Need help with Apps misbehaving and upgrading the MacOS: The all-in-one post. ;)

Question

Hi there,
So, I've been browsing the SL and Mavericks forums for the last days but although I have fetched some useful tips and answers, still need some help. Let me put it diary-style so I can be more concise ;)
Here's my current system profile:
iMac 27" (aluminium back- if I'm no wrong, from around late 2009-mid 2010)
MacOS 10.6.1 Never updated.
3.06 Ghz Intel Core2 Duo
4Gb RAM
LaCie Big Disk via FireWire 800
Internet access via Ethernet port (cable)
And here's The Issues Log:
– Day one: First ever Kernel Panic. Restart. Nothing (apparently) wrong.
– 3 weeks elapsed: Second Kernel Panic. Same. iMac restarts fine. Apps fine. No missing files. No misbehaviour experiences.
– After a month or so: One morning, Skype decides on its own to stop launching. The night before, I chatted with one of my clients, fine as always, but at the next day, nothing. Computer is usually shut off for the night. And so it was that night. Updated Skype and also did all the guest account trick / repaired permissions / repair ACLs. Nothing worked. Overwrote the Skype app with a former functioning version I have in an MacOS 10.5 system. Didn't work. Now I have to chat on the MacOS 10.5 computer. No good.
– 15 days ago or so: After realising that I no longer have my HP1515n printer (it ran out of inks and thrashed it. It costs more to refill than to buy a new one), I deleted the printer from the printers list in the System Prefs Pane.
– Last week: Acrobat (CS4) won't launch a PDF file and freezes. Spinning beach ball. Force quit and try opening the PDF file again. Freezes again. And again. And again. With that file and every other PDF.
Photoshop CS5 fails to open or crashes when attempting to open any jpg or tiff file. InDesign and Illustrator CS5 are frozen and had to force quit both. MacOS 10.5
Restart the iMac thinking it is just a "common" bad day and hoping everything will be alright after the restart, but nope.
Not only the CS5 stops working; MSOffice stops working too. Spinning beach ball. Begin to suspect of the deletion of the printer, however, I also deleted the same printer in the above mentioned 10.5 system and I'm not experiencing anything strange. Reinstalled the HP drivers but nothing remarkable happens.
Then, try to uninstall CS5, CS4, Office, etc. Try to reinstall Acrobat CS4 and the CS5 apps. Reinstall Office. Nothing. Just Outlook works.
Since I had to desperately meet deadlines, convinced a colleague to come over to the studio and -I know, I know- allowed me to install a copy of CS6. It seems to work fine, except for Acrobat, which randomly freezes/hangs/works and Photoshop, which works fine unless you want to open a layered file containing text layers or if you want to type text on a normal file, because it freezes as soon as the Text Tool is pressed in the toolbar, of course, spinning beach ball again.
Well, Illustrator CS6 sometimes shows a strange black thin frame overlaid on the interface but goes away by switching to another workspace and then back to the current. InDesign CS6 seems to be fine and making PDFs as expected. However, as I said before, it is pure luck if Acrobat accepts to open the file or even if it launches. Spinning beach ball when freezing/hanging.  
As a method for eliminating possible culprits, did a clean up of the Suitcase Fusion database, removed duplicate and a few (less than 10) corrupted fonts.
Removed completely MSOffice reinstalled and updated. Nothing. Now I neither have MSoffice running.
I am no rookie but I can't even imagine what can cause such amount of misbehaviour, (kernel panics have something to do? malware? lack of system updates? MacHD is damaged?) so I'm thinking of a few scenarios:
Backing up my projects and user folder –anything else to backup? (In fact I've already done that)– and:
1. Do a clean install. Not sure if it will be best to completely erase the whole drive or if a standard reinstallation will be enough.
2. Take the machine to a Genius Bar to see if there's anything that can be done without major OS messes.
3. Erase the drive and go through the Mavericks upgrading (SL to Ln to MLn to Mavcks), although not sure if this upgrade is worth yet.
4. Replace HD for a brand new one and either step 1 or 3.
5. As a complement, I'm thinking of adding more RAM.
Well. It is really the first time I don't know what to do. I have work to do and would not want to face a week away from my main computer and since most of the files are CS5-6 and hence, can't move to my wife's iMac...
Apologies if this post feels too long, but I will truly appreciate any kind of input and advice on one of more of the issues mentioned in this post.
And if it fits best in any other forum, please also let me know.
Cheers and thanks in advantage.

Answer 1

You have to use the Base Station Menu on the Menu Bar at the very top of your screen.
Say thanks by clicking "Kudos" "thumbs up" in the post that helped you.
I am employed by HP