System is hanging. fseventsd brings free memory down from 2.5 GB to 5 MB within minutes

I'm a computer novice, no technical knowledge whatsoever.. need your help
I use an Intel iMac, 4 GB RAM running on 10.6.8 for over a year without any glitches
2 days ago, noticed that the HD space was reducing rapidly from startup..
Activity monitor showed that fseventsd [and to and extent kernel_task] was using all the free memory and then the virtual memory was being used, system hanging within a few minutes of login
The same happens with the other user account and the guest account.. But works fine in safe mode. Windows XP through bootcamp works fine.
Unable to run any program long enough to obtain any results as the system hangs in no time
I ran disk utility and verified and repaired lot of differing permissions [Lot of SUID warnings could not be repaired] . Disk seems to be fine
Not sure these are related:
-2 days prior to this , many .mp4 files, which I had downloaded from Youtube were vanishing [and sometimes reappearing, but not for long] from a folder on my Seagate ext HDD
-Couple of days prior to that, Vuze [which uses the same seagate HDD] was making the system hang, requiring a forced shutdown
-From a week prior to all this, Picasa was asking for update, but could not be updated
This is the Etrecheck report [run in safe mode]
EtreCheck version: 1.9.12 (48)
Report generated 28 July 2014 10:06:57 AM GMT+05:30
Hardware Information:
    iMac (20-inch, Early 2008) (Verified)
    iMac - model: iMac8,1
    1 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores
    4 GB RAM
Video Information:
    ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro - VRAM: 256 MB
        iMac 1680 x 1050
        spdisplays_display_connector
System Software:
    Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: 0 days 0:56:24
Disk Information:
    WDC WD3200AAJS-40VWA1 disk0 : (298.09 GB)
        - (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB
        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 195.88 GB (16.11 GB free)
        BOOTCAMP (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 101.89 GB
USB Information:
    Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub
        Mitsumi Electric Apple Optical USB Mouse
        Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard
    Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
    Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Configuration files:
    /etc/sysctl.conf - Exists
    /etc/hosts - Count: 30 - Corrupt!
Kernel Extensions:
    [not loaded]    com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (2.3.8) Support
    [not loaded]    com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.1) Support
    [not loaded]    com.ZTE.driver.ModemDriverMac (1.0.2d1) Support
    [not loaded]    com.roxio.BluRaySupport (1.1.6) Support
    [not loaded]    com.roxio.TDIXController (1.7) Support
Startup Items:
    HP Trap Monitor: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP Trap Monitor
Problem System Launch Agents:
    [loaded]    com.paragon.NTFS.trial.plist Support
    [loaded]    com.paragon.NTFS.upd.plist Support
Launch Daemons:
    [not loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support
    [not loaded]    com.barebones.textwrangler.plist Support
    [not loaded]    com.cleverfiles.cfbackd.plist Support
    [not loaded]    com.distortedvista.istatmenusprocessserver.plist Support
    [not loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist Support
Launch Agents:
    [not loaded]    com.canon.SPPHelper.plist Support
    [not loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
    [not loaded]    jp.co.canon.SELPHYCP.BG.plist Support
User Launch Agents:
    [not loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support
    [not loaded]    jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist Support
User Login Items:
    SmartDaemon
    GrowlHelperApp
    iTunesHelper
    iStat menus Helper
    Dropbox
    Android File Transfer Agent
    RealPlayer Downloader Agent
    SurplusMeterAgent
Internet Plug-ins:
    DirectorShockwave: Version: 12.0.3r133 - SDK 10.6 Support
    o1dbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support
    Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.1.5f1 Support
    Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.3.8.1 Support
    RealPlayer Plugin: Version: (null) Support
    Silverlight: Version: 4.0.60310.0 Support
    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support
    Flash Player: Version: 14.0.0.145 - SDK 10.6 Support
    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.6.6
    googletalkbrowserplugin: Version: 5.4.2.18903 Support
    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0
    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 9.5.3 Support
    EPPEX Plugin: Version: 3.0.5.0 Support
    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 13.9.8 - SDK 10.6 Check version
Safari Extensions:
    AdBlock: Version: 2.5.42
    ClickToPlugin: Version: 2.7
iTunes Plug-ins:
    Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.2
User Internet Plug-ins:
    fbplugin_1_0_3: Version: (null) Support
    Picasa: Version: 1.0 Support
3rd Party Preference Panes:
    Flash Player Support
    Flip4Mac WMV Support
    Growl Support
    iStat menus Support
    Paragon NTFS for Mac ® OS X Support
    Perian Support
Top Processes by CPU:
        99%    plugin-container
         5%    WindowServer
         2%    firefox
         1%    fontd
         0%    Finder
Top Processes by Memory:
    651 MB    firefox
    49 MB    WindowServer
    49 MB    Finder
    41 MB    Console
    37 MB    Preview
Virtual Memory Information:
    1.26 GB    Free RAM
    839 MB    Active RAM
    724 MB    Inactive RAM
    1.21 GB    Wired RAM
    217 MB    Page-ins
    0 B    Page-outs
I had an HP printer 2 years ago, but now have a Canon. Retained the HP software which I still use for editing and printing
Last night, I uninstalled little snitch, elmediaplayer and updated Adobe flash player
What Should I do next? Please advise
Warm Rgds

