iMac (late 2009) memory

Thanks for posting the reports. The hard drive appears to still be healthy although there is a slim possibility there could still be an issue with the drive. The hard drive speed is also still good at 70MB/s. The hard drive has about 28K hours on it. In good conditions the hard drive could last up to 50K hours (years ago 80K hours was possible), but in an iMac the lifespan of a hard drive is usually much less. Just something to keep in mind when calculating upgrade/repair costs. A hard drive is not easy to replace in an iMac.

You need to uninstall the Symantec software and the MacKeeper software by following the developer's instructions. Anti-virus apps, cleaning apps, and third party security software is not needed on a Mac and usually causes more problems than they solve plus they impact system performance.

I see you are also using Acronis and it includes a file protection feature. This file protection feature does come at a cost of memory & performance. I'm not sure how you are using Acronis on this Mac.

You have a lot of drivers (aka extensions) installed all of which use memory & CPU resources and also make it more likely to interfere with the normal operation of macOS and your apps since drivers/extensions run at a very low level where they are more likely to cause problems. It is best to minimize the drivers/extensions installed on a computer to minimize complications and performance degradation.

I see you have a driver for a Maxtor product. Maxtor was acquired by another drive vendor (Seagate?) many many years ago so I don't think this driver should be needed today as I have not seen the Maxtor name in an extremely long time. In most cases you should not need any third party software to manage an external drive. If you no longer use a Maxtor drive, then you should uninstall the Maxtor software.

You should also uninstall Adobe Flash by following the Adobe's instructions since Flash is no longer supported on any platform. Since Flash no longer receives security updates Flash presents a huge security risk (Flash has always been a security risk even when fully supported).

Are you aware you have about 5 disk images mounted? If you are not actively using these mounted disk images, then unmount them.

The fact that both DriveDx and EtreCheck crashed multiple times is of concern since I've never seen these apps crash. Most of the other crash logs are referencing memory related issues. Unfortunately I'm not sure what type of memory issues those log entries indicate. It is possible you may have a bad memory module or it may be due to issues of running low on memory and using Swap. If it is due to using Swap, then it may indicate an issue with the hard drive. There are some drive health attributes (Spin Up Time and Throughput Performance) that may show some issues that could affect Swap usage, but unfortunately those particular health attributes are not consistently implemented by drive manufacturers so it is hard to interpret those health attributes.

I must leave it to other more knowledgeable contributors to provide feedback on any of the other installed software as I am not a macOS software specialist.

If you are still having issues after uninstalling the apps I mentioned, then run EtreCheck again and post the new report here. Without all those entries from those apps mentioned will make it easier to see the other software listed.

You may want to run Memtest86 to see if you have any memory errors. Use the downloaded Memtest86 .iso or .img file as a source for Etcher which will create a bootable Memtest86 USB stick. Option Boot the Memtest86 USB stick and select the orange icon labeled "EFI". With the v7.5 version you can loop the test more than four times (the setting is under the "Test Selection" menu and is at the bottom of that screen). The newer versions limit Memtest86 to looping just four times. Just because no errors are discovered does not mean the memory is good.

I completely agree with everything @Allan Jones said. Macs are very picky about the memory they use so it is highly recommended to only purchase memory from Crucial or OWC making sure to use the tools on their respective websites to correctly identify the exact part numbers you should order. Do NOT buy memory based only on the simple specs of 1066/1067 MHz as there are a lot of other timings which Apple does not mention, but are extremely critical for compatibility.

Unless you changed how you are using the Mac, then more memory most likely won't help. It really isn't worth putting money into a 2009 iMac because you can only run up to macOS 10.13 High Sierra which itself is becoming very dated and will likely lose support of web browsers within a few years. It is much more likely you have a software issue, or a worn out or failing hard drive.

Run the Apple Diagnostics to see if any hardware issues are detected, but unfortunately the diagnostics don't detect many types of drive failures.

You can run DriveDx to check the health of the hard drive. To look for possible software issues contributing to poor performance run EtreCheck. Post both reports here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

You definitely want to rule out these other options before spending any money on this computer, otherwise you may find yourself spending even more money.

