Macbook so slow

Adware "Downlite" is installed. Removing it will help,

1. Use free AdwareMedic to remove adware

http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php

Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button to remove adware.

Once done, quit AdwareMedic.

or

Remove the adware manually by following the “HowTo” from Apple.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

2. Safari > Preferences > Extensions

Turn those off and relaunch Safari.

Turn those on one by one and test.

3. Safari > Preferences > Search > Search Engine :

Select your preferred search engine.

Activity Monitor - Mavericks also Yosemite

Activity Monitor in Mavericks has significant changes

Performance Guide

Why is my computer slow

Why your Mac runs slower than it should

Slow Mac After Mavericks

Things you can do to resolve slowdowns see post by Kappy

You also might want to consider adding more memory (RAM). The 2 places I’ve seen recommended most to buy reliable RAM are below. I have purchased RAM several times from Other World Computing and have always been very satisfied with the product and service. They have on-line instructions on how to replace the RAM. OWC has also tested RAM above what Apple states is the maximum. I now have 6GB installed on a machine supposedly limited to 4 GB.

Crucial

Other World Computing

magnificos wrote:

My macbook started running very slow, so slow that it is pretty much unusable. Happened after yosemite was installed. Also iPhoto no longer works and I am afraid I now lost all my iPhoto pictures.

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Time since boot: 17:38:45

Adware: ℹ️

Downlite [Adware! - Remove]

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[running] com.eb1e1fa6282361ac.agent.plist [Click for support]

[failed] com.stellar.SpeedUpMacLauncher.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.eb1e1fa6282361ac.daemon.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.eb1e1fa6282361ac.helper.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[failed] com.UninstallerTool.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]

[failed] com.VolumeWatcherTool.plist [Click for support] [Click for details]

You are running Mavericks, not Yosemite.

You have adware installed.

You have some mysterious, numbered system extension. I've never seen that before and it can't be good.

You have a "clean up" tool installed. Those things are useless. The one you've installed seems to be even more useless than most.

I have no idea with UninstallerTool and VolumeWatcherTool are. I'm pretty sure you don't want them.

Unfortunately, you should never attempt to manually delete parts of these system modifications. That may only make the situation worse. What software have you installed that required you to provide your administrator password? If know what what all of those were, you can try to track down the vendor-provided uninstaller or uninstallation instructions. If you can't find those, you will need to erase your hard drive and restore from backup - which you don't have. Once you make a backup, then you will have to be careful about how you restore from it. Use Migration Assistant but only restore user documents, not applications or anything else. Then, reinstall only the valid software that you really need.

Back up your Mac if you have not already done so. To learn how to use Time Machine read Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support.

You inadvertently installed adware. You do not need to download or install anything to fix it.

For a description of how this may have occurred, how to avoid it in the future, and for Apple's recommended actions read How to install adware. Apple's instructions are linked in the Recovery Procedure near the end of that document. Read and follow them carefully. Pay particular attention to the easily overlooked passages directing you to restart your Mac when required.

In your particular case, the section titled "Optionally remove other adware files" is not optional. Read and follow it carefully as well.

.

There is no longer any adware on that Mac. There is a "clean up Mac utility" program known as "Stellar SpeedUp Mac" though, that makes dubious claims similar to many other junk utilities. It's not adware, but all products making those claims should be avoided. I recommend that you uninstall it since no Mac can benefit from the use of those products, and the most popular ones are notorious for causing nothing but trouble.

Refer to its website for instructions: http://www.stellarinfo.com/mac-software/speed-up-mac.php

UninstallerTool and VolumeWatcherTool are associated with that product.

I also recommend you use Time Machine, or implement some other backup strategy that works for you, taking into consideration the way you use your Mac. To learn how to use Time Machine read Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support. Time Machine is included with OS X and it's free. The only expense required is an external hard disk drive. A suitable one with abundant capacity can be purchased for as little as $60. Using Time Machine requires little more than just plugging in the external drive, and then totally forgetting about it until such time that you need it.

You should back up your Mac before uninstalling that product, or making any changes to its file system for that matter.

etresoft wrote:

I have no idea with UninstallerTool and VolumeWatcherTool are.

Perhaps the reason is that your[Click for support] link performs a Google search, instead of DuckDuckGo.

😉

John Galt wrote:

Perhaps the reason is that your[Click for support] link performs a Google search, instead of DuckDuckGo.

