HELP!! Bought first MAC started running so slow and I have no idea what to do with etrecheck

Hello there!

You need not have posted two nearly identical reports from Etrecheck; the issues

appear to be all those Safari Extensions from third-parties, you have installed. And

the lack of sufficient RAM chip memory for the system in general. There may be a

few other items not appearing in the Etrecheck report, but may in the Console log

files generated all the time the computer is running. (Another process, to read them.)

Since the Safari web browser is not seeing any official updates, the best browser

to get for Snow Leopard 10.6.8, is Mozilla's Firefox browser as it is very good.

{There is no newer Safari browser for your Macs present OS X that sees support,

unless you choose to upgrade the OS X to the latest version. Your Mac would

still need more RAM & likely a larger capacity hard drive. Firefox (free) is cheaper

to learn about the OS X and to get the computer working, first. You may not want

the El Capitan OS X 10.11.4 experience in that old of a MacBook.}

• How to Download and Install Firefox on Mac - Firefox Help: (includes links to D/L)

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac

The entire list in the Etrecheck report of Safari Extensions can be removed; also

the iDoctorHelper. Not sure what it does, and after many years of using Macs, I'm

relatively certain it isn't necessary. Use maker's uninstaller to remove iDoctor stuff.

The RAM memory chips are a relatively easy upgrade, to install new RAM in both

slots of higher capacity can help the slowness of the computer in overall tasks.

Quality memory chips from reputable sources can also help remove the possibility

of odd failures or kernel panics from using poor quality memory chips in Mac OS X.

Maximum Memory 6.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)

Memory Slots 2 - 200-pin PC2-6400 (800MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

Your computer can use up to 6 GB RAM total, across two memory slots; that

would be 1- 4GB RAM chip, plus 1- 2GB RAM chip, of same spec RAM.

Examples of - memory and hard drive - with part numbers, for your MacBook5.2:

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook/White/2.13GHz

A faster spin-rate hard disk drive (7200-RPM, compared to stock 5400-RPM) can

add additionally quicker response; also when a replacement HDD also of larger

capacity than the original; this storage area needs free or unused space for the

OS X to run properly. An SSD or non-rotational solid state drive, can make the

computer run much faster; at a higher cost. And hard drives wear out & fail, too.

Of these, first issue is RAM upgrade... then perhaps a larger capacity hard drive.

• MacBook: How to remove or install memory - Apple Support

• MacBook Core 2 Duo repair upgrade guide - iFixit: (worth a look, DIY isn't hard)

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Core_2_Duo

Anyway, I had some issues offline here, so my reply is larger & took longer to post

than originally intended. Also the Local time is a factor here: approaching 2AM now.

{Several standby Apple Support articles have been changed or removed, so ones

that I'd hoped to reference a no longer available; or their content has changed.

So I've been looking for those official missing references, to no avail.}

Hopefully you can remove the Safari extensions and be able see if that helps.

Turn off or uninstall extensions

1. Choose Preferences from the Safari menu, then click Extensions.
2. Select an extension from the list.
3. Turn off the extension by deselecting the Enable checkbox. If you can't determine what an extension does, or you don't expect to use it again, click the Uninstall button.

• Install and manage Safari extensions on your Mac - Apple Support

Once that matter is settled, and if you decide to get Firefox, you can change

'default setting' in Safari preferences, select Firefox browser as first to launch.

Then you don't remove the Safari browser. You could choose to ignore it.

Perhaps now is as good a time (2 AM) as any, to go offline and try to sleep?

Hopefully you can have some useful times with the MacBook.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Also, uninstall iDoctor. Apps that pretend to clean up, tune up, speed up, protect, optimize or enhance a Mac will, without exception, do the opposite.