Interpreting EtreCheck Results to Improve MBP Performance

Question

Hello all,
I have a MBP from '09 and I have been suffering from some abysmal performance and find myself constantly staring at the beachball. I have taken the advice of some on the forum by repairing system disk permissions and running EtreCheck. I was wondering if someone could help me interpret the EnteCheck results to identify some red flags. I've isolated one of the issues as being GoogleChromeHelper, which was throwing errors in my Console Log every few minutes, as a result I am now using Safari which is a bit better. Common errors in my console are related to the com.apple.IconServicesAgent, which is also taking up quite a bit of memory when my system is idle. What can I do to get this Mac operable again?
Hardware Information:
          MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)
          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,3
          1 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores
          8 GB RAM
Video Information:
          NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB
          NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - VRAM: 256 MB
System Software:
          OS X 10.9.1 (13B42) - Uptime: 0 days 0:48:25
Disk Information:
          TOSHIBA MK5065GSXF disk0 : (500.11 GB)
                    Untitled (disk0s2) /: 499.25 GB (268.76 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
          MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-868 
USB Information:
          Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
          Apple Internal Memory Card Reader
          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
          Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
Kernel Extensions:
          com.viscosityvpn.Viscosity.tap          (1.0)
          com.viscosityvpn.Viscosity.tun          (1.0)
Startup Items:
          HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr
          HWPortDetect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect
          StartOuc: Path: /Library/StartupItems/StartOuc
Problem System Launch Daemons:
Problem System Launch Agents:
Launch Daemons:
          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [invalid] com.bjango.istatlocaldaemon.plist
          [loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist 3rd-Party support link
Launch Agents:
          [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.bjango.istatlocal.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.divx.dms.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.divx.update.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist 3rd-Party support link
User Launch Agents:
          [failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist 3rd-Party support link
          [failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist 3rd-Party support link
          [loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist 3rd-Party support link
User Login Items:
          BoxSyncHelper
          iTunesHelper
          Dropbox
          Spotify
          Viscosity
Internet Plug-ins:
          o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010 3rd-Party support link
          OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 3rd-Party support link
          Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
          net.juniper.DSSafariExtensions: Version: (null) 3rd-Party support link
          AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          DivX Web Player: Version: 3.0.1.5 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.170 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update
          iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8
          googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 4.9.1.16010 3rd-Party support link
          npgtpo3dautoplugin: Version: 0.1.44.29 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link
          AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.03 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
          SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20125.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 45 Outdated! Update
Audio Plug-ins:
          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9
          AirPlay: Version: 1.9 - SDK 10.9
          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0 - SDK 10.9
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9
User Internet Plug-ins:
          WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Box Sync  3rd-Party support link
          Flash Player  3rd-Party support link
          Java  3rd-Party support link
Bad Fonts:
          None
Old Applications:
          None
Time Machine:
          Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU:
              10%          com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
               4%          WindowServer
               4%          Safari
               2%          hidd
               1%          SystemUIServer
Top Processes by Memory:
          156 MB          com.apple.IconServicesAgent
          156 MB          Safari
          131 MB          com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
          123 MB          mds_stores
          82 MB          Finder
Virtual Memory Information:
          4.85 GB          Free RAM
          1.75 GB          Active RAM
          165 MB          Inactive RAM
          1006 MB          Wired RAM
          671 MB          Page-ins
          0 B          Page-outs

Answer 1

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It changes nothing, for better or worse, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.
If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data before doing anything else. The backup is necessary on general principle, not because of anything in the test procedure. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.
Below are instructions to run a UNIX shell script, a type of program. All it does is to gather information about the state of your computer. That information goes nowhere unless you choose to share it on this page. However, you should be cautious about running a program at the instance of a stranger on a public message board. If you have doubts, search this site for other discussions in which this procedure has been followed without any report of ill effects. If you can't satisfy yourself that the instructions are safe, don't follow them.
Here's a summary of what you need to do: Copy a line of text from this web page into the window of another application. Wait about a minute. Then paste some other text, which will have been copied automatically, back into a reply on this page. The sequence is: copy, paste, wait, paste again. Details follow.
You may have started the computer in "safe" mode. Preferably, these steps should be taken in “normal” mode. If the system is now in safe mode and works well enough in normal mode to run the test, restart as usual. If you can only test in safe mode, do that.
