Macbook Pro running very slowly, randomly shutting off and overheating. No idea what the problem is! Please help!

Question

I got macbook pro about a year and a half ago and up until now it has been running fine.
However, in the last few days, it has been started to run tediously slowly!
It wont allow me to open applications and i have to force quit out of any applications I finally manage to have because they freeze or stop responding.
On Google Chrome, pages become unresponsive every few minutes.
Even writing this post took more than 20 minutes as the laptop kept freezing and the webpage became unresponsive.
It also randomly shuts off and when it restarts, a message comes up saying my Macbook was restarted because of an error.
I haven't downloaded or updated anything that I know of recently that would have caused this.
Ive been reading through some of the fourms on this and I thought it'd be helpfull to post some of the information you may need to help me solve this problem!
Id be very gratefull if any of you could help! Thanks!
In the Activity Monitor, my CPU is currently:
System: 3.40%
User: 4.20%
Idle: 92.40%
Hardware Information:
          MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2
          1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores
          4 GB RAM
Video Information:
          Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1024 MB
System Software:
          OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) - Uptime: 0 days 6:22:39
Disk Information:
          TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF disk0 : (750.16 GB)
                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 749.3 GB (357.93 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
          MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-8A8 
USB Information:
          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
          Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
          Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Configuration files:
          /etc/hosts - Count: 44 - Corrupt!
Launch Daemons:
          [System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] org.eyebeam.SelfControl.plist 3rd-Party support link
Launch Agents:
          [System] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [System] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist 3rd-Party support link
User Launch Agents:
          [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
          [not loaded] com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [not loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist 3rd-Party support link
User Login Items:
          iTunesHelper
          Dropbox
          Android File Transfer Agent
Internet Plug-ins:
          OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 3rd-Party support link
          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
          AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 3rd-Party support link
          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.9 3rd-Party support link
          DivXBrowserPlugin: Version: 2.2 3rd-Party support link
          Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 Cannot contact Adobe
          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
          Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.0 3rd-Party support link
          AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.9 3rd-Party support link
          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Outdated! Update
Safari Extensions:
          DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video>: Version: 2.1.2.145
          AdBlock: Version: 2.5.45
          AdBlock: Version: 2.6.18
Audio Plug-ins:
          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
          AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9
          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
iTunes Plug-ins:
          Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          DivX  3rd-Party support link
          Flash Player  3rd-Party support link
          Growl  3rd-Party support link
Old Applications:
          None
Time Machine:
          Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU:
              12%          WindowServer
               4%          mds
               3%          opendirectoryd
               3%          Google Chrome
               2%          coreaudiod
Top Processes by Memory:
          205 MB          com.apple.IconServicesAgent
          147 MB          Finder
          131 MB          Google Chrome
          123 MB          VLC
          106 MB          softwareupdated
Virtual Memory Information:
          516 MB          Free RAM
          1.43 GB          Active RAM
          1.40 GB          Inactive RAM
          676 MB          Wired RAM
          1.83 GB          Page-ins
          0 B          Page-outs

Answer 1

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your personal files or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.