sudo fs_usage in terminal yielded these results:
tried to show a sample of each type
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000052   fseventsd
18:40:01
RdMeta
0.000376 W mdworker
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000055   fseventsd
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000046   fseventsd
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000055   fseventsd
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000055   fseventsd
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000044   fseventsd
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:01
RdMeta
0.000399 W mdworker
18:40:01 getdirentries64
0.000055   fseventsd
18:40:10 getdirentries64
0.000008   mdworker
18:40:10 close
0.000004   mdworker
18:40:10 getdirentries64
0.000046   fseventsd
18:40:10 stat64
poser.mdimporter/Contents
0.000017   mdworker
18:40:10 open
poser.mdimporter/Contents
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:10 fcntl
0.000001   mdworker
18:40:10 fstatfs64
0.000002   mdworker
18:40:10 getdirentries64
0.000015   mdworker
18:40:10 getdirentries64
0.000007   mdworker
18:40:10 close
0.000003   mdworker
18:40:40 read
0.038712 W fseventsd
18:40:40 read
0.000004   mds
18:40:40 fcntl
0.000004   mds
18:40:40 pread
0.000006   fontd
18:40:40 pread
0.000005   fontd
18:40:40 pread
0.000004   fontd
18:40:40 pread
0.000004   fontd
18:40:40 pread
0.000004   fontd
18:40:40 getattrlist
/Library/Fonts
0.000016   fontworker
18:40:40 statfs64
/Library/Fonts
0.000004   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
/Library/Fonts
0.000006   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
/Library
0.000020   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
0.000005   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.002230 W fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000058   fseventsd
18:40:40 stat64
/Library/Fonts
0.000016   fontworker
18:40:40 open
/Library/Fonts
0.000007   fontworker
18:40:40 fcntl
0.000001   fontworker
18:40:40 fstatfs64
0.000002   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000066   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000057   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000044   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000060   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000044   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000057   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000008   fontworker
18:40:40 close
0.000004   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
Fonts/ACaslonPro-Bold.otf
0.000009   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
ACaslonPro-BoldItalic.otf
0.000008   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000044   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
nts/ACaslonPro-Italic.otf
0.000007   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
ts/ACaslonPro-Regular.otf
0.000007   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000057   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
s/ACaslonPro-Semibold.otf
0.000007   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
lonPro-SemiboldItalic.otf
0.000007   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
onts/AdobeArabic-Bold.otf
0.000007   fontworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
dobeArabic-BoldItalic.otf
0.000007   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
ts/AdobeArabic-Italic.otf
0.000007   fontworker
8:40:40 getattrlist
t/Cambria Bold Italic.ttf
0.000007   fontd
18:40:40 getattrlist
/Library
0.000014   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
0.000015   fontworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
t/Cambria Bold Italic.ttf
0.000022   fontd
18:40:40 pread
0.000006   fontd
18:40:40 getattrlist
icrosoft/Cambria Bold.ttf
0.000017   fontd
and a lot many font names
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 lstat64
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000027   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000011   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 open
og.1//Contents>>>>>>>>>>>
0.000009   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000044   fseventsd
18:40:40 open
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000007   mdworker
18:40:40 fstat64
0.000002   mdworker
18:40:40 fcntl
0.000002   mdworker
18:40:40 flistxattr
0.000003   mdworker
18:40:40 close
0.000005   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000057   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000007   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000005   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000010   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
/private/var/log
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
-shutdown.log.1/.DS_Store
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
og/launchd-shutdown.log.1
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 open
private/var/log/.DS_Store
0.000012   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000057   fseventsd
18:40:40 fstat64
0.000002   mds
18:40:40 open
0.000005   mds
18:40:40 pthread_fchdir
0.000001   mds
18:40:40 pthread_fchdir
0.000002   mds
18:40:40 close
0.000003   mds
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 lstat64
System/Library/Extensions
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
System/Library/Extensions
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
System/Library/Extensions
0.000008   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
y/CoreServices/Finder.app
0.000007   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
y/CoreServices/Finder.app
0.000008   mdworker
18:40:40 open
System/Library/Extensions
0.000007   mdworker
18:40:40 fstat64
0.000002   mdworker
18:40:40 fcntl
0.000001   mdworker
18:40:40 flistxattr
0.000003   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 close
0.000003   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
System/Library/Extensions
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
System/Library/Extensions
0.000005   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
System/Library/Extensions
0.000010   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
/System/Library
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 access_extended   System/Library/Extensions
0.000009   mdworker
18:40:40 getattrlist
rary/Extensions/.DS_Store
0.000019   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000055   fseventsd
18:40:40 getattrlist
System/Library/Extensions
0.000006   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 open
/System/Library/.DS_Store
0.000012   mdworker
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000056   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000045   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000057   fseventsd
18:40:40 fcntl
0.000002   mds
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000044   fseventsd
18:40:40 getdirentries64
0.000057   fseventsd