If you have more than one user, and the one affected by the problem is not an administrator, then please run the test twice: once while logged in as the affected user, and once as an administrator. The results may be different. The user that is created automatically on a new computer when you start it for the first time is an administrator. If you can't log in as an administrator, test as the affected user. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.
The script is a single long line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking  anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, though you may not see all of it in your browser, and you can then copy it. If you try to select the line by dragging across the part you can see, you won't get all of it.
Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it:
clear; shopt -s extglob; Fb='%s\n\t(%s)\n'; Fm='\n%s:\n\n%s\n'; Fs='\n%s: %s\n'; Fu='User %s%%\t\tSystem %s%%'; PB="/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c Print"; A () { [[ a -eq 0 ]]; }; R () { o=; [[ r -eq 0 ]]; }; Pm () { [[ "$o" ]] && o=`sed 's/^ */   /' <<< "$o"` && printf "$Fm" "$1" "$o"; }; Pc () { o=`egrep -v '^[[:blank:]]*($|#)' "$2"`; Pm "$1"; }; Pp () { o=`$PB "$2" | awk -F'= ' \/$3'/{print $2}'`; Pm "$1"; }; Ps () { o="${o##+( )}"; [[ ! "$o" =~ ^0?$ ]] && printf "$Fs" "$1" "$o"; }; id | grep -qw '80(admin)'; a=$?; A && sudo true; r=$?; t=`date +%s`; clear; { A || echo $'No admin access\n'; A && ! R && echo $'No root access\n'; system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType | sed '8!d;s/^ *//'; o=`system_profiler SPDiagnosticsDataType | sed '5,6!d'`; [[ "$o" =~ Pass ]] || Pm "POST"; o=`pmset -g therm | sed 's/^.*CP/CP/'`; grep -q 'No th' <<< "$o" && o=; Pm "Thermal conditions"; o=`pmset -g sysload | grep -v :`; grep -q '= [^GO]' <<< "$o" || o=; Pm "System load advisory"; o=`nvram boot-args | awk '{$1=""; print}'`; Ps "boot-args"; o=`ls /L*/L*/Dia*/*.panic | wc -l`; Ps "Panics"; o=`ls /L*/L*/Dia*/*.c* | tail`; Pm "System crash logs"; o=`ls L*/L*/Dia* | tail`; Pm "User crash logs"; o=`syslog -F bsd -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'GPU |hfs: Ru|I/O e|n Cause: -|NVDA\(|pagin|SATA W|timed? ?o' | tail -n25 | awk '/:/{$4=""; $5=""; print}'`; Pm "Kernel messages"; o=`df -m / | awk 'NR==2 {print $4}'`; [[ o -lt 5120 ]] && Ps "Free space (MiB)"; o=$(($(vm_stat | awk '/eo/{sub("\\.",""); print $2}')/256)); o=$((o>=1024?o:0)); Ps "Pageouts (MiB)"; s=( `sar -u 1 10 | sed '$!d'` ); [[ s[4] -lt 90 ]] && o=`printf "$Fu" ${s[1]} ${s[3]}` || o=; Pm "Total CPU usage" && o=`ps acrx -o comm,ruid,%cpu | sed '2!d'`; Pm "Max %CPU by process (name, UID, %)"; o=`kextstat -kl | grep -v com\\.apple | cut -c53- | cut -d\< -f1`; Pm "Loaded extrinsic kernel extensions"; R && o=`sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix\.cron)|org\.(amav|apac|calendarse|cups|dove|isc|ntp|post[fg]|x)/{print $3}'`; Pm "Extrinsic system jobs"; o=`launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|org\.(x|openbsd)|\.[0-9]+$/{print $3}'`; Pm "Extrinsic agents"; for d in {/,}L*/{La,Priv,Sta}*; do o=`ls -A "$d" | egrep -v '^(\.DS_Store$|com\.apple\.)'`; Pm "$d"; done; o=`find -L /S*/L*/E* {/,}L*/{A*d,Compon,Ex,In,Keyb,Mail,P*P,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo}* -type d -name Contents -prune | while read d; do ID=$($PB\ :CFBundleIdentifier "$d/Info.plist") || ID="No bundle ID"; egrep -qv "^com\.apple\.[^x]|Accusys|ArcMSR|ATTO|HDPro|HighPoint|driver\.stex|hp-fax|\.hpio|JMicron|microsoft\.MDI|print|SoftRAID" <<< $ID && printf "$Fb" "${d%/Contents}" "$ID"; done`; Pm "Extrinsic loadable bundles"; o=`find /u*/{,*/}lib -type f -exec sh -c 'file -b "$1" | grep -qw shared && ! codesign -v "$1"' {} {} \; -print`; Pm "Unsigned shared libraries"; o=`launchctl getenv DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES`; Pm "Inserted libraries"; o=`find {,/u*/lo*}/e*/periodic -type f -mtime -10d`; Pm "Modified periodic scripts"; o=`scutil --proxy | grep Prox`; Pm "Proxies"; o=`scutil --dns | awk '/r\[0\] /{if ($NF !