Q: Here are my Etrecheck results....can anyone help me get my computer faster?  Problem description: Computer very slow….and unresponsive  EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121) Report generated April 16, 2015 at 10:19:42 AM EDT

When you see a beachball cursor or the slowness is especially bad, 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.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

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

After that, check the App Store for software updates.

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.

Any system modifications that you do choose to install must be kept up to date. None is required for normal operation.

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.

Uninstall McAfee AV and CleanMyMac per the respective developers instructions.  Your Mac does not need them and performance should improve when you have deleted them.

Consider installing 8 GB RAM.  Yosemite will run more efficiently.

Ciao.

One of the myths that circulate on this site is the myth that the current version of OS X always needs to more than 4 GB of memory to run well. The myth is based on nothing except the fact that some people keep repeating it. Apple is today selling new Macs with 4 GB of memory that can never be upgraded after they leave the factory. Those Macs come with Yosemite preinstalled, and it can never be downgraded to an older version. So if you were to believe the myth, you would also believe that Apple knows that it's selling products that are permanently crippled right out of the box, no matter how they're used. Read this discussion before you spend money on memory that you may not need.

Some users do need more than 4 GB of memory for full performance. They are running memory-intensive applications, such as photo or video editors, or they're running many programs concurrently, or they have more than one account logged in at the same time. Whether you're one of those users can be determined, in part, by observing the level of memory pressure in the Memory tab of the Activity Monitor window. If the memory pressure graph always stays in the green zone, then a shortage of memory is not causing the problem.

Even if memory pressure is high, that doesn't necessarily mean that adding more memory will help. If one or more processes has a memory leak—a kind of bug—then adding memory, no matter how much, won't help. It will merely delay the onset of the problem, perhaps only by a few minutes or less. That is very likely the case if you already have more than 4 GB.

Linc Davis wrote:

One of the myths that circulate on this site is the myth that the current version of OS X always needs to more than 4 GB of memory to run well. The myth is based on nothing except the fact that some people keep repeating it. Apple is today selling new Macs with 4 GB of memory that can never be upgraded after they leave the factory. Those Macs come with Yosemite preinstalled, and it can never be downgraded to an older version. So if you were to believe the myth, you would also believe that Apple knows that it's selling products that are permanently crippled right out of the box, no matter how they're used.

True as far as the amount of minimum RAM is concerned, but what you fail to mention is that all of those models with permanently installed RAM also have flash storage which mitigates the need for a large amounts of RAM.  We are dealing here (which if you examine the Etrecheck report) is a 2012 MBP that, when it originally came out, had Lion OSX, a far less resource intensive OSX than Yosemite.  (The same applies to the current 2012 13" MBP)

bstaab could also install a SSD which would tend to put the MBP on par with the current models, but that is a more costly proposition than installing 8 GB RAM.  I suggest that you get ALL of the relevant facts and then decide if there is a "MYTH' or not.  Clearly in this instance you have failed to do to proper research and have come to an erroneous conclusion..

Ciao.

bstaab wrote:

 

I am interested in upgrading to 8GB  do I need to take my computer to a Apple store to do this?

Only if you insist on spending a lot of money.  Please look at this installation video:

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_15_unibody_mid12_mem/

It is not difficult and you would need a #00 Phillips and #6 Torx drivers which can be obtained at any good hardware store.  One of the additional advantages of installing the RAM your self, purchased from a third party, is that you will get a lifetime guarantee for the RAM from the vendor, with Apple, they have a 90 day guarantee or until your warranty expires, which ever is longer.

The best sources of Mac compatible RAM are from OWC and Crucial.

Ciao.

Realistically 16 GB RAM will be useful only when using the MBP in resource intensive conditions.  For 'normal' or casual use, 8 GB RAM would have been adequate.  With that said, having extra RAM at ones disposal will not hurt performance and I do have 16 GB RAM in both of my 2011 MBP's.

When the bank account gets replenished, consider a SSD.  I average about 12-16 second boot times and Aperture opens up in about 1 second.  It is not a necessity but very nice if the dollars are available.  Prices are heading in the right direction.

Ciao.