Whys is my mac so slow with mountain lion

Question

Hi
I have an early 2008 Macbook Pro with 4GB RAM. I recently installed ML and CS6 and I have had nothing but problems since. I have reverted back to CS5 Photoshop and illustrator which has improved things slightly but generally, my machine has become a nightmare. It's SO slow - and it's not just the system - my internet is also unbearable. I am a freelancer and connect to other networks onsite and I have exactly the same problems there too. When I have PS and ID running, Activity monitor tells me I am using 3.67GB RAM - and I only have 2 smalll files open. It has become virtually unworkable and it's just not good for the soul - I really need help!
Any suggestions or tips would be very gratefully received.
Thanks!

Answer 1

First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
Take these steps when you notice the problem.
Step 1
Launch the Activity Monitor 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 Activity Monitor in the icon grid.
Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)
Step 2
You must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
Launch the Console application in the same way as above. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Post the 50 or so most recent messages in the log — the text, please, not a screenshot.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into a message.
Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out before posting.