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.

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)?

It's a maxed out 21.5-inch, Late 2012 iMac. The keyboard I have is USB and of course the Magic Trackpad I have is Bluetooth as well as the Magic Mouse. I've never even heard of Wireshark so I probably have never used it. No NAS devices. And yes I have an older Macbook as mentioned.

I really don't know how to describe this so I'm just gonna kinda say it. After using my Magic Mouse it seems to be clear that the problem is with the Trackpad, since with the Magic Mouse it is fine. It still doesn't describe how the issue happened with the cheap mouse I got (it is a crappy mouse but still...). Maybe I actually did have a hacker but broke the Trackpad during the process of trying to fix this thing (entirely possible even though it seems unlikely). But it seems to be fine now so I'm not going to immediately assume the worst of everything. I think the AHT is a good idea.