how to clean your mac for optimizing performance

Question

Level 1

8 points

how to clean your mac for optimizing performance

Hello everyone,

I have two computers in question that need maintenance. First is my iMac, late 2013 that is slowing down a bit despite upgrade of Ram to 32Gb. I have a Mac Book Pro Mid 2011 that is just not doing well at all. Super clogged and super slow despite most storage done to an exterior hard drive. Also the Macbook pro received an upgrade in Ram to 8GB. I have already done the necessary reading on why cleaning software is a bad idea so I have not downloaded any cleaning software. I have only done Etrecheck.

I have run Etrecheck on the iMac and the Macbook pro and nothing was signaled in terms of worrisome behavior. I went into "About this Mac" storage for the Macbook pro and I have 68gb of information that is listed under "Other" - this means not apps and not photos..... etc. I'm thinking this is where I need to clean.

You should know with the iMac and the Macbook pro are running on Yosemite. I missed the Elcapitan boat since I was in a work crunch for awhile now and each time I update, all my peripherals need updating as well-so I just didn't want to deal with it and lose time. I looked into upgrading to High Sierra but in the past I have had issues with beta versions and I do not have an SSD (which apparently helps for the filing system on High Sierra).

I backup the entire system regularly with Time Machine. I do no illegal surfing or movie downloading or anything that might have made me catch a bug. Both my computers are used for work so I do not do anything shady since this is my livelihood I would be toying with.

So I guess my question is, how do I manually clean the computer without removing anything essential? All this in the interest of smoother performance.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Anadeco

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 32G RAM updated

Posted on Dec 8, 2017 6:41 AM

Reply

Answer 1

anadeco Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 8, 2017 7:27 AM in response to macjack

Here they are:

This is for the iMac

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)
Report generated 2017-12-08 16:11:47
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime: 2:35
Performance: Excellent

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities. Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Computer is too slow Hardware Information: i

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service] iMac - model: iMac14,2
1 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7-4771) CPU: 4-core
32 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1
8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Video Information: i NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M - VRAM: 4096 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

Disk Information: i

APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk0: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

(disk0s1) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 999.35 GB (857.25 GB free)

(disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

USB Information: i XHCI Root Hub SS Simulation

Seagate Expansion Desk 5 TB XHCI Root Hub USB 2.0 Simulation

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in) Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller Iomega Iomega eGo HDD 1 TB
Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive
Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive

Thunderbolt Information: i Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: i

Black Terra (disk2s2 - HFS+) /Volumes/Black Terra : 1.00 TB (657.17 GB free) Physical disk: (null) 1.00 TB (657.17 GB free)

Cinque Terra W (disk3s2 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Cinque Terra W : 2.00 TB (1.92 TB free) Physical disk: (null) 2.00 TB (1.92 TB free)

Cinque Terra H (disk3s3 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Cinque Terra H : 3.00 TB (2.89 TB free) Physical disk: (null) 3.00 TB (2.89 TB free)

System Software: i OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F2511) - Time since boot: about one hour

Gatekeeper: i Mac App Store and identified developers

System Launch Agents: i

[not loaded] 4 Apple tasks [loaded] 157 Apple tasks [running] 51 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: i

[not loaded] 48 Apple tasks [loaded] 137 Apple tasks [running] 78 Apple tasks

Launch Daemons: i

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 a56d5fc2 - installed 2017-10-26) [Lookup] [loaded] com.ipvanish.osx.vpnhelper.plist (Mudhook Marketing, Inc. - installed 2017-12-07) [Lo

o

Internet Plug-ins: i

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-16) [Lookup] OVSHelper: 1.1 (installed 2015-08-24) [Lookup] Default Browser: 600 (installed 2015-08-21)
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.2.0.16 (installed 2014-01-22) [Lookup] Silverlight: 5.1.10411.0 (installed 2014-10-28) [Lookup] FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.187 (installed 2017-11-16) [Lookup] DivX Web Player: 3.3.1.17 (installed 2015-08-17) [Lookup] QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-07-29)

Flash Player: 27.0.0.187 (installed 2017-11-16) Cannot contact Adobe googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11) [Lookup] NP_2020Player_IKEA: 5.0.94.1 (installed 2012-09-28) [Lookup] iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2013-04-10)