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I have 768 MB DDR SDRAM 1/4 of which is used once restarted. After a while of use, it never gets back to a 1/4. With no user apps open it can be as high as half used (My human memory seems to think it is near 1/2). So I restart to claim back the 1/4. Is there another way to clean out the processes that are using up resources?
ALSO
If I use widgets, they not only take up memory, but seem to use CPU resources as do other applications. I clean all this by restarting. I can quit all widgets to clean that out without a restart, but clearly other things claim resources. If I burn a movie DVD and another process calls to the computer, there can be for an instant a surge on available resources. I do not mean something I activate during the burn, I mean hands off but some process which is less likely if I am burning just after a restart vs after much computer use. I am assuming it delays the feed to the recording DVD which given the burning process, clocks steady and at one speed, different than the CPU and computer resources which can compensate clocking during a process. So a restart seems to minimize bad burns. It sure seems I get no bad burns if I burn after a restart. That most occurred with burns on computer time many hours and other usage past the restart.
Is there a way to reset all or close at least the most aggressive activity, to basic without a restart? I realize there are many things that build-up though I know not all. RAM, Cache, monitoring activity, -=-any know a list of all the types of activity called to play after a good bit of computer use, different than a fresh restart?

10.4 is even better with on the fly exchange, virtual memory is the same. Only the "specialty" apps are accessing any type of memory management/control and they are developed at the kernel level. You'll know which one's fall into this category as they put a very big strain on your wallet. Most seem to be working fine. A 3D CAD modeling program I am familiar with is absolutely incredible yet on the same machine running Apple's own universal apps choking and sputtering. It is not Universal but Intel native and even the previous and current PPC release run great under Rosetta, it also requires a USB security device just to open the application.
Restarting is working but it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever. The reason why it is is that apps and HW are not releasing resources properly i.e other apps, files, HD's, ports, CPU's, GPU's, keyboards, track-pads etc (even after they quit) this type of resource sharing is a new thing for them. The restart is simply releasing the resources from everything. Well almost everything, FW devices as well as partitioned internal HD's seem to misbehave, slowing things down or hanging, during startup and shutting down. A common way people are finding to force their computers to see certain USB and FW devices is to plug them in prior to startup and/or launching of any apps that may want to use such devices. However, this is not a reliable fix for devices that want to launch, control or be controlled by apps. i.e. video cameras, Maxtor OneTouch HD's etc. An all new system architecture in 10.4. I believe the majority of issue with HW and SW and the incredible number of kernel panics people are experiencing across HW configurations (G4-Intel) is that there is and error in the I/O kit at the kernel level.
One thing I see that is needed to tame this beast for USB and FW devices to work properly is a System Pref such as CD's and DVD's. When you connect a FW camera: When you connect a FW Video Device: When you connect a FW MIDI Device: When You Connect a FW HD: etc. with the same exact answers like Ask what to do, Open App, Ignore, Open finder, Run script etc. A system pref like this I believe would even help smoke out the popping kernel in a heartbeat.
People should not be looking for lists of supported equipment rather a very small list of "unsupported" devices. AFAICT any device or external piece of equipment that conforms to industry standards should work regardless if the manufacturer developed "drivers" for it or not.
I have waited for an OS like this from Apple for about 10 years. No longer had the need for it 2 or so years ago and stopped having to know what's going on. Had to get back into it in March 06 as installation of 10.4 on a G4 brought it to it's knees w/ HW frying all over the place apps not working correctly, kernel panics galore. Updated to MBP and problems are worse.
