Computer really REALLY slow

Question

I have a MacBook running OSX 10.6.8.  Yesterday it started running really slowly and even locking up.  This seems to be especially true when or after I use Firefox.
I have run the TechTool Delux diagnostics and everything came up fine.  I have used the Disk Utility to Repair Permissions and Repair Disk.  I have run Snow Leopard Cache Cleaner (the demo version) and done everything the program offers in the window (haven't tried the menu bar to see if there are other options there) including a deep cache cleaning.  Nothing helps.  It's still really slow to boot, really slow to react to any command, and seems to get worse every time I use Firefox (which of course I'm not doing anymore).
Is there anything else I can do, any other program I can run, before I take it in to a technician?

Answer 1

Booting in safe mode does take longer than a regular boot. That's to be expected. I was hoping you would test the same applications in safe mode that are giving trouble. I wouldn't expect Entourage to work in safe mode at all, because the Microsoft license monitoring process isn't running.
So let's just skip that step. Assuming you're not in safe mode now, please launch the Terminal application, copy or drag -- do not type -- the line of text below into the window, and press return:
kextstat -kl | awk ' !/apple/ { print $6 $7 } '
Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.)
Next, do the same thing with this line:
sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|com\.vix|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
That's one line, not two. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning.
Next, this command:
launchctl list | sed 1d | awk ' !/0x|apple|edu\.|org\./ { print $3 } '
Again, one line. Finally, one more:
ls -1 /Library/{InputManagers,StartupItems}
Remember, this is all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer -- no typing, except your password.
You can then quit Terminal.