Mac Mini running slow after Mavericks

Question

Hi All
I have a Mac Mini which I upgraded to Mavericks and now it intermittently runs extremely slow - almost at a standstill. I have tried a number of things, such as a complete OSX re-install; I've used MacKeeper to tidy up my junk; I have installed Time Machine Scheduler to stop constant back-ups; I have tested the machine when the Iomega Time Machine drive is unconnected and my 2TB external archive drive is unattached too; I have removed Flashplayer programmes, Silver light etc etc. But nothing is helping (I have not tried uninstalling Microsoft Office, yet!).
I is a busy working machine and I am now having to resort to using my Mac Air because things are so bad.
Weirdly, my wife's identical Mac Mini (with Mavericks) has none of these problems.
Here is my report from EtreCheck.... PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP AS I GOING CRAZY!!!
Thanks
Keith
Hardware Information:
    Mac mini (Mid 2010)
    Mac mini - model: Macmini4,1
    1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores
    4 GB RAM
Video Information:
    NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB
System Software:
    OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) - Uptime: 0 days 0:29:13
Disk Information:
    TOSHIBA MK3255GSXF disk0 : (320.07 GB)
        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 319.21 GB (216.75 GB free)
    HL-DT-STDVDRW  GA32N 
USB Information:
    Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub
        Mitsumi Electric Apple Optical USB Mouse
        Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard
    Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
Kernel Extensions:
    [kext loaded]    com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.64) Support
    [not loaded]    com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverVSP (0.0.64) Support
    [kext loaded]    net.kromtech.kext.AVKauth (2.3.6 - SDK 10.8) Support
    [kext loaded]    net.kromtech.kext.Firewall (2.3.6 - SDK 10.8) Support
Launch Daemons:
    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support
    [running]    com.rim.BBDaemon.plist Support
    [running]    com.zeobit.MacKeeper.AntiVirus.plist Support
    [running]    com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plugin.AntiTheft.daemon.plist Support
User Launch Agents:
    [failed]    com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
    [running]    com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper.plist Support
User Login Items:
    None
Internet Plug-ins:
    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 51 Mismatch! Oracle recommends Java 7 Update 55
    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 13.0.0.201 - SDK 10.6 Support
    Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.01 - SDK 10.6 Support
    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.01 - SDK 10.6 Support
    Flash Player: Version: 13.0.0.201 - SDK 10.6 Support
    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.1 - SDK 10.6 Support
    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.1 Support
    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30317.0 - SDK 10.6 Support
    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0
Safari Extensions:
    Torrenthandler: Version: 1.0
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
User Internet Plug-ins:
    RealPlayer Plugin: Version: (null) Support
    Picasa: Version: 1.0 Support
    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support
3rd Party Preference Panes:
    Flash Player  Support
    Growl  Support
    Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X  Support
Time Machine:
    Skip System Files: NO
    Mobile backups: OFF
    Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off
    Volumes being backed up:
        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 297.29 GB Disk used: 95.43 GB
    Destinations:
        Iomega_HDD [Local] (Last used)
        Total size: 465.64 GB
        Total number of backups: 86
        Oldest backup: 2012-01-15 18:54:59 +0000
        Last backup: 2014-04-22 16:07:48 +0000
        Size of backup disk: Adequate
            Backup size 465.64 GB > (Disk used 95.43 GB X 3)
    Time Machine details may not be accurate.
    All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU:
         5%    mds_stores
         4%    mds
         2%    WindowServer
         0%    AntiVirus
         0%    firefox
Top Processes by Memory:
    233 MB    AntiVirus
    184 MB    firefox
    139 MB    MacKeeper Helper
    94 MB    com.apple.IconServicesAgent
    76 MB    mds_stores
Virtual Memory Information:
    1.52 GB    Free RAM
    1.22 GB    Active RAM
    577 MB    Inactive RAM
    449 MB    Wired RAM
    246 MB    Page-ins
    0 B    Page-outs

Answer 1

velvetpic wrote:
I've used MacKeeper to tidy up my junk; I have installed Time Machine Scheduler to stop constant back-ups;
That's your first two mistakes. Get rid of MacKeeper. It is of no benefit, and is arguably detrimental.
Secondly, Time Machine backups only backup what has changed in the last hour. They should not be "constant", but even if they are, the speed at which the backup is made is irrelevant.
Get rid of the Kromtech thing, whatever that is, too.
Two things to test:
1. Does it work in Safeboot Mode? If so, then it's likely some third-party software that you normally have running.
2. Does it work in a brand new user account? If so, then your problem is a corrupt preference or cache in your old user account, or some user-triggered process. Go back to the old account and start refining your hunt. Remove a bunch of preference files and test; empty user caches with a utility like Onyx; turn off Login Items, etc.