Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I upgraded to MacOS High Sierra and my Mac Mini (Mid 2011) has slowed down considerably. I would like to go back and have downloaded MacOS Sierra from the App Store, but when I try to install it I get a message that the Installer is an old version and will not run on High Sierra. Help!
Mac mini, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2), Mid 2011 edition
Thank you so much for the advice! I did what you said and am copying the results below. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. I really appreciate the help!
EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)
Report generated 2017-12-17 09:03:13
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 5:38
Performance: Below Average
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:ⓘ
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
Mac mini - model: Macmini5,2
1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2520M) 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
Video Information:ⓘ
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
AMD Radeon HD 6630M - VRAM: 256 MB
SDM-HS75P 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz
Disk Information:ⓘ
TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
[redacted]'s (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (195.17 GB free)
(disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
USB Information:ⓘ
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple Inc. Keyboard Hub
Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse
Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information:ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
System Software:ⓘ
macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 (17C88) - Time since boot: about 3 days
Gatekeeper:ⓘ
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions:ⓘ
/Library/Extensions
[loaded] com.malwarebytes.mbam.rtprotection (3.0 - SDK 10.12) [Lookup]
System Launch Agents:ⓘ
[not loaded] 10 Apple tasks
[loaded] 162 Apple tasks
[running] 118 Apple tasks
System Launch Daemons:ⓘ
[failed] com.apple.updateEFIDesktopPicture-apfs.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-12-01)
[not loaded] 40 Apple tasks
[loaded] 169 Apple tasks
[running] 122 Apple tasks
Launch Agents:ⓘ
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]
[running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.frontend.agent.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-10-29) [Lookup]
Launch Daemons:ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-11-27) [Lookup]
[running] com.fitbit.galileod.plist (Fitbit, Inc. - installed 2013-02-25) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-13) [Lookup]
[running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.rtprotection.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-10-29) [Lookup]
[running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.settings.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2017-10-29) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-04-30) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e afb3bef0 - installed 2010-08-25) [Lookup]
User Launch Agents:ⓘ
[loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (Citrix Online LLC - installed 2016-10-03) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-08-10) [Lookup]
[running] com.hp.devicemonitor.plist (HP Inc. - installed 2017-12-14) [Lookup]
User Login Items:ⓘ
Dropbox Application
(/Applications/Dropbox.app)
AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application
(/Applications/Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional/Adobe Acrobat Professional.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)
iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-12-07)
(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
HP Device Monitor SMLoginItem - Hidden (HP Inc. - installed 2017-10-25)
(/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/HPDeviceMonitoring.framework/Versions/1.0/Help ers/HP Device Monitor Manager.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Device Monitor.app)
Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ
Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 3.2.0.16 (installed 2014-01-15) [Lookup]
FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-12) [Lookup]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-12-14)
Flash Player: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-12) [Lookup]
AdobePDFViewer: 8.1.0 (installed 2007-06-11) [Lookup]
iPhotoPhotocast: 6.0 (installed 2008-05-28)
NP_2020Player_WEB: 5.0.94.0 (installed 2011-10-26) [Lookup]
RhapsodyPlayerEngine: 1.0.2 (installed 2006-03-28) [Lookup]
SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.3 (installed 2017-04-30) [Lookup]
Silverlight: 4.0.60531.0 (installed 2011-07-12) [Lookup]
JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2014-08-18) Check version
User internet Plug-ins:ⓘ
CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (installed 2013-04-25) [Lookup]
WebEx64: 1.0 (installed 2015-07-17) [Lookup]
Safari Extensions:ⓘ
[disabled] AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (installed 2017-11-16)
[disabled] Honey - Honey Science Corporation - https://www.joinhoney.com (installed 2017-11-06)
3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ
Flash Player (installed 2017-11-27) [Lookup]
Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2013-03-29) [Lookup]
Time Machine:ⓘ
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
[redacted]'s: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 304.08 GB
Destinations:
WD_Backup [Network]
Total size: 996.41 GB
Total number of backups: 19
Oldest backup: 12/10/17, 3:39 PM
Last backup: 12/17/17, 8:45 AM
Size of backup disk: Adequate
Backup size 996.41 GB > (Disk used 304.08 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ
16% mdworker
14% mdworker
12% mdworker
12% mds
7% WindowServer
Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ
780 MB kernel_task
414 MB softwareupdated
254 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
197 MB mds_stores
187 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
Top Processes by Network Use:ⓘ
Input Output Process name
330 MB 865 MB kernel_task
28 MB 4 MB mDNSResponder
2 MB 1 MB Dropbox
456 KB 99 KB netbiosd
70 KB 29 KB apsd
Top Processes by Energy Use:ⓘ
8.78 WindowServer
2.84 HP Device Monitor
2.48 Safari
2.28 Adobe Photoshop CS3
Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ
2.24 GB Available RAM
74 MB Free RAM
5.76 GB Used RAM
2.16 GB Cached files
20 MB Swap Used
Software installs (last 30 days):ⓘ
Evernote: 6.13.1 (installed 2017-12-05)
Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2017-12-12)
Install information may not be complete.