Another thing I'd like to mention is that it appears that my MBP 2.16, has already become a LEGACY PRODUCT (obsolete). G5 64 bit, ICD 32(-!?), ICD2 64 bit.
If their is anyone out there that can confirm this I would appreciate it. My .Mac account expires in a few hours so I will not be able to reply here, email or chat but will respond to a board you direct me to that allows anonymous/guest posts.
I am very curious about what a newer MacBook and a G5 computer says in the System Preferences>Processors. Mainly interested in MacBooks with ICD2 and G5's but am also curious about supported late model PB G4's w Core Image support and 64+ MB VRAM.
Your machine.
What is the processor? i.e Intel Pentium M Processor
Core Freq:
Bus Freq:
L1 Cache:
L2 Cache:
Processors:(max number)
A lot of the kernel panics being posted are all referring to HW devices primarily CPU's and GPU's and other very basic internal HW. It seems the cross architecture is getting garbled in this I/O kit. Errors in the kernel aren't usually that easy to find but I think if enough people express their concerns this one may find a quick resolution as it seems to occur close to the exchange.
Thanks
FWIW

'Your system has run out of application memory'?!

I've seen many users experiencing this same problem throughout the community, but none of the fixes have given me a permanent solution. Details of the machine are below, as well as what happens when the problem hits/triggers.
MBP Retina running OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 (occurred in previous versions as well, thought the latest update would help but it didn't)
15-Inches Mid 2014 with 16 GB of Ram
Been using this Mac for good 6 months now, and one fine day of normal usage the whole system seems really laggy and slow and all of a sudden i'm unable to access anything and barely move my mouse. Then, a window pops out, telling me "Your system has run out of application memory", gracefully showing me that I have to force quit all my programmes for me to just stare at my desktop in utter disappointment.
I've been using Yosemite for awhile now (updated few days since the release) and haven't encountered any major issues, this being the first. Reading through many threads many have said that the problem lies with opening the Mail app, yet I haven't touched that app in months. I've also tried resetting the PRAM on my machine when it happens and the problem comes back again after several minutes of normal usage (iTunes, App Store). Checking the memory usage with the Memory Clean app, it tells me I'm down to a measly '15.58 MB' of memory, and it justfluctuates at that until I give it a restart again. This can't keep happening - I can barely use the Mac for 10 minutes without having to restart it, only to be able to use it only again for another 10 minutes.
Opening Activity Monitor tells me that mds_stores is the main root of the problem, yet I can't seem to shut the process down. I've googled and many say that mds_stores is spotlight indexing, but taking up all 16 GB of ram? That shouldn't be the case. Is there a fix to this? Does Apple know of its existence?
Included some screenshots below:

Step 1
These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -F '$Time $Message' -k Sender mdworker -o -k Message Rne Norm -k Sender mds | tail | pbcopy
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear.
The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.
The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.
If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.
Step 2
Enter the following command as in Step 1 and post the output:
mdutil -as 2>&- | pbcopy
You can then quit Terminal.
Step 3
Launch the Console application in the same way you launched Terminal. In the Console window, look under the heading DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION on the left for crash reports related to Spotlight. If you don't see that heading, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar. A Spotlight crash report has a name beginning in "mds" or "mdworker" and ending in ".crash". Select the most recent such report, if any, from the System and User subcategories and post the entire contents—the text, please, not a screenshot. In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)
Please don’t post any other kind of diagnostic report, such as hang logs—they're very long and not helpful.

