Kernel_Task is using up 85% of my CPU, and it's making my computer very slow, and I can't close the application. How can I fix my Mac?

Hi I've uninstalled the iAntivirus completely, but kernel task is still using up most of my CPU, could this be a hardware problem? and if so, what needs to be changed or fixed?

Hi even without anything open this problem occurs, when I took the screen shots I only had google chrome open so I could follow the instructions.

Here's a picture of all my processes:

And this is a screenshot of my active processes:

The etresoft program listed these results:

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,5

1 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

2 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

System Software:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: up 0:1:30:10

Disk Information:

FUJITSU MJA2160BH FFS G1 disk0 : (149.05 GB)

(null) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 148.73 GB (67.79 GB free)

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist

Launch Agents:

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.plist

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

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

SpeechSynthesisServer

Dropbox

iAntiVirus

PrivateTunnel Tray

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Bad Fonts:

None

Top Processes by CPU:

Top Processes by Memory:

I then posted this into the Terminal and got this:

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,5

1 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

2 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

System Software:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: up 0:1:30:10

Disk Information:

FUJITSU MJA2160BH FFS G1 disk0 : (149.05 GB)

(null) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 148.73 GB (67.79 GB free)

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist

Launch Agents:

User Launch ALast login: Thu Mar 7 08:28:02 on console

localhost:~ chanryan$ Hardware Information:

-bash: Hardware: command not found

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,5

1 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

2 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

System Software:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: up 0:1:30:10

Disk Information:

FUJITSU MJA2160BH FFS G1 disk0 : (149.05 GB)

(null) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 148.73 GB (67.79 GB free)

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist

Launch Agents:

User Launch Agents:

[loadedlocalhost:~ chanryan$ MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,5

-bash: MacBook: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ 1 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2 cores

2 GB RAM

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

System Software:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: up 0:1:30:10

Disk Information:

FUJITSU MJA2160BH FFS G1 disk0 : (149.05 GB)

(null) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 148.73 GB (67.79 GB free)

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist

Launch Agents:

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.pli st

-bash: 1: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ 2 GB RAM

-bash: 2: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Video Information:

-bash: Video: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB

-bash: NVIDIA: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ System Software:

-bash: System: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: up 0:1:30:10

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Disk Information:

-bash: Disk: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ FUJITSU MJA2160BH FFS G1 disk0 : (149.05 GB)

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('

localhost:~ chanryan$

Display all 1415 possibilities? (y or n)

localhost:~ chanryan$ ull) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `)'

localhost:~ chanryan$

Display all 1415 possibilities? (y or n)

localhost:~ chanryan$ tosh HD (disk0s2) /: 148.73 GB (67.79 GB free)

-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `('

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS23N

USB Information:

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist

Launch Agents:

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.pli st

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

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

SpeechSynthesisServer

Dropbox

iAntiVirus

PrivateTunnel Tray

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

Flash -bash: HL-DT-ST: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ USB Information:

-bash: USB: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

-bash: Apple: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

-bash: Apple: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

-bash: Apple: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

FireWire Information:

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist

Launch Agents:

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.pli st

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

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

SpeechSynthesisServer

Dropbox

iAntiVirus

PrivateTunnel Tray

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

User Inter-bash: Apple: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

-bash: Apple: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

Display all 1415 possibilities? (y or n)

! iosnoop repquota

./ iostat reset

2to3 iotop resize

2to32.6 ip6 restore

: ip6config return

AppleFileServer ip6fw rev

BootCacheControl ipconfig revnetgroup

DirectoryService ipcount ri

KernelEventAgent ipcount5.10.0 rlogin

Kobil_mIDentity_switch ipcount5.8.9 rm

RSA_SecurID_getpasswd ipcrm rmdir

SystemStarter ipcs rmic

X ipfw rmid

Xephyr iptab rmiregistry

Xfake iptab5.10.0 rndc

Xnest iptab5.8.9 rndc-confgen

Xquartz irb rotatelogs

Xvfb isc-config.sh route

[ jar rpc.lockd

[[ jarsigner rpc.statd

]] java rpcclient

a2p javac rpcinfo

a2p5.10.0 javadoc rrestore

localhost:~ chanryan$ c. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

-bash: c.: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ FireWire Information:

-bash: FireWire: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

Kernel Extensions:

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[not loaded] org.samba.winbindd.plist

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist

Launch Agents:

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.pli st

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

User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

SpeechSynthesisServer

Dropbox

iAntiVirus

PrivateTunnel Tray

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

DirectorShockwave.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

User Internet Plug-ins:

Bad Fonts:

None

Top Processes by CPU:

Top Processes by Memory:

localhost:~ chanryan$ Kernel Extensions:

