very slow mac book pro...pinwheel of death

Question

For the past few weeks I haven&#x27;t been able to use my Mac Book Pro - everything from start up to browsing the internet is extremely slow. Most of the time the annoying pinwheel occurs. I updated all of the systems with no relief. Below are the results from EtreCheck. Based on the results, does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do...AnthonyProblem description:mac book pro is running slow. internet pages are difficult to load or take too long to load. keep getting that multi-colored pinwheel.EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)Report generated 5/2/15, 12:43 PMDownload EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheckClick the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.Hardware Information: ℹ️    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) (Technical Specifications)    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2    1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core    4 GB RAM Upgradeable        BANK 0/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok    Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n    Battery: Health &#x3D; Normal - Cycle count &#x3D; 269 - SN &#x3D; 9G23108QBD3NCVideo Information: ℹ️    Intel HD Graphics 4000        Color LCD 1280 x 800System Software: ℹ️    OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) - Time since boot: 0:26:11Disk Information: ℹ️    APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)        EFI (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 210 MB         Recovery HD (disk0s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Recovery]: 650 MB         Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 498.88 GB (465.28 GB free) - 36 errors            Core Storage: disk0s2 499.25 GB Online    HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS31N  USB Information: ℹ️    Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)     Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver     Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub         Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller     Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busGatekeeper: ℹ️    Mac App Store and identified developersLaunch Agents: ℹ️    [running]    com.Affinegy.InstaLANa.plist [Click for support]Launch Daemons: ℹ️    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]User Launch Agents: ℹ️    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]User Login Items: ℹ️    iTunesHelper    Application  (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️    DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.1.8r158 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]    Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]    Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16   - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️    WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️    Flash Player  [Click for support]    Flip4Mac WMV  [Click for support]    Growl  [Click for support]Time Machine: ℹ️    Time Machine not configured!Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️        30%    Google Chrome Helper(4)        27%    AddressBookSourceSync         4%    WindowServer         2%    launchd         1%    fontdTop Processes by Memory: ℹ️    1.22 GB    Google Chrome Helper(4)    494 MB    kernel_task    152 MB    Google Chrome    127 MB    Finder    98 MB    mdworker(7)Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️    60 MB    Free RAM     3.94 GB    Used RAM     0 B    Swap Used Diagnostics Information: ℹ️    May 2, 2015, 12:12:49 PM    Self test - passed    May 2, 2015, 12:09:32 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/firefox_2015-05-02-120932_[redacted].hang    May 2, 2015, 12:08:52 PM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-05-02-12 0852_[redacted].crash    May 2, 2015, 11:42:01 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/plugin-container_2015-05-02-11 4201_[redacted].crash

BMoon · Answer

Hi njsketch,I see immediately you use Google Chrome, which appears to be hogging a lot of your system usage. You have 4GB of RAM, of which 1.22 GB is occupied by Google Chrome Helper(4). I don&#x27;t use Chrome after seeing an article on how Google Chrome kills battery life, it&#x27;s clear also that it likes hogging your system. Although I&#x27;m not exactly sure what exactly that helper is, I would recommend removing it if it&#x27;s not a necessity, or consider switching to an alternative such as Safari.Are you aware the following are running on your computer? If not follow the links to uninstall. Flip4Mac (Allows Windows Media Player usage I believe) - http://www.telestream.net/telestream-support/flip4mac-wmv/faq.htmGrowl (A notification App, reports it appears without knowledge) - http://growl.info/thirdpartyinstallationsAre you using the most recent OSX Yosemite update?Do you have numerous programs scheduled to run as soon as you log in that are slowing you down?System Preferences &gt; Users and Groups &gt; Your Name &gt; Login Items - Remove any unnecessary ones.Is your HDD full? I recommend the &#x27;DiskDoctor&#x27; App from the App store. It will hunt down and delete junk application caches and logs (which get very big), as well as browser data, mail/downloads folder and trash - all at the click of a button. Thousands of great reviews too, it&#x27;s great.Do you have lots of programs running at once? Head to Applications &gt; Utilities &gt; Activity Monitor - See anything there you&#x27;re unsure of?Good luck 🙂

Linc Davis · Answer

If this started happening without your having made any changes and without a warning of low disk space, then it&#x27;s likely that the startup drive, or some other hardware component, is failing. Back up all data immediately, then make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.There are ways to back up a computer that isn&#x27;t fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.