I ran EtreCheck to find out why I am having application memory issues on my MacBook Pro M4 and found some legacy system extensions that have no current application but are running in the background. Is there any way to find them, remove them completely?
[Running] SpyBusterExtension - version 2.9.51 (MacPaw Labs LTD)
Application: Not found!
Description: Detect potentially unwanted software
MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 26.1
Find Any File (FAF) is available in the App Store and would be an appropriate tool for finding these files.
Launch the app and search for items containing the string 'macpaw' or 'cleanmymac'.
You may wish to share your EtreCheck report with the community here. We have many users who are great at interpreting the info and pointing the finger at suspect apps and/or conflicts.
Please note you must upload the full report. To see how, please click > How to use Add Text when posting… EtreCheck Report.
Jefferis Peterson wrote:
Thank you. Although I am logged in as an Admin, some of these legacy items I don't have permission to delete or change ownership permissions.l
EtreCheck report:
<Etrecheck report.log>
Good job uploading that EtreCheck report, my friend. 👍🏽
You may have to start up in safe mode to delete some of these things. A safe boot prevents third-party apps and other software from loading and running, and often it is required that a thing is not loaded or running in order to be deleted.
Re: your EtreCheck report:
Without digging too deeply I see a couple big red flags.
1) You have a 1 TB startup drive with only 85 GB Free, 102 GB available. This puts your free space well below the minimum threshold of 10%-15% free space advised and required for the smooth operation of your Mac.
❝ disk3s1s1 - Macintosh HD [APFS Snapshot]
Filesystem: APFS
Mount point: /
Read-only: Yes
Used: 12.19 GB
Shared values
Size: 994.66 GB
Free: 85.08 GB
Available: 102.37 GB❞
You would be wise to move a good chunk of your stuff to an external drive and then delete it from your startup drive. You'll want to relocate 50-100 GB of stuff.
2) You have BitDefender antivirus installed. This may be causing conflict with the OS. Best to uninstall that. It's not needed. Your Mac requires no always-on, third-party anti-virus or anti-malware software.
Apple has built these protections into macOS and they are updated regularly.
Thank you. Although I am logged in as an Admin, some of these legacy items I don't have permission to delete or change ownership permissions.l
EtreCheck report:
Remove legacy SpyBusterExtension on MacBook Pro M4?
