iMac running slow, unable to determine why

Question

iMac running slow, unable to determine why

Hi all,

Fairly standard thread about my computer slowing down. Key facts:

The iMac in question is a work computer, with employer garbage software on it
It's been slow since I got it, although it is getting a little worse
It's been very lightly used (because it's slow, I use my personal laptop whenever possible)

The specific problem: I have frequent but irregular delays/freezes/beachballing with:

Opening apps
Opening pages within apps
running processes within apps (e.g., spell-check can take 4-5 sentences before it finally activates and changes a word)
Loading web pages
Logging in

Etc. I know the computer's four years old now, but (a) it's seen very light use, since I mostly use my laptop, and (b) it's been slow in this way since I got it.

The Etrecheck report is pasted below. Thanks so much for your help!

----

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2017-11-13 12:42:14

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 6:40

Performance: Below Average

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Click the [Remove/Report] links to remove adware or update the whitelist of legitimate software.

Problem: Computer is too slow

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac14,3

1 2,9 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4570S) CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless:
en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

iCloud Quota: 3.91 GB available

Video Information: ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M - VRAM: 1024 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) /
[Startup]: 999.21 GB (928.26 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3 - Journaled HFS+) <not mounted>
[Recovery]: 650 MB

USB Information: ⓘ

USB30Bus

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

SteelSeries Rival Gaming Mouse

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

System Software: ⓘ

macOS Sierra
10.12.6 (16G29) - Time since boot: about one hour

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Possible adware: ⓘ

Unknown file: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.github.outset.login-privileged.plist

/usr/local/outset/outset --login-privileged

One possible adware file found. [Remove/Report]

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.sophos.driver.devctrl (9.6.52 - SDK 10.6) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.sophos.kext.oas (9.6.53 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.sophos.kext.sfm (9.6.54 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.sophos.nke.swi (9.6.52 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 6 Apple tasks

[loaded] 171 Apple tasks

[running] 108 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 41 Apple tasks

[loaded] 170 Apple tasks

[running] 107 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2015-04-09) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2015-04-14) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.citrix.AuthManager_Mac.plist (? 1ce99fae d15fecd0 - installed 2015-04-14) [Lookup]

[running] com.citrix.ReceiverHelper.plist (? 75b63b97 2af1b2e9 - installed 2015-04-14) [Lookup]

[running] com.citrix.ServiceRecords.plist (? 8e6543d 46427e19 - installed 2015-04-14) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.github.outset.login.plist (Shell Script 468e16f6 - installed 2017-07-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.github.outset.on-demand.plist (? 30d0d9cd cbf08ada - installed 2017-07-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.googlecode.munki.ManagedSoftwareCenter.plist (Shell Script f8bfedaa - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.googlecode.munki.MunkiStatus.plist (? b698141 8a5a6777 - installed 2017-10-14) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.googlecode.munki.managedsoftwareupdate-loginwindow.plist (Shell Script a546384a - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.googlecode.munki.munki-notifier.plist (? 3604ea2e 870d6555 - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 3a307776 72ac4dde - installed 2017-11-13) [Lookup]

[running] com.sophos.agent.plist (Sophos - installed 2017-09-12) [Lookup]

[running] com.sophos.uiserver.plist (Sophos - installed 2017-09-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (Apple Inc. - XQuartz - installed 2014-08-12) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 564efddb - installed 2017-10-20) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist (? ? ? - installed 2017-07-19)

[loaded] com.github.outset.boot.plist (? a6c65d2c cbf08ada - installed 2017-07-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.github.outset.cleanup.plist (? cb11ef70 cbf08ada - installed 2017-07-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.github.outset.login-privileged.plist (? 93fdbc09 cbf08ada - installed 2017-07-04) [Lookup]

[running] com.googlecode.munki.app_usage_monitor.plist (Shell Script 9be37c7c - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.googlecode.munki.authrestartd.plist (Shell Script b0ba4b4e - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.googlecode.munki.logouthelper.plist (Shell Script ae2422b2 - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.googlecode.munki.managedsoftwareupdate-check.plist (? a3bf0d09 b5cea94e - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.googlecode.munki.managedsoftwareupdate-install.plist (? 70e0ffde b5cea94e - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.googlecode.munki.managedsoftwareupdate-manualcheck.plist (? 5e2eee61 b5cea94e - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[running] com.googlecode.pymacadmin.crankd.plist (Shell Script ba4fe2ff - installed 2017-09-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e a77a86d3 - installed 2012-11-05) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-09-06) [Lookup]