In addition to what's already been suggested I recommend you purchase the RAM modules from either Crucial.com or OWC (MacSales.com) and they are the two most reliable vendors of Mac RAM and will guarantee that the models intended for use in your iMac will work as they test all RAM in the models they are intended for.

These are the RAM specs for that model:

 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM

The difference between 1066 and 1067 is non-existent. It is a rounding hiccup. The true value is 1066.66666...Mhz. Some sellers round down and some round up. Same stuff.

Pairs are always preferred. Although the performance gain is small, pairs are, IMHO, the more stable and reliable option.

If your iMac is fitted with the Core i5 or Core i7 processor, it will handle up to 32GB RAM (four 8GB modules). If it has the entry-level Core 2 Duo processor, it is limited to16 GB RAM (four 4GB modules).

I think over 16GB is overkill for most users. If you are trying to fix slowness, RAM won't help if you already have 8GB. It is an order of magnitude more likely the older mechanical hard drive that is dragging down performance.

As Macs can choke on cheap RAM, I strongly urge users to to buy only from Crucial or Other World Computing (macsales.com). Both sell quality RAM that works in Macs. without costing body parts. You cannot say tht about other vendors.

If you are not in the US, both have an overseas presence or partners.

Unfortunately you did not paste the contents of either the DriveDx or EtreCheck reports. It appears you pasted a few lines from a log file instead. With DriveDx you need to save the report to a file, then open the file in TextEdit and copy & paste the contents to the "Additional Text" box here. For the EtreCheck report you need to click on the "Share" icon/button within EtreCheck and select "Copy Report". Then paste the report into the "Additional Text" field here.

If the apps & files you have open require 12GB of memory, then 8GB of memory is not enough. However, you definitely want to verify the health of the hard drive first so you know how much money you will need to invest in the iMac. Plus the EtreCheck report will give us a better idea on the actual memory usage and possible recommendations.

wormac wrote:

Thank you HWTech! Your detailed answers are very helpful! I believe I was also able to successful complete essentially all your suggestions. I was unsuccesful uninstalling the Symantic software. Not clear to me why. But everything else looks ok.

I'm not sure what Symantec product is installed. Since EtreCheck does not show the Symantec software as "Anti-virus", that either means the Symantec software is broken or only partially installed, or you are using some other Symantec utility or security software. I suggest contacting Symantec to have them assist you in removing the software unless you want to manually remove every Symantec file listed in the EtreCheck report which may require temporarily disabling System Integrity Protection (SIP) and possibly using the command line unless you have an external macOS boot drive to use. I'm assuming you have a legitimate Symantec app installed since EtreCheck is not saying otherwise, however, I'm not entirely sure how EtreCheck determines this. I know people have installed fake Symantec software before though.

After reading your message, I deleted the Acronis application. I do have some concern here (I do not remember downloading this application), particular after reading more about it online. In your opinion, is it possible that this could a be a nefarious app...maybe downloaded to my computer by source I have not given permission? The reason i am asking, without giving any significant details, is that I have been involved and traveled to participate in a number of projects overseas. Just wondering if this could have come from another country, or my country or university (in the past I have found files after traveling that should not be on my computer..). Anyway, thank you again for all your advice, suggestions, and guidance!

Acronis in general is normally legitimate software. However, even legitimate apps can be infested with nasty surprises if they are downloaded from unofficial locations. EtreCheck is not reporting it as nefarious, but again I'm not sure exactly how EtreCheck makes this determination.

Any time someone has physical access to your device anything is possible. Personally being the more un-trusting and paranoid type I would personally make a good backup before travelling and delete un-needed data (I would probably just perform a clean install and only include the data needed for the trip -- or just access the needed data from the cloud over a VPN or secure connection). Then once returned home I would erase the drive and restore from the backup made before the trip.

In fact if you have trouble removing these apps or you uncertain of how these apps came to be installed, then a clean install of macOS may end up being the quickest & easiest method (all depends on your skills whether removing the software is a good option) which involves erasing the whole physical drive before installing macOS. Then only restore your user account(s) and manually re-install your third party apps.

Maybe another more knowledgeable contributor will chime in to provide their opinion and advice since I am not a macOS software expert. When I encounter unknown conditions on a client's Mac I make a judgement call on what will be the quickest way to get their machine running properly again as it also save's the client money on my labor fees. It is not always an easy decision either way.