Select All Processes from the View menu.  Click on the CPU tab in the toolbar. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order.  If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar.  Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process.  See if that helps.  Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

     

    Often this problem occurs because of a corrupted cache or preferences file or an attempt to write to a corrupted log file.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 19, 2015 4:00 PM in response to APPLEAL
    Level 10 (207,983 points)
    Applications
    Jan 19, 2015 4:00 PM in response to APPLEAL

    When you have the problem, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.  

    These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

    Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.

    Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.

    Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.