~ /^1(0|72\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])|92\.168)\./) print $NF; exit}'`; Ps "DNS"; R && o=`sudo profiles -P | grep :`; Pm "Profiles"; for f in fstab sysctl.conf crontab launchd.conf; do Pc $f /etc/$f; done; Pc "hosts" <(egrep -v '(local|broadcast)host' /etc/hosts); Pc "User launchd" ~/.launchd; R && Pc "Root crontab" <(sudo crontab -l); Pc "User crontab" <(crontab -l); R && o=`sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook`; Pm "Login hook"; Pp "Global login items" /L*/P*/loginw* Path; Pp "User login items" L*/P*/*loginit* Name; Pp "Safari extensions" L*/Saf*/*/E*.plist Bundle | sed 's/\..*$//;s/-[1-9]$//'; o=`find ~ $TMPDIR.. \( -flags +sappnd,schg,uappnd,uchg -o ! -user $UID -o ! -perm -600 \) | wc -l`; Ps "Restricted user files"; cd; o=`system_profiler SPFontsDataType | egrep "Valid: N|Duplicate: Y" | wc -l`; Ps "Font problems"; o=`find L*/{Con,Pref}* -type f ! -size 0 -name *.plist ! -exec sh -c 'plutil -s "$1" >&-' {} {} \; -print`; Pm "Bad plists"; d=(Desktop L*/Keyc*); n=(20 7); for i in {0..1}; do o=`find "${d[$i]}" -type f -maxdepth 1 | wc -l`; o=$((o<=n[$i]?0:o)); Ps "${d[$i]##*/} files"; done; o=$((`date +%s`-t)); Ps "Elapsed time (s)"; } 2>/dev/null | pbcopy; exit 2>&-
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign ($) or a percent sign (%). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.
Click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). The text you pasted should vanish immediately. If it doesn't, press the return key.
If you're logged in as an administrator, you'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You will not see the usual dots in place of typed characters. Make sure caps lock is off. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you make three failed attempts to enter the password, the test will run anyway, but it will produce less information. In most cases, the difference is not important.
If you're not logged in as an administrator, you won't be prompted for your password. The test will still run. It just won't do anything that requires administrator rights.
The test may take up to a few minutes to run, depending on how many files you have and the speed of the computer. A computer that's abnormally slow may take longer to run the test. There is no indication of progress until it's done. Wait for the line "[Process completed]" to appear in the Terminal window. If you don't see that line within half an hour or so, the test probably won't complete in a reasonable time. In that case, close the Terminal window and report your results. No harm will be done.
When the test is complete, quit Terminal. The results will have been copied to the Clipboard automatically. They are not shown in the Terminal window. Please don't copy anything from there. All you have to do is start a reply to this comment and then paste by pressing command-V again.
If any private information, such as your name or email address, appears in the results, anonymize it before posting. Usually that won't be necessary.
When you post the results, you might see the message, "You have included content in your post that is not permitted." That's because the forum software falsely identifies something in the post as a violation of the terms of use. If that happens, please post the results on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.
Note: This is a public forum, and others may give you advice based on the results of the test. They speak only for themselves, and I don't necessarily agree with them.
Copyright © 2014 Linc Davis. As the sole author of this work, I reserve all rights to it except as provided in the Terms of Use of Apple Support Communities ("ASC"). Readers of ASC may copy it for their own personal use. Neither the whole nor any part may be redistributed.