MacBook Pro mid-2012 running very slow

Question

Hello,My MacBook Pro is painfully slow (it has got worse recently). Applications take ages to load, Firefox is hogging resources and very slow, getting the mouse to focus has a huge lag and I&#x27;m getting spinning wheel.I currently have 4GB of RAM and am considering upgrading to 16GB. Have run an EtreCheck report (below). Is there anything else I need to do? Why has it started being so slow after years of reasonable speed? Is there something I can adjust in Firefox?Opening documents and getting stuff done is getting frustrating!Thanks for your support.EtreCheck version: 3.0.4 (308)Report generated 2016-09-21 12:50:28Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime 9:05Performance: Below AverageClick the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Problem: Computer is too slowDescription:Computer is slow, Internet is slow, getting the mouse to focus in any program is slow, lots of spinning wheel.Hardware Information: ⓘ    MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)     [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty &amp; Service]    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2    1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core    4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]        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; 378Video Information: ⓘ    Intel HD Graphics 4000        Color LCD 1280 x 800System Software: ⓘ    OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1004) - Time since boot: about 7 days Disk Information: ⓘ    APPLE HDD TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)        EFI (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 210 MB         Recovery HD (disk0s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Recovery]: 650 MB         Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 498.88 GB (298.35 GB free)            Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked            Core Storage: disk0s2 499.25 GB Online    MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8   ()USB Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)     Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad     Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver     Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub         Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busGatekeeper: ⓘ    Mac App Store and identified developersStartup Items: ⓘ    HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr    Startup items are obsolete in OS X YosemiteSystem Launch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks    [loaded]    149 Apple tasks    [running]    66 Apple tasks    [killed]    16 Apple tasks    16 processes killed due to insufficient RAMSystem Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [not loaded]    45 Apple tasks    [loaded]    143 Apple tasks    [running]    86 Apple tasks    [killed]    16 Apple tasks    16 processes killed due to insufficient RAMLaunch Agents: ⓘ    [running]    HWPortCfg.plist (2015-09-04) [Support]    [failed]    com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a 23d420d.plist (2016-07-11) [Support]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-12) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Support]    [running]    com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist (2016-07-18) [Support]    [loaded]    ouc.plist (2015-09-04) [Support]Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2016-07-11) [Support]    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2016-07-11) [Support]    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-08-30) [Support]    [running]    com.backblaze.bzserv.plist (2016-07-11) [Support]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-09-02) [Support]    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2012-04-02) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Support]    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist (2014-06-09) [Support]    [running]    com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist (2016-07-18) [Support]User Launch Agents: ⓘ    [failed]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2013-01-06) [Support]    [running]    com.backblaze.bzbmenu.plist (2016-09-14) [Support]Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ    FlashPlayer-10.6: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-13) [Support]    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-07-09)    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-14) [Support]    AdobePDFViewer: 15.017.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-14) [Support]    Flash Player: 23.0.0.162 - SDK 10.9 (2016-09-13) [Support]    Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-07-09)    o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-22) [Support]    SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.6.8 - SDK 10.6 (2016-09-14) [Support]    googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 - SDK 10.8 (2015-12-11) [Support]3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ    Backblaze Backup (2016-07-11) [Support]    Flash Player (2016-08-30) [Support]    Trusteer Endpoint Protection (2016-07-18) [Support]Time Machine: ⓘ    Skip System Files: NO    Mobile backups: ON    Auto backup: YES    Volumes being backed up:        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 498.88 GB Disk used: 200.52 GB    Destinations:        FREECOM HDD [Local]         Total size: 249.72 GB         Total number of backups: 36         Oldest backup: 19/10/2015, 23:58         Last backup: 17/09/2016, 22:59         Size of backup disk: Too small            Backup size 249.72 GB &lt; (Disk used 200.52 GB X 3)Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ        29%    firefox         6%    bzfilelist         4%    kernel_task         3%    coreaudiod         3%    WindowServerTop Processes by Memory: ⓘ    1.58 GB    firefox    652 MB    kernel_task    123 MB    mdworker(11)    82 MB    Skype    57 MB    QuickLookSatellite(3)Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ    26 MB    Free RAM     3.97 GB    Used RAM (621 MB Cached)    5.32 GB    Swap Used

kaz-k · Accepted Answer

Because of memory limitation, virtual memory swap used 5.32GB which is the main part of slowness.You&#x27;d better upgrade RAM as soon as possible.

OGELTHORPE · Answer

In addition to the limited RAM that you have installed, I suggest that you rid the MBP of Trusteer:Rapport:http://www.trusteer.com/en/support/uninstalling-rapport-mac-os-xIn regards to RAM increases, the best Mac compatible RAM are available from OWC and Crucial.Also your HDD is suspect.  Boot into the recovery partition and select Disk Utility from the 4 option menu.  Run Disk Utility&gt;First Aid&gt;Repair.Ciao.

RadioLover28 · Answer

Thank you for confirming and explaining the reason why. Good to know I was doing the right thing - RAM on order!

RadioLover28 · Answer

Thank you - it&#x27;s good to have confirmation on the RAM issue - 16 GB on order, now.Endpoint is something my bank wanted for online banking :/I did the HDD repair. It didn&#x27;t find anything...Thanks again, the machine is almost unusable at times - frustrating as apart from upgrading the El Capitan recently, not much else has change in terms of memory use (yes, it has reindexed!).

alex7375 · Answer

I have the same Macbook Pro. I did an upgrade of 16gb. of ram and 500gb. SSDand now I have not more beachballs.Macbook performs great now.SSD upgrade is more important for performance than ram.