Your system has run out of application memory Premiere pro cc 2014

Hi,
I've been getting the "your system has run out of application memory" message while working on a new project in pr pro cc.
Here's what i've done so far:
Updated to OS X 10.9.5 and restarted computer
went into my activity monitor and stopped programs that were taking up memory, but that didn't solve the problem the message would pop up over and over again.
this is the first time i've seen this message. I installed the universal free trial red giant plug ins for PR Pro . I'm starting to think that the plug ins are the problem.
I used several of the universal plugins from red giant on my entire project. I was able to export the project twice w no problems but then when i went back into the project and the notification kept popping up!
I'm using
PLS HELP!!!
thanks!

Launch the Console 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 Console in the icon grid.
In the Console window, look under the heading DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION on the left for crash or panic reports. If you don't see that heading, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
A crash report has a name that begins with the name of the crashed process and ends in ".crash". It may be under either of the two subcategories, "System" and "User." A panic report has a name that begins with "Kernel" and ends in ".panic".
Select the most recent of each and post the entire contents — the text, please, not a screenshot. In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)
Please don’t post any other kind of diagnostic report, such as a hang log — they're very long and not helpful.

"You system has run out of application memory"

I'm constantly getting this error now. "You system has run out of application memory"
machine specs are -
MACBookPro Retina. 10,1
2.7 i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
GT 650M 1024 MB
OSX 10.9.4 (13E28)
750 GB Solid State drive with 211 GB free.
does any know what may being going on? What can I do to fix?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Brian

There is excessive swapping of data between physical memory (that is, the memory chips on the logic board) and virtual memory (one or more files on the startup volume.) That activity is relatively slow and causes the whole system to be less responsive. It can happen for two reasons:
          A long-running process with a memory leak (a kind of bug)
          Not enough memory for your usage pattern
Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.
These instructions are for OS X 10.9 ("Mavericks.") The procedure may be slightly different for earlier versions of OS X.
When you notice the swap activity, open the Activity Monitor application and select All Processes from the View menu, if it's not already selected. Select the Memory tab. Click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select
          View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory
from the menu bar.
If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more real memory over time without ever releasing it. Here is an example of how it's done.
The processes named "Safari Web Content" render web pages for Safari. They use a lot of memory and may leak if certain Safari extensions or third-party web plugins are installed. Consider them prime suspects.
Another process often implicated in memory leaks is "inkjet4" or "inkjet8," which is a component of the HP printing software. If it's present, force-quit the process in Activity Monitor to solve the problem temporarily. Empty the print queues in the Printers & Scanners preference pane (which has a slightly different name in each recent version of OS X.) If you don't use an HP printer, remove the software. Otherwise, if the problem is recurrent, update the software (which may not help) or contact HP support.
"Wired" memory should be a small part of the total. That memory is not swapped, but it makes less physical memory available which may then result in swapping. If you have a lot of wired memory, that's usually an indication of a memory leak in a third-party program that modifies the operating system at a low level. Ask for guidance in that case.
If you don't have an obvious memory leak, your options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.
The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:
sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total
where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

Neat Trick! Free memory run Repair Permissions...

Ok, this one baffles me, I'm wondering if its just my MBP setup or if this will work for anyone. I noticed that if I run Disk Utility and Repair Permissions after starting up I free up almost 300megs of memory. Yes 300 MEG! Even if there are no permission problems to fix...
When I start up I have around 1112 Meg free memory and another 300-400 of used inactive memory. If I run DU and repair permissions my free memory shoots up to 1442 MEG Free.
Could someone else give this a try and let me know if the same happens for you. If it does I'd sure like to know why.
I realize this isn't an earth shattering thing here but it is a little puzzling, at least to me...
Would love to hear others results with this...
Cheers,
Peter