If you know of a DuckDuckGo query that would return better results than a Google query for these items, I would love to see it.

My original plan for EtreCheck was to identify low-quality and obsolete software that would be incompatible with the current OS X version. I stayed away from anything involving malware or scam-ware. That's just a can of worms. That was the correct decision at the time because such software really wan't a significant issue back. Today it is different. Apple has been resting on its laurels and adware and scamware are epidemic now. It is only a matter of time before all of these people put their experience to use writing true Mac malware and viruses. That's not the business I want to be in.

I thought I just did that.

The Google search in the EtreCheck link returned exactly nothing - however, since Google searches return different results for different people based on their Google search history, I have no idea what Google might return for someone else. That's another problem with Google, since advertising revenue is more important to them than providing relevant search results. It's been my experience that DDG is superior in that regard, so perhaps you just have to become more accustomed to using it. More importantly, it won't use one's search queries to develop a digital model of the user, and subsequently use them to deliver targeted advertisements, or assist some entity in building a case against the user.

If you don't take my word for it, take Mr. Cook's.

In the case of someone with a Mac using Safari to search for support, Google rewards the user with advertisements for misery-causing Mac junk. That's just as much of a problem as adware, if not more so. At least adware won't lose your data or force you to reinstall OS X.

My original plan for EtreCheck was to identify low-quality and obsolete software that would be incompatible with the current OS X version.

That's a good plan and it obviously succeeds. Anyway, it's not my intent to tell you how to write your program, whose value clearly speaks for itself. I just question the necessity of including "support" links, forcing unwitting users into uploading what they might consider personal information to be stored forever - information that DDG discards upon receipt.

John Galt wrote:

I thought I just did that.

The Google search in the EtreCheck link returned exactly nothing

That is as the authors of said software intended. EtreCheck assumes the standard reverse DNS naming scheme for identifiers. The only reason someone would not want to use that would be to deceive the user. EtreCheck is not going to bother trying to track that stuff down. They could just as easily use "com.apple.memoryclean" instead. No one would dare delete that file.

So, if there is no official source of support, I want EtreCheck to reflect that. In this case, returning exactly nothing is the result I want. There is no support for this product, and EtreCheck shows that. In fact, your DuckDuckGo link just loops back to this site and to a phishing site.

That's another problem with Google, since advertising revenue is more important to them than providing relevant search results. It's been my experience that DDG is superior in that regard, so perhaps you just have to become more accustomed to using it.

...

Google rewards the user with advertisements for misery-causing Mac junk. That's just as much of a problem as adware, if not more so. At least adware won't lose your data or force you to reinstall OS X.

...

I just question the necessity of including "support" links, forcing unwitting users into uploading what they might consider personal information to be stored forever - information that DDG discards upon receipt.

I am well aware of Google's business model. I have tried to use DuckDuckGo in the past but gave up because its results are so poor. Google's result quality has declined over the years as it has become more focused on keeping the user on google.com. If Google returns no results, it would prefer to just change the search rather than tell the user that it couldn't find anything. But even with Google's degraded quality, it is still better than anything else.

Also, it is important to realize that Google is not limited to google.com. Goggle effectively owns the world wide web - all of it. There are very, very few web sites that will not forward all user activity back to Google. Many of those will provided targeted ads to Mac users for products to "speed up" their Macs. Using DuckDuckGo cannot avoid that. DuckDuckGo must return results from the world wide web, and Google owns those results, so all you are really doing with DuckDuckGo is punishing yourself.

I don't question the necessity of the EtreCheck support links but I do question their utility. To date, I have seen no evidence that anyone has ever clicked one. Even when they say "Click to remove adware" - they just won't do it. I see no point in trying to preserve some tiny bit of user privacy by not using Google. Everyone uses Chrome after all. I just want them to find the correct uninstaller, if one exists, which it usually doesn't. In any event, it is impossible for anyone to have gotten into this position if they hadn't already handed over all of their data, user passwords, private photos, credit card numbers, etc. to some anonymous programmer on the internet. People have no idea what they are handing over when they type in their password for some software. These silly debates about whether or not to run EtreCheck or AdwareMedic are just ridiculous. Most people running EtreCheck have already given everything they have to the scammers. The only real protection most people have against fraud is the fact that there are so many available victims that the scammers can pick and choose only the most vulnerable and lucrative. We only help the rejects here.

I respect your opinion.

... We only help the rejects here.

I'll reserve comment on that 😁