Remove legacy SpyBusterExtension on MacBook Pro M4?

Based on the security profiles loaded, this looks like it is (or was) a managed system.

Add the add-on anti-malware and the tweak tools and the copy protection tools and multiple “coffee shop” VPN apps and the fan controls and the add-on TRIM enabling tools, it’s quite possibly headed for ”fun”. Then consider some of the apps here are ten or fifteen years old; positively ancient.

Not enough memory for what is running, and not enough free storage space, too.

I’d probably pick one backup strategy and test restore with it too, and that maybe with off-site storage as needed. Different uncoordinated) add-on backup tools add to the testing overhead, and to the ongoing system overhead.

Given the age of this, and all the tweaks and such, I’m with etresoft here, I’d wipe this, transfer files and documents and not apps, and start over without the add-on anti-malware, tweaks, cleaners, fan controls, etc., and preferably with current versions of Paragon NTFS and other add-on apps, if you still need some or all of those.

Too many of the add-on security and the VPN apps are themselves all too reminiscent of malware, though with an end-user license agreement.

In addition to @D.I. Johnson's analysis and advice, I would like to point out the following:

To delete the items mentioned in the "Clean Up" section of the EtreCheck which don't show the location of the item, you need to locate the item earlier in the report to know which section the item is reported and translate that section into one of the following locations which will contain a .plist file:

/Library/LaunchAgents

/Library/LaunchDaemons

~/Library/LaunchAgents

Two of those items are listed as "running" so they cannot be deleted until they are turned off.....you may need to delete them while booted into Safe Mode which should disable them.

You have a lot of software installed which has installed things to run in the background. This will consume system resources and increases the chances of issues with macOS & other apps including performance issues. I would highly recommend uninstalling BitDefender by following the developer's instructions (just deleting the app to the Trash is not enough due to all the tendrils BitDefender has put into macOS). Anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software are not needed on a Mac and will usually cause more problems than they solve, plus they impact system performance. See the following article for more details:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-8841

FYI, TechToolPro (aka "micromat") is really a waste of resources. I was never a fan of TTP even 20 years ago, and am even less of a fan today after seeing a recent version a few years ago. TTP does a lousy job with all its "features" which is better done by other....usually individual specialized apps.

Plus I see multiple VPNs listed in the report (may only be browser extensions....I got lost in the report with all the things running in the background). VPNs are only useful for connecting to an employer's network. Most VPNs do not provide the privacy or security you think they do. See the following article for details & information:

https://gist.github.com/joepie91/5a9909939e6ce7d09e29

As for your "out of application memory" issues, you should update to macOS 26.2. I also experienced lots of those issue as well as storage issues. So far I have not experienced those issues since I updated to 26.2.

Make sure your third party apps are completely up to date and compatible with Tahoe.....and with the macOS 26.2 update.

Edit: I see respected contributor @etresoft beat me to posting. Please follow their advice regarding deleting the extensions since they know much more about such things.

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.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support 

You actually have two orphan system extensions.

Luckily, since you also have Tahoe, you can delete these extensions. Go to System Settings > Login Items & Extensions > Extensions > By Category.

I think you'll have to click the ⓘ button to see the listing.

Then, you'll have to click the "..." button to access a hidden menu that will allow you to remove the orphan system extension. You'll have to do this twice with each extension.

You have an awful lot of 3rd party system extensions installed. Some of them are notorious for causing problems for many years. It might be time to consider erasing and reinstalling the operating system. If you do this, you have to be careful about restoring from backup. You can't restore any app, software, system settings, or "other files". Only restore your user accounts and user documents. Manually reinstall only the 3rd party app that you absolutely need.

In EtreCheck reports for me there is always a “Show in Finder” option which I can use to delete the desired file. Have you tried that?

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.

• macOS security built right in. - Apple Support   

• App Security Overview - Apple Support

Jefferis Peterson wrote:

Maybe I have been overly cautious?

Caution? No. The word you're looking for is "fooled", "duped", "scammed", etc.

I have used VPN when traveling to protect my logins to financial sites, eg., like when I am in the airport using public wifi

Any reputable financial site would already be using secure protocols. Using a VPN will only reduce your security.

Are you saying that is not necessary?

Yes. It's all a big scam. The only way to get malware on a Mac is to install it, on purpose. People sometimes do this so they can run a pirate version of some expensive app for free. They also do it to watch free movies, concerts, sporting events, etc. But it's never accidental. They have to bypass multiple layers of Apple protection in order to install the malware.

Jefferis Peterson wrote:

ThANK YOU GUYS You are a world of help. IT may take me a time to implement them all. I will note that Bitdefender has caught and protected my system from a lot of email (from windows mostly) attachments that are malware. Maybe I have been overly cautious? And I have used VPN when traveling to protect my logins to financial sites, eg., like when I am in the airport using public wifi Are you saying that is not necessary?

“Coffee shop” VPNs: A poorly-encrypted second layer of encryption for but just part of the connection, wrapped around the existing and robust end-to-end encryption, a scheme of dubious benefit for adding security, and badly solving a problem that hasn’t existed for a decade or so, but absolutely perfect for collecting personally-identified metadata.

Your fears around public Wi-Fi collecting your metadata quite possibly came true here too, though the collection through the tools you yourself installed. Fears that were explicitly created and intended to target you, and to convince you to expose your own metadata.

Use the end-to-end encryption. For better privacy, enable and use iCloud+ Private Relay, as that prevents the first part of your connection from even knowing where you’re connecting, and prevents the destination of your connection from knowing the source.

Scams and malware and the rest aren’t as commonly targeting our gear, the scams and the malware are more often targeting us ourselves. Phishing, spear phishing, scams, sketchy security apps, password attacks against re-used passwords and compromised passwords, cracked apps and keygen tools, etc.

Have any of the issues reported by your add-on anti-malware gotten past the built-in anti-malware and target macOS? More than a few of the add-on security apps are just noisy, and for negligible benefits. Windows malware doesn’t affect macOS.

And does the stuff even work against current Windows, or are even the Windows reports spurious? And are the erroneous reports worth the noise? Some of the better known anti-malware for macOS was caught and fined* selling personally-identified user activity and personally-identified web purchasing data, and others have been caught making false reports for months, ot trying to corrupt macOS itself.

Some reading: Better Securing Your Data, and Apple Acco… - Apple Community

*the vendor was fined not because they collected and resold the personally-identified data, but rather because they did not disclose the sales in their fine print. Fine print we all read and understand of course, and fine print that is obviously written for complete clarity and transparency.