PepperFlashPlayer: 27.0.0.187 (installed 2017-11-16) [Lookup] JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.0 (installed 2012-06-17) Check version

3rd Party Preference Panes: i Flash Player (installed 2017-10-26) [Lookup]

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2013-03-29) [Lookup] Time Machine: i

Skip System Files: NO
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off Volumes being backed up:

Cinque Terra W: Disk size: 2.00 TB Disk used: 79.31 GB Black Terra: Disk size: 1.00 TB Disk used: 343.03 GB Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB Disk used: 142.10 GB Cinque Terra H: Disk size: 3.00 TB Disk used: 105.11 GB

Destinations:
Back Me UP [Local]
Total size: 5.00 TB
Total number of backups: 11 Oldest backup: 1/27/16, 7:05 PM Last backup: 12/6/17, 6:06 PM Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 5.00 TB > (Disk used 669.55 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: i

3% WindowServer 2% kernel_task

2% mds
1% mdworker
1% com.apple.WebKit.Networking

Top Processes by Memory: i

1.46 GB 535 MB 266 MB 202 MB 167 MB

kernel_task com.apple.WebKit.WebContent Safari
imagent
mds_stores

Top Processes by Energy Use: i

4.88 WindowServer
0.94 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent 0.54 launchd
0.46 com.apple.WebKit.Networking

Virtual Memory Information: i

27.01 GB
24.33 GB
4.99 GB
2.68 GB
0 B Swap Used

Available RAM Free RAM Used RAM Cached files

Software installs (last 30 days): i

Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2017-11-09)
Adobe Pepper Flash Player: (installed 2017-11-09) WhatsApp: 0.2.6969 (installed 2017-11-13)
Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2017-11-16)
Adobe Pepper Flash Player: (installed 2017-11-16)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): i 2017-12-08 14:58:21 Last shutdown cause: 3 - Hard shutdown

Standard users cannot read /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports. Run as an administrator account to see more information.

And this is for the Macbook Pro

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)
Report generated 2017-12-08 16:17:02
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime: 3:47
Performance: Good

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities. Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Computer is too slow Hardware Information: i

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Early 2011) [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service] MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2415M) CPU: 2-core
8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0
4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Battery: Health = Replace Soon - Cycle count = 3092

Video Information: i Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

Disk Information: i

Hitachi HTS545032B9A302 disk0: (320,07 GB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

(disk0s1) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 319.21 GB (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-898 ()

USB Information: i

EHCI Root Hub Simulation
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

hub_device
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

EHCI Root Hub Simulation hub_device

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: i Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: i Macintosh HD (disk1 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 318.84 GB (212.68 GB free)

Physical disk: disk0s2 319.21 GB Online

System Software: i OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F1912) - Time since boot: about one day

Gatekeeper: i Mac App Store and identified developers

System Launch Agents: i [not loaded] 5 Apple tasks

[loaded]

[running]

142 Apple tasks 55 Apple tasks

[killed]
10 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

System Launch Daemons: i [not loaded] 47 Apple tasks

[loaded]

[running]

133 Apple tasks 71 Apple tasks

10 Apple tasks

[killed]
11 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Agents: i

[failed]

com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (Seiko Epson Corporation - installed 2017-08-01) [L Launch Daemons: i

[loaded]

[loaded] [Lookup]

[loaded] [loaded]

com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-1 com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 564efddb - installed 2017-10-20) [Lookup] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e 7ca9944 - installed 2015-06-

11 Apple tasks

3

o

1 0

0

[Lookup]

User Launch Agents: i

[loaded] [Lookup]

[loaded]

[loaded] [Lookup]

HP Device Monitor SMLoginItem - Hidden (Hewlett Packard - installed 2016-10-02) (/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/HPDeviceMonitoring.framework/Versions/1.0/Help ers/HP D

Monitor Manager.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Device Monitor.app)