[running] com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist (Sophos - installed 2017-09-14) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.eyebeam.SelfControl.plist (Charlie Stigler - installed 2016-03-21) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (Apple Inc. - XQuartz - installed 2014-08-12) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-08-30) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

Dropbox Application

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Backup and Sync from Google Application

(/Applications/Backup and Sync.app)

goproapp.devicedetection SMLoginItem - Hidden (Woodman Labs, Inc. - installed 2016-11-25)

(/Applications/Quik.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/goproapp.devicedetection.app )

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 (installed 2015-04-09) [Lookup]

FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.183 (installed 2017-11-13) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-10-14)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 11.0.10 (installed 2015-01-12) [Lookup]

AdobePDFViewer: 11.0.10 (installed 2015-01-12) [Lookup]

Flash Player: 27.0.0.183 (installed 2017-11-13) [Lookup]

CitrixICAClientPlugIn: 11.9.0 (installed 2014-11-18) [Lookup]

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.4.9 (installed 2015-04-20) [Lookup]

MeetingJoinPlugin: Unknown (installed 2015-04-14) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 151 build 12 (installed 2017-11-13) Check version

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2017-10-20) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2017-11-13) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

10%
Finder

10%
WindowServer

8%
Activity Monitor

8%
SophosScanD

6%
hidd

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.06 GB
softwareupdated

806 MB kernel_task

455 MB Finder

295 MB Google Chrome

277 MB SophosScanD

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

Input Output Process name

206 MB 804 KB Dropbox

293 KB 351 KB SophosWebIntelligence

50 KB 151 KB SophosSXLD

107 KB 26 KB Simplenote

44 KB 39 KB mDNSResponder

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

15.94 Google Chrome

12.66 Finder

9.16 Google Chrome Helper

8.38 WindowServer

3.88 hidd

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

1.38 GB
Available RAM

47 MB Free RAM

6.62 GB
Used RAM

1.34 GB
Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days): ⓘ

Java 8 Update 144:
(installed 2017-10-17)

MacSDU Sophos Finalize v1.0:
(installed 2017-11-13)

Adobe Flash Player:
(installed 2017-11-13)

Java 8 Update 151:
(installed 2017-11-13)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ

2017-11-13 11:24:57 Backup and Sync.app Crash [Open]

Cause: objc[635]: Invalid or prematurely-freed autorelease pool 0x1010c6938. Set a breakpoint on objc_autoreleasePoolInvalid to debug. Proceeding anyway because the app is old (SDK version 10.9.0). Memory errors are likely.

Files deleted by EtreCheck: ⓘ

2017-11-13 12:28:44 - ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist - Unknown

2017-11-13 12:28:44 - ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.wondershare.TunesGoHelper.plist - Unknown

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013), macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Nov 13, 2017 3:47 AM

Reply

Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

141,150 points

Nov 13, 2017 5:11 AM in response to infinitelyimprobable

Google's Backup and Sync crashed, and Google products of all stripes are notorious for burdening a Mac. You can probably conclude that for yourself by using Activity Monitor, which will reveal Google to be the resource hog that it is: Use Activity Monitor on your Mac - Apple Support.

Google may be intrusive and burdensome, but unlike non-Apple "anti-virus" junk their products may actually be useful to you. You can find out for yourself by uninstalling it according to Google's instructions. If you simply can't live without Google you can always install it again, but beware that Google's automatic updating services can make it difficult to correlate poor performance to it. A Mac that runs perfectly well one day may run poorly the next, due to some update that Google pushed to your Mac unannounced.

Back up your Mac prior to making any changes to its file system. To learn how to use Time Machine please read How to use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support.