You have some old and/or undesirable things that you can clean up that will almost certainly help in several ways:
1) The first thing to try is to uninstall Malwarebytes correctly: https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1928 Although useful if you already have some type of infection, running antivirus software on your Mac for prevention has few if any advantages and can arguably introduce performance issues and security vulnerabilities that were not there in the first place.
2) Uninstall the HP Printer software that came with your printer: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02440673
Once uninstalled, reboot and then simply plug your printer into the Mac without installing any of the bloatware that HP provides in the box.
3) Delete the file "~/Library/Launch Agents/com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist". This is likely an old version. Don't reinstall GoToMeeting until you next need to join a meeting (at which time it willprompt you).
4) Download and install the latest version of Dropbox (you don;t need to remove the current version)
5) Uninstall Flip4Mac as it's no longer in development and is therefore likely a vulnerable plug-in. Open Applications > Flip4Mac and hopefully you will see an uninstaller there. Once uninstalled, I would sugest to install VLC Player instead (https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html)
6) Uninstall all of the following browser plugins from your Mac as they are all either outdated, no longer supported, or a security threat. Here is an article on how to remove them: https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-view-and-remove-safari-plug-ins-2260895
7) Remove AdBlock Extension and instead install "uBlock Origin" (a far superior blocker that has the users interest in mind instead of advertisers)
Reboot after cleaning up, see how the performance is, and then run another EtreCheck run so we can see how much cleaner your Mac is.
Why not try to figure out why it's slow instead of giving up and trying to go back. I suggest that you download and run the following utility and then post your results here (https://etrecheck.com/). The results will likely show what processes or resource limitations are causing the slowness.
Thank you so much for the recommendations! I did everything with the exception of the HP printer - since the printer is in another room I am unable to connect directly. After making the changes, I re-ran the EtreCheck and the computer's performance is still below average. Any other suggestions?
Thank you again! Your help is very much appreciated.
EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)
Report generated 2017-12-17 19:06:34
Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com
Runtime: 5:39
Performance: Below Average
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: ⓘ
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]
Mac mini - model: Macmini5,2
1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-2520M) 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
Video Information: ⓘ
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
AMD Radeon HD 6630M - VRAM: 256 MB
SDM-HS75P 1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz
Disk Information: ⓘ
TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0: (500.11 GB) (Rotational)
[Show SMART report]
EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB
[redacted]'s (disk0s2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (197.01 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3 - HFS+) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
USB Information: ⓘ
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
USB20Bus
hub_device
Apple Inc. Keyboard Hub
Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse
Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Virtual disks: ⓘ
Time Machine Backups (disk1s2 - Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Time Machine Backups free)
Physical disk: Disk Image 996.41 GB (389.26 GB free)
System Software: ⓘ
macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 (17C88) - Time since boot: about one hour
Gatekeeper: ⓘ
Mac App Store and identified developers
System Launch Agents: ⓘ
[not loaded] 10 Apple tasks
[loaded] 175 Apple tasks
[running] 105 Apple tasks
System Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[not loaded] 36 Apple tasks
[loaded] 188 Apple tasks
[running] 108 Apple tasks
Launch Agents: ⓘ
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]
Launch Daemons: ⓘ
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-11-27) [Lookup]
[running] com.fitbit.galileod.plist (Fitbit, Inc. - installed 2013-02-25) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-13) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-04-30) [Lookup]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (? 6d8cb30e afb3bef0 - installed 2010-08-25)
User Launch Agents: ⓘ
[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2017-08-10) [Lookup]
[running] com.hp.devicemonitor.plist (HP Inc. - installed 2017-12-17) [Lookup]
User Login Items: ⓘ
iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-12-07)
