Q: Serious Mac Virus?

Okay so I decided that it needed to be a software issue maybe from a virus like I mentioned and now it is REALLY serious. I backed up my computer (certain files anyways) and went into Disk Utility to reformat the drive. I decided that I wanted to do a secure erase, so I chose the second option (I wanted to do the last one but it said it would take like 8 hours so I cancelled it). I waited and waited and waited because it said it was going to take a long time. So, I had no problem with that. I just waited. I kept checking back and everything was fine and then it said "1 minute remaining" and so I was happy that it was working and then suddenly I got an error. I tried to reformat it again except with the fast option and I got another error. Now when I go to Disk Utility, there isn't even a partition there. It just says "Internal Drive" and when I look at what is available it says just a little over 100 kilobytes. Somehow it seems as if it is bricked. Right now I'm using the "get help online" option which is how I'm doing this. But I don't know how this happened. Realistically, I could say that it is a hardware issue (I was having a problem with something else a few weeks ago and actually I think you responded to that Linc) but I'm not sure. I mean the entire computer must be messed up if that's the case. Anything you can suggest before I take it in?

Sorry about that. Firstly, I have been backing it up all day and formatting and I never saw yours until now (too late obviously). However, none of those would have been applicable really. Like I said, it was also a wired mouse that was doing the exact same thing. Might I add, it didn't happen all the time and in fact, it usually happened at around 8:00PM. So it was almost like it was planned. Unless the computer had a random failure of hardware (which is entirely possible), I don't see it being anything hardware related because I have had the same setup for a good year and a half now with no issues. Like I said in the original post, I already tried resetting the SMC (multiple times too).

Just to provide some extra information, last night I did the hardware test that was suggested by Loner T and the result that I got was that the hardware was entirely fine. Maybe I would have gotten a different result under the extended testing but I didn't feel a need to do the extended testing because of time (it would have taken a long time because of my system specs). I could always do the extended testing now though. Anyways, it seemed to me that it was a hardware issue and likely a virus or a hacker. In fact, just after I posted the original post, I was doing some browsing and when I left the mouse alone, it was in the middle of the screen. Then what happened was I saw the mouse go to the bottom of the screen and then go to the left, but it was done in such a fashion that it looked like someone was seeing what I had on my computer. Anyways, I was pretty convinced it was software related and so I went nuclear and tried to reformat. I've reformatted before so I knew what I was doing but this time it didn't work and this happened instead. I have one more idea though. I have an old Macbook that I can use and so I'm going to install OS X on a partition on my external hard drive and I'll see if I can do anything with the Disk Utility on that (particularly cloning the drive). Plus, I can always use the external hard drive as a start up disk and then maybe figure something out with that. It might seem a little stupid but right now the computer is bricked so it's all I have before making an appointment and taking it in to get fixed.

Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I did some of that already and that the other half wouldn't be the best way to find out in my opinion. For example, my wired mouse was a third party mouse so it didn't respond to the stuff within System Preferences. I actually had to find a third party solution just to adjust the settings properly. Safe mode has never properly worked for me. That is, I could use it but if I open Safari a bunch of weird stuff happens and so it makes it hard to use for a long period of time to find out different things. It's an iMac so the battery thing wouldn't work and I don't see it being the cord because I have used it since I got the computer with no problems. I didn't use any Ethernet Adapters (and actually used Wifi) and don't use an external display. Anyways I thank you for your help in this and also want to apologize if I seemed rude. I'm just really stressed out by all of this. It would be nice if things just worked, you know? My iMac used to "just work".

I think you have the wrong idea. Firstly, I was asking if there was a way to get rid of the problem BEFORE reinstalling. The problem is, the fellow yesterday seemed to suggest that I couldn't and so after some thought I decided to reinstall the OS. I didn't read Linc Davis' post until it was too late. What I'm saying is, I couldn't have done what he suggested anyways because my computer was already bricked from the reformatting process. If I was able to (which I would have done all of them without question), I already did reset the SMC multiple times and did some of the other things he wrote so I would only have to do about a quarter of what he suggested (because some of it is hardware related, there would have been nothing I could do to really test for that other than the diagnostics tool that Loner T brought up). I'm assuming your comment is a more sarcastic one because you think I'm being arrogant or something but that is far from the case (although I could have worded my comment a little better). The reality is, by the time I came on here to read the second suggestion, it was too late and another problem arose, which is mainly why I responded by saying it wasn't applicable.

So...I did a terminal command to erase the drive and after I got a little prompt saying it was corrupted and asked to fix it, so I hit okay. Now the hard drive is fine and I can reinstall.

I'm always connected to the internet. I appreciate your response that maybe it was a hardware issue however my wired mouse also did the same thing, so it seems very unlikely. I think it was a virus (a serious one) or a hacker. I'm going to be reinstalling the OS in just a second (I'm using Safari on the recovery partition right now) and hopefully afterwards it will be fixed. I already see a few other problems being fixed after Disk Utility repaired the hard drive.

Yes I did and it said "no troubles". And wow..after all of this trouble I still have the issue. I will say this though, as much of a pain as it was, I think it was needed. I had too much garbage on my computer. Anyways, I have found my old Magic Mouse and so I'll try using that for a while and see what happens.

As for the 8:00PM thing, I find it starts then and keeps going for a while (sometimes hours). Since it is happening with a newly installed OS X, I doubt it is a scheduled task. Any other ideas? Should I do the extended hardware check (I just did the regular last night)?