Will a clean install help performance?

[jojoba]

I have a Macbook Air 2013 13" which is getting a bit slow. Will a clean install make a difference? And what are important things to think about when doing a clean install (apart from the obvious issue of back up)?

Advice much appreciated.

 

[Ebenezum]

Hard to answer with so little information. Could you provide details such as installed software, is the SSD full/ in good condition etc.

One option is to download and run Etrecheck, it will give diagnostic information about your Mac which might provide clues to why the Macbook Air is slow.
www.etrecheck.com

 

[jojoba]

Hard to answer with so little information. Could you provide details such as installed software, is the SSD full/ in good condition etc.

One option is to download and run Etrecheck, it will give diagnostic information about your Mac which might provide clues to why the Macbook Air is slow.
www.etrecheck.com

Thanks so much for this. Info from EtreCheck is below, I'm not sure how to interpret it....?

I currently have 42GB free out of 256 storage, 8GB ram. I'm using El Capitan, v. 10.11.6.

On a typical work day I have the following apps running/open: SpiderOak, Mail, MailMate, Word, OmniOutliner, Skim, 1Password, Ulysses, Evernote, Scrivener, TaskPaper, Calendar, TextExpander, Safari, Bookends, DevonThink Sorter, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, Hazel, Avast, Default Folder X, BetterTouchTool, Yoink, Skype, Alfred.


EtreCheck

Hardware Information:

MacBook Air

MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir6,2

1 1,3 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

8 GB RAM


Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 5000 - VRAM: (null)


Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 4.4.6

AirPlay: Version: 2.0

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 403.4

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3


Startup Items:

tap - Path: /Library/StartupItems/tap

tun - Path: /Library/StartupItems/tun


System Software:

OS X 10.11.6 (15G1217) - Uptime: 10 days 21:42:22


Disk Information:

APPLE SSD SD0256F disk0 : (251 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209,7 MB

disk0s2 (disk0s2) <not mounted>: 250,14 GB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB


USB Information:

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller


FireWire Information:


Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Kernel Extensions:

com.avast.PacketForwarder (2.1)

com.avast.FileShield (3.0.0)


Problem System Launch Daemons:

[failed] com.apple.logd.plist

[loaded] org.postfix.newaliases.plist


Problem System Launch Agents:


Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist

[failed] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.avast.init.plist

[loaded] com.avast.secureline.init.plist

[loaded] com.avast.secureline.uninstall.plist

[loaded] com.avast.secureline.update.plist

[loaded] com.avast.uninstall.plist

[loaded] com.avast.update.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist

[loaded] com.bombich.ccchelper.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist

[loaded] com.sparklabs.ViscosityHelper.plist

[loaded] com.wuala.WualaFS.KextLoaderHelper.plist

[loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid.plist

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist


Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

[failed] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist

[loaded] com.avast.secureline.update-agent.plist

[loaded] com.avast.secureline.userinit.plist

[loaded] com.avast.update-agent.plist

[loaded] com.avast.userinit.plist

[loaded] com.citrix.AuthManager_Mac.plist

[loaded] com.citrix.ReceiverHelper.plist

[loaded] com.citrix.ServiceRecords.plist

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

[loaded] com.logitech.manager.daemon.plist

[not loaded] com.sony.ReaderDesktop.RunReaderDesktop.plist

[loaded] net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist

[loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.enable-bundles.plist

[loaded] org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid-user.plist

[loaded] org.gpgtools.Libmacgpg.xpc.plist

[loaded] org.gpgtools.macgpg2.fix.plist

[loaded] org.gpgtools.macgpg2.shutdown-gpg-agent.plist

[loaded] org.gpgtools.updater.plist

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist


User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[loaded] com.akamai.single-user-client.plist

[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-hege.hermansen@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

[loaded] com.avast.home.userinit.plist

[not loaded] com.avast.secureline.home.userinit.plist

[loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist

[failed] com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent.plist

[not loaded] com.tidal.desktop.plist

[failed] com.wondershare.mobilegodaemon.plist


User Login Items:

Box Sync

SMS+

Citations

Default Folder X Helper

DEVONthink Personal Sorter

BetterTouchTool (215)

Alfred

BetterTouchTool

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

Dropbox

HazelHelper

NoteBookHelper

SpyderUtility

readerAppHelper

SpiderOak

CCC User Agent

Google Drive

TotalFinder

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

Jottacloud

Default Folder X

SpiderOakONE

MEGAsync

AirDisplayStatusItem

Air Display

DEVONthink Sorter

Box Edit

Box Local Com Server

HazelHelper


3rd Party Preference Panes:

Air Display Preferences

Akamai NetSession Preferences

Citrix ShareFile Sync

Flash Player

GPGPreferences

Growl

Hazel

Java

Logitech Preference Manager

MacFUSE (Tuxera)

TeXDistPrefPane

Tuxera NTFS


Internet Plug-ins:

AdobeAAMDetect.plugin

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

CitrixICAClientPlugIn.plugin

Default Browser.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

MeetingJoinPlugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

Silverlight.plugin


User Internet Plug-ins:


Bad Fonts:

None


Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Destinations:

Untitled [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 499,73 GB

Total number of backups: 21

Oldest backup: 2016-01-27 16:20:07 +0000

Last backup: 2016-11-15 15:34:39 +0000

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 499,73 GB > (Disk size Zero KB X 3)


Top Processes by CPU:

20% WindowServer

12% firefox

7% Safari

3% Box Sync Monitor

2% hidd

1% Calendar

1% Box Sync

1% EtreCheck

1% Google Drive

0% com.apple.WebKit.Networking


Top Processes by Memory:

934 MB Safari

590 MB firefox

164 MB Mail

131 MB suggestd

98 MB plugin-container

82 MB WindowServer

82 MB Calendar

82 MB mds_stores

74 MB Skype

57 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent


Virtual Memory Statistics:

77 MB Free RAM

2.29 GB Active RAM

2.15 GB Inactive RAM

1.82 GB Wired RAM

55.34 GB Page-ins

2.98 GB Page-outs

 

[satcomer]

What is the tap & tun startup items?

 

[Weaselboy]

What is the tap & tun startup items?

http://tuntaposx.sourceforge.net

I had to search for it also. Looks like some kind of virtual network kext extension.

OP > I don't think in all my time on this forum I have ever seen an Etrecheck report showing more launch and startup items running on one Mac.

Any of them, or a combination of them, may be causing your slowdowns. There is no magic or easy way to tell which item on the report is causing the issue.

Just as a test, reboot to safe mode by holding the shift key at startup. That will prevent all those launch and startup items from running. Does that help with the problem? If it does, then you need to start removing those items until you find the culprit.

A clean install of course would get rid off all of these as long as you don't turn around and install them back.

 

[Ebenezum]

OP:

I agree with Weaselboy, problem is likely one of the launch/ startup items or the combination.

Try safe boot first, if it helps the problem is very likely one of the launch/ startup items.

If safe boot has no effect then the problem lies elsewhere.

 

[jojoba]

Awesome, thanks so much, everybody. I did a safe mode restart and there was a MASSIVE difference. So taking my cue from this...

OP > I don't think in all my time on this forum I have ever seen an Etrecheck report showing more launch and startup items running on one Mac.

...I've been deleting just about everything in those folders, including the tap & tun as it's not needed for my current VPN, and cleaned up the list of apps that start on log in. After a re-start, it all seems a whole lot better - that's just a first impression at the moment, but looks positive.

Thanks a lot