(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Dropbox Application
(/Applications/Dropbox.app)
AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application
(/Applications/Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional/Adobe Acrobat Professional.app/Contents/Support/
AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)
HP Device Monitor SMLoginItem - Hidden (HP Inc. - installed 2017-10-25)
(/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/HPDeviceMonitoring.framework/Versions/1.0/Helpe rs/HP Device Contents/Library/LoginItems/HP Device Monitor.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2014-08-18) Check version
FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-12) [Lookup]
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-12-14)
Flash Player: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-12) [Lookup]
NP_2020Player_WEB: 5.0.94.0 (installed 2011-10-26) [Lookup]
AdobePDFViewer: 8.1.0 (installed 2007-06-11) [Lookup]
RhapsodyPlayerEngine: 1.0.2 (installed 2006-03-28) [Lookup]
SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.7.3 (installed 2017-04-30) [Lookup]
Silverlight: 4.0.60531.0 (installed 2011-07-12) [Lookup]
iPhotoPhotocast: 6.0 (installed 2008-05-28)
User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ
CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (installed 2013-04-25) [Lookup]
WebEx64: 1.0 (installed 2015-07-17) [Lookup]
Safari Extensions: ⓘ
None
3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ
Flash Player (installed 2017-11-27) [Lookup]
Time Machine: ⓘ
Mobile backups: OFF
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
[redacted]'s: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 302.24 GB
Destinations:
WD_Backup [Network]
Total size: 996.41 GB
Total number of backups: 18
Oldest backup: 12/10/17, 3:39 PM
Last backup: 12/17/17, 5:54 PM
Size of backup disk: Adequate
Backup size 996.41 GB > (Disk used 302.24 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ
12% kernel_task
8% mdworker
8% mdworker
7% mdworker
5% WindowServer
Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ
783 MB kernel_task
390 MB mds_stores
158 MB Dropbox
148 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
136 MB photoanalysisd
Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ
Input Output Process name
168 MB 23 MB kernel_task
6 MB 8 KB IMTransferAgent
879 KB 116 KB mDNSResponder
65 KB 296 KB Dropbox
328 KB 21 KB Mail
Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ
6.54 mds
6.28 WindowServer
3.94 HP Device Monitor
3.70 backupd
Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ
4.42 GB Available RAM
1.66 GB Free RAM
3.58 GB Used RAM
2.77 GB Cached files
0 B Swap Used
Software installs (last 30 days): ⓘ
Evernote: 6.13.1 (installed 2017-12-05)
Adobe Flash Player: (installed 2017-12-12)
"Malwarebytes for Mac Uninstaller": (installed 2017-12-17)
"Malwarebytes for Mac Uninstaller": (installed 2017-12-17)
"Malwarebytes for Mac Uninstaller": (installed 2017-12-17)
"Malwarebytes for Mac Uninstaller": (installed 2017-12-17)
Flip4Mac Uninstaller: (installed 2017-12-17)
Install information may not be complete.
You may want to look in "Login Items" within "Users & Groups" to see what all is running at login. Considering that your Acrobat Pro 8 is no longer a supported version (no longer updating), you may want to remove the related "AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app" Login Item. The other two login items that may be causing slowness would be the HP monitor and Dropbox. You could remove Dropbox from login items, reboot, and then download and reinstall the latest Dropbox client to ensure that that's not the issue.
Lastly, you may want to either remove, or update your FitBit software. The following Launch Daemon from 2013 is running in the background "com.fitbit.galileod.plist (Fitbit, Inc. - installed 2013-02-25)".
I'm running a mid-2012 Macbook Pro with i5 and 4 GB of RAM. According to Activity Monitor, High Sierra is sucking over 500 GB for Kernel but that is about the same amount as Sierra did.
I have had serious lagging opening Mail items, like *minutes* before any content appears below the header. Also stray items appearing in Draft after that folder was emptied the night before.
Anyway, my Login items are only DiskWarrior Starter and Network Strength, no heavy lifting that I can see.
However, before I got to look at Users & Groups in Sys Pref, the iCloud preferences popped up. I deleted as much as I could from Photos and other storage, which I never use (strangely, it won't let me untoggle *all* of the options for Photos, only 2 out of 3 -- it keeps prompting me to pay for upgraded storage instead of letting me toggle off the last option box). I'm getting much better Mail response time now.
I've been an Apple user and general "fan" for over a decade, but it sometimes seems that upgrades make assumptions about defaults, like "how could anybody NOT want to use iCloud?" No thanks. I have two other backup methods.
Original poster bbettaglio: Have you tried opening Mail items when offline?
Can I go back to MacOS Sierra from High Sierra? It has slowed down my Mac mini (Mid 2011)
