Finder Plugins (was Launchd Configuration Puzzle) New information: 

I've realized that what I'm looking for are finder plugins (I should have realized that sooner), even though the parent PID is launchd. I still can't figure out where finder plugins are stored.

Some of the process names are:

Seafile FinderSync
Dropbox Finder Extension
Box Sync Finder Extension




Original post:

I'm going nuts trying to figure out how some processes are being automatically launched. The parent process is launchd (PID 1), but I can't find reference to them in any of the usual locations:

~/Library/LaunchAgents
/System/Library/LaunchAgents
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons
/System/Library/StartupItems
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/StartupItems


I have also checked out cron:

/usr/lib/cron/tabs
crontab -l
sudo crontab -l


And ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist is empty.
You could try running EtreCheck on your Mac. It's a diagnostic tool that, amongst other things, will list all the kernel extensions, launch agents, launch daemons, user login items, internet plugins, Safari extensions, etc.

This might find something that you've missed.

Just as an example of the type of output you'll get, here is a partial entry from a scan of my MacBook Pro. It shows that I've removed applications but forgotten to remove the plist files that are still attempting to launch them.