Since they came to be in the traditionally virus-prone Windows PC environment, corporate "IT" departments are always enamored with "anti-virus" products, having been inured to their perceived need for a number of reasons, many of which are no longer relevant. Those products are categorically useless on Macs. When companies and institutions abandon their PCs in favor of Macs and iOS devices, their IT departments are usually decimated. As you might imagine they are never fond of that prospect.

Every institution in which I have personally involved in ridding themselves of Windows PCs have had their IT departments reduced by at least 90%, and in many cases eliminated altogether. The cost in terms of economic and productivity resources no longer wasted on them is incalculably high.

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 13, 2017 4:16 AM in response to John Galt

Hi John, thanks for stopping by!

Booting in safe mode was a very strange experience. Two big things:

Apps definitely load faster. Not as fast as they do on a new Mac (e.g. in an Apple store), but much better than normal. Evernote returns search results in under a second and loads note contents with a barely-perceptible delay, Chrome opens in a couple of seconds, etc.
MAJOR graphics problems. Starting as soon as I finished typing my login password and hit "enter", the screen has been visibly flickering every time it loads a new graphic, with images stuttering (e.g. during the "bounce" animation for an application's dock icon when you open it) and image layers visibly loading in lines from the top of the screen to the bottom, etc. I've never seen any problems like these during non-safe-mode use.

During my research, I read something about "display RAM". Might that be the issue?

Thanks very much again!

Reply

Answer 3

Nov 13, 2017 4:52 AM in response to infinitelyimprobable

In my experience, two things can slow down any Mac (and PCs):

Anti-virus (Sophos in your case).
Google tools (I've seen it spawn multiple processes that take much resources).

I'd try the following:

Do a Time Machine of your Mac (as a backup plan) and save your personal file on an external drive;
Uninstall Sophos --> See if this helps
If not:
Boot in Recovery mode (hold CMD+R on boot) and select the Reinstall macOS (this should not delete any user files, simply overwrite system files that could have been overwritten by other software). --> See if it helps
If this does not help:
- Boot in Recovery mode (hold CMD+R on boot);
- Erase your drive using Disk Utility;
- Select Restore from Time Machine;
- Reboot and see if that helps.
Last option:
- Boot in Recovery mode (hold CMD+R on boot);
- Erase your drive using Disk Utility;
- Reinstall macOS from scratch;
- Restore your backup of personal files;
- Reinstall your apps.

Good luck!

Reply

Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

141,150 points

Nov 13, 2017 4:23 AM in response to infinitelyimprobable

Rule 1 of Macs is don't install junk.

Uninstall "Sophos". Use the Remove Sophos Anti-Virus program. It will be installed in your Mac's Applications folder, unless you moved or deleted it. In that case, follow their uninstallation instructions here: https://community.sophos.com/kb/en-us/122710.

(2) is normal because hardware graphics acceleration is disabled in Safe Mode.

Reply

Answer 5

Nov 13, 2017 4:30 AM in response to John Galt

Unfortunately, my version of Sophos was installed by my employer, and I can't remove it without their permission and the Tamper Protection password. I'll get in touch with them right away to ask about that.

I'll post back here if I'm able to get rid of it - shall I try something else in the meantime?

Thanks again =)

Reply

Answer 6

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Nov 13, 2017 7:22 AM in response to infinitelyimprobable

Possible adware: ⓘ

Unknown file: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.github.outset.login-privileged.plist

/usr/local/outset/outset --login-privileged

One possible adware file found. [Remove/Report]

Run the report again and click [Remove/Report].

Reply

Answer 7

softwater

Level 5

5,556 points

Nov 13, 2017 10:59 PM in response to infinitelyimprobable

You might not want to remove the github stuff as suggested above, as it's likely been installed by your employer to work with munki, and it's certainly not adware.

My advice is take your mac to the sys admin / IT department responsible for administering your mac and get them to sort it out.

Reply

Answer 8

John Galt

Level 10

141,150 points

Nov 13, 2017 4:06 AM in response to infinitelyimprobable

Please determine if the same problems occur in "Safe Mode": Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support.

Reply

Answer 9

Nov 13, 2017 4:53 AM in response to °Bernz°

Hi Bernz,

Thanks very much! I'll do this as soon as I convince my IT people to let me uninstall Sophos. I appreciate the guide, and I hope you have a good day =)

Reply