MacBook suddenly running slowly

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.

Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan acti…

What new software did you install yesterday or the day before? Download and install this free utility, EtreCheck 2.4.1. Run it and look over the report carefully to see if anything catches your eye that isn't quite right. If you are unwilling to do that, then post the report here using Copy and Paste.

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.

Rid your MBP of this:

Torrents are a good way of introducing malware into your MBP.

Ciao.

Go to Library>Launch Agents and see if it is there.

Ciao.

You're getting the usual results of posting "etrecheck" stuff on this site. The torrent client, if you have one, has nothing whatsoever to do with the problem.

Linc Davis wrote:

You're getting the usual results of posting "etrecheck" stuff on this site. The torrent client, if you have one, has nothing whatsoever to do with the problem.

Are you suggesting that torrents are benign or desirable? Did I say that ridding the MBP of the torrent application was the solution? Specifically, do you find that information in an Etrecheck report is inaccurate or is there some other reason that you object to it.? Do you have anything positive to offer?

Ciao.

One of the usual results of posting "etrecheck" output is that you get responses from people who have no idea how to solve the problem, but are instead interested in foisting their irrelevant opinions on you. Whether you should or should not use bittorrent is not the question that was asked, and has nothing to do with the question that was asked. The question was why the computer is running slowly. I asked for some information that might contribute to answering that question. If you see fit to cooperate, then perhaps some progress could be made, in contrast to what's happening now.

Is your inference that when something undesirable is found, that may not be directly connected to the matter at hand, be ignored? I find that logic preposterous. It is analogous to a patient asking a doctor for help for a sore foot and the it turns out that the person also has a heart problem. Is that to be ignored by the physician? If you wish for progress to be made, make your suggestion.

Naturally you still have avoided addressing directly what your find inherently objectionable in the Etrecheck report. Have you ever found any misinformation in the data presented? If there is room for improvement, present your suggestions. Grousing rarely is constructive. Progress is made by offering good advice which so far as this subject is concerned, I see little evidence from you.

Ciao.

I have no use for "etrecheck." If you'd like me to comment on your problem, please post the information I asked for in my first comment.

Linc Davis wrote:

I have no use for "etrecheck."

You have made this statement or similar ones on many occasions but have never said expressly why you 'have no use for "etrecheck'. What elements in the report do you find wanting? Are there ways that it could be improved? By stating the specific reasons, you may be performing a valuable service to the Apple Support Community. I do encourage you to share your thoughts on this matter. Certainly there is nothing to hide, is there?

Ciao.

Hello OGELTHORPE,

I am the developer of EtreCheck. I'm sure you know that but NattiTash might not.

I am trying to foster an amicable separation between Etresoft and Apple Support Communities. Just last night I posted a major update to EtreCheck that is a first step in that direction. People can still use EtreCheck any way they want, including posting a report here on Apple Support Communities. But when people download and run EtreCheck, they become my customers and I start to feel protective. I would like to keep them away from the drama here in Apple Support Communities.

Linc is under no obligation to read an EtreCheck report and does not need any reason for that. He has not posted anything derogatory about EtreCheck in this thread. I would appreciate it if you didn't give him an excuse to do so. Thanks.

etresoft wrote:

He has not posted anything derogatory about EtreCheck in this thread. I would appreciate it if you didn't give him an excuse to do so. Thanks.

Thee are nuances here that make me disagree with you in certain respects, but I will honor your request. Perhaps this is a matter best addressed in detail in the WC. 🙂

Ciao.