The only app that appears to display all running processes (if you can get them to display properly) is "top." Open the Terminal and run top at the prompt. If you have the Developer Tools installed you could try using the included utility called BigTop. It's likely that the processes with lowest PIDs are the ones run at startup. I don't know the specific processes but I do know the startup sequence of events:
The first thing that runs at startup is the BootROM. It contains the POST or Power-On Self Test that checks basic hardware, sets the initial states for the CPU, RAM, and crucial hardware interfaces. It also verifies RAM. If the machine passes POST then you will hear the normal chime. If not you will hear one of five beep errors: one beep means no RAM installed; two beeps means the RAM is incompatible; three beeps means there are no good memory banks; four beeps means there is no good image in the BootROM; and five beeps means the processor is not operable.
Next is the initialization of Open Firmware which also checks for startup modifier keys (like OPTION or SHIFT.)
After initialization the Mac OS X system is located and control is transferred to BootX which initializes the kernel environment and drivers needed to boot the system. It also starts up the kernel initialization process. When loading the kernel environment BootX also attempts to load any previously cached set of device drivers. This is what's going on when you see the spinning gear on the startup screen.
Next the kernel initializes the I/O kit and starts launchd. Launchd manages all the system daemons for both the system and individual users.
If you open Activity Monitor then click on the PID column to sort the PIDs in ascending order, then from the drop down menu select All Processes, Hierarchically. You will see the order of processes handled by launchd which is the first process run after initialization. Process 0 is the kernel_task.
After launchd executes it runs the /etc/rc script that performs basic system initialization which in turn launches SystemStarter that runs the contents of the startupitems folder. Configuration data are stored in the /etc/hostconfig file.
Next comes the Login Window process which loads the user environment, then the Dock, Finder, and SystemUIServer followed by any Login Items. If this is an installation in progress it will also launch the Setup Assistant.
This completes the startup process.

System preferences hangs

installed ML, but system preferences hangs so can't change any preferences.It opens the icon, but the window never appears.
I have re-installed - but same happens
moreover, I can't get it to restart without forcing a quit by turning on/off button (it hangs on the blank 'light grey' screen)
I have checked repair permissions, no problem there.
any ideas?
imac 2.4GHz intel core 2 duo, 3 GB sdram

On my MacPro:
My problem began with a nearly non-functioning Mail program after upgrade to OS M Lion, which is detailed in my post a few days ago. After trying everything I could to resolve it unsuccessfully, (rebuild directory structure, fix permissions, trash preferences for iCloud apps, zap PRAM, and several other efforts, including a reinstall of M Lion from recovery drive) I contacted Apple Support and ended up on the phone with a rep. We set-up remote access so he could see the Mail hang-up everytime I attempted to fill in the outgoing email address field in a new message window (spinning ball) - it took up to 30 sec for each letter I typed to appear and overall about 2-3 minutes to completely populate the field with the address. All other Mail functions were working better, but seriously sluggish. We tried disabling each email account, one by one to see if another account was causing the problem (my primary account is a .me address). No problem with other accounts. Then the unexpected happened. He asked me to open Safari and log into iCloud so we could see if Mail was working via the web. Upon login, the icons for all the iCloud applications appeared with completely corrupted text labels under each icon... each was a mix of letters and symbols stacked on top of each other. It appeared that my entire iCloud account might be corrupted. However, testing the same login via Firefox worked just fine, so the issue was narrowing to iCloud and interaction between the default apps between this computer and iCloud via Safari. We then attempted to open Contacts from Launch Pad on HD - It opened, but none of my contacts were there. Further indication of iCloud account corruption. Since I am able to access and use all iCloud features and apps on my MacBook Pro, an early assumption is that the OS upgrade to Mountain Lion on my MacPro may have been severely corrupted. Before going so far as to do a clean install of M Lion, we installed a Data Capture program and I ran through the attempts to set-up and send a new email while it captured all system activitiy in that process. This data and the screen captures obtained during this session have now been sent up to Apple OS engineers to dig into and figure out why, and how a corruption of the ML install could have occured. I have agreed not to do a 'clean install' of the OS until the engineers get back to me as they may need to run more remote diagnostics on this computer to narrow it down to the actual cause.... this, so that a fix can be implemented before countless other computers are effected. I am scheduled to hear back form them today or on Monday and I will post the results here. They seem quite busy with bug fixing right now. The toys and features of Lion and M Lion are very cool, but I am seriously beginning to miss the speed and reliability of Leapord/Snow Leopard.... even Tiger - I fired up my old G5 tower with Leopard ... it is amazing just how fast and solid it is compared to these new OS builds that feel and look more like virtual machines than a real Mac OS.   I hope all these diagnostics and interaction with senior engineers provide some solid solutions soon.
MACHINE WITH PROBLEM OS UPGRADE:
Model Name:          Mac Pro
Model Identifier:          MacPro3,1
Processor Name:          Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:          2.8 GHz
Number of Processors:          2
Total Number of Cores:          8
L2 Cache (per Processor):          12 MB
Memory:          12 GB
Bus Speed:          1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version:          MP31.006C.B05
SMC Version (system):          1.25f4

System is hanging. fseventsd brings free memory down from 2.5 GB to 5 MB within minutes

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