-bash: Kernel: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Problem System Launch Daemons:

-bash: Problem: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ [not loaded]org.samba.winbindd.plist

-bash: [not: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Problem System Launch Agents:

-bash: Problem: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ [failed]com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist

-bash: [failed]com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Launch Daemons:

-bash: Launch: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ [loaded]com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

-bash: [loaded]com.adobe.fpsaud.plist: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ [loaded]net.openvpn.client.plist

-bash: [loaded]net.openvpn.client.plist: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Launch Agents:

-bash: Launch: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ User Launch Agents:

-bash: User: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ [loaded]com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae. plist

-bash: [loaded]com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae. plist: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ [loaded]com.google.keystone.agent.plist

-bash: [loaded]com.google.keystone.agent.plist: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ User Login Items:

-bash: User: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ iTunesHelper

-bash: iTunesHelper: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ SpeechSynthesisServer

-bash: SpeechSynthesisServer: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Dropbox

-bash: Dropbox: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ iAntiVirus

-bash: iAntiVirus: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ PrivateTunnel Tray

-bash: PrivateTunnel: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ 3rd Party Preference Panes:

-bash: 3rd: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Flash Player

-bash: Flash: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Internet Plug-ins:

-bash: Internet: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ AdobePDFViewer.plugin

-bash: AdobePDFViewer.plugin: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

-bash: AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ DirectorShockwave.plugin

-bash: DirectorShockwave.plugin: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Flash Player.plugin

-bash: Flash: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin

-bash: FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

-bash: Google: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

-bash: iPhotoPhotocast.plugin: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

-bash: JavaAppletPlugin.plugin: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin

-bash: OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin.plugin: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ QuickTime Plugin.plugin

-bash: QuickTime: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ User Internet Plug-ins:

-bash: User: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Bad Fonts:

-bash: Bad: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$ None

-bash: None: command not found

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Top Processes by CPU:

invalid option or syntax: Processes

Top usage: Top

[-a | -d | -e | -c <mode>]

[-F | -f]

[-h]

[-i <interval>]

[-l <samples>]

[-ncols <columns>]

[-o <key>] [-O <secondaryKey>]

[-R | -r]

[-S]

[-s <delay>]

[-n <nprocs>]

[-stats <key(s)>]

[-pid <processid>]

[-user <username>]

[-U <username>]

[-u]

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$ Top Processes by Memory:

invalid option or syntax: Processes

Top usage: Top

[-a | -d | -e | -c <mode>]

[-F | -f]

[-h]

[-i <interval>]

[-l <samples>]

[-ncols <columns>]

[-o <key>] [-O <secondaryKey>]

[-R | -r]

[-S]

[-s <delay>]

[-n <nprocs>]

[-stats <key(s)>]

[-pid <processid>]

[-user <username>]

[-U <username>]

[-u]

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$

localhost:~ chanryan$

And my system memory tab is like this:

Hi, yes I used the uninstaller, but I have also removed iantivirus the way you told me to as well. When I used the safe boot, the Kernel began using a lot less CPU, in fact it only uses about 4/5 %, I can't give you a print screen of this unfortunately, as the print screen function seems to have been disabled in safe mode. I don't have any external devices/peripherals connected so I assume that what I have sent is what it is like without the other devices.

Here's two screen shots of my active processes, it kept fluctuating as some processes went on and off, so I can't be sure this is everything, but I think thatit is most of the processes:

And here are screenshots of all my processes:

I'm not sure how to disable the VPN on my mac, I've tried looking it up but it doesn't give any instructions on google. Also, I can't find this option on my mac, I know how to do it on my phone, and I understand it links to the internet, so I tried disabling airport, but this had no effect on the CPU.

After pasting kextstat | grep -v apple into the terminal I got this:

Last login: Mon Mar 11 06:40:33 on console

42-98-169-086:~ chanryan$ kextstat | grep -v apple

Index Refs Address Size Wired Name (Version) <Linked Against>

42-98-169-086:~ chanryan$

I also opened a new account as you requested, but the kernel still uses 80+% of my CPU, there was one program: mdworker, that I saw used up to 30% of my CPU, however after a while it stopped using so much and then became entirely inactive.

I've tried looking at other threads, and some of them do actually detail some similar problems, however they don't actually give any solutions to the problem. I looked at your article concerning what occurs during a safeboot and it states:

It loads only required kernel extensions (some of the items in /System/Library/Extensions).

I believe that it is probably one or many of the things in this folder which could be the problem. Would it be possible to solve the issues by deleting these files?

I'm assuming that it is one of the recently modified tasks, as the problem only began a few months ago, but I'm not entirely sure when it was, as originally I simply ignored the problem.