Internet Plug-ins: i

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (installed 2013-10-07) [Lookup] Default Browser: 600 (installed 2015-08-21)
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 2.4.0.11 (installed 2011-11-27) [Lookup] VLC Plugin: 1.0.5 (installed 2011-09-19) [Lookup] AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (installed 2017-12-01) [Lookup] FlashPlayer-10.6: 27.0.0.183 (installed 2017-11-11) [Lookup] Silverlight: 5.1.40416.0 (installed 2015-05-30) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2016-10-02)
Flash Player: 27.0.0.183 (installed 2017-11-11) Outdated! Update iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2012-04-27) NP_2020Player_IKEA: 5.0.94.0 (installed 2011-10-26) [Lookup] AdobePDFViewer: 18.009.20050 (installed 2017-12-01) [Lookup] SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.2 (installed 2017-03-26) [Lookup]

User internet Plug-ins: i WebEx64: 1.0 (installed 2013-10-18) [Lookup]

3rd Party Preference Panes: i

Flash Player (installed 2017-10-20) [Lookup] Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2011-06-30) [Lookup] Perian (installed 2011-07-23) [Lookup]

Time Machine: i Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: i 14% mds

com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (Citrix Online LLC - installed 2017-0

com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup] com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (Citrix Online LLC - installed 2017-10-

com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2017-12-08) [Lookup] User Login Items: i

[running]

7 1

8% mdworker
6% WindowServer
5% mdworker
3% com.hp.devicemonitor

Top Processes by Memory: i

889 MB 708 MB 556 MB 375 MB 359 MB

com.apple.WebKit.WebContent kernel_task com.apple.WebKit.WebContent Safari

Spotify Helper

Top Processes by Energy Use: i

7.28 WindowServer
3.54 Dock
3.26 com.hp.devicemonitor 1.26 Spotify

Virtual Memory Information: i

2.76 GB 921 MB 5.24 GB 1.86 GB 64 MB

Available RAM Free RAM Used RAM Cached files Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days): i

Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2017-11-11)
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (18.009.20044): (installed 2017-11-15) Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (18.009.20050): (installed 2017-12-01)

Install information may not be complete.

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

The mac book pro says insufficient Ram which is odd since 8GB should be sufficient -NO?

2017-12-08 12:02:16 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent High CPU use [Open] [Details] 2017-12-07 18:21:55 Last shutdown cause: 3 - Hard shutdown

Reply

Answer 2

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Dec 8, 2017 8:15 AM in response to anadeco

The Etrecheck reports show no obvious causes for the slowness. You are correct that 8GB RAM in the MBP should be sufficient. However it does have a slow rotational HDD. That still doesn't explain the iMac. What happens when you test in a new user account?

Reply

Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Dec 8, 2017 9:30 AM in response to anadeco

I didn't mean to run Etrecheck in a new user. I only meant to test your system in a new user. Did you still notice the slowness in a new user? If you did, then I would install Mac OS on a clean external hard drive and test. If that works as expected, you can copy your own data to it and clone to your internal.

Reply

Answer 4

anadeco Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 9, 2017 7:02 AM in response to macjack

Hi MacJack,

So I followed instructions and used the guest accounts for the last 24hrs.... here is what I found:

Apps work generally well on the iMac.

Pages works fine.

iTunes works fine.

iPhoto works fine.

Access to exterior hard drives and open close of files is smooth.

I synced my daughters phone in this new account (which will be hers from now on)... no issues with the phone sync.

Safari is very slow..... Uncommonly slow even as compared to my account. I have had Safari issues on my account so this is not surprising.... Something is wrong there.

Login/Logout is very slow as well. I used both quick switch between users and completely logging out to change to other user. The switch took over two minutes.

I am still "diagnosing" the Macbook pro. I'll get back to you shortly.

I do not know how to do what you have proposed. Is there a step by step I can look to?

Reply

Answer 5

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Dec 9, 2017 7:09 AM in response to anadeco

To install a clean copy of Mac OS on an external drive just download it from the AppStore and choose the external to install to. But since most of the problems aren't present in another account, it would seem to be some corruption in your user account.

In System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items, delete all Login Items using the ➖ button and test (You can always add them back later)

Reply

Answer 6

anadeco Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 10, 2017 1:30 AM in response to anadeco

just a second thought..... back in 2015 I downloaded Malwarebytes. I had an external drive that was corrupted and I had read a thread that this was one of the more effective tools. I can't seem to uninstall it now. I followed the uninstall instructions and alas nothing is happening. Just thought you should know. I wrote to the developper since he was on the thread I originally followed.... let's see what he has to say.

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