Any malware detectors for os X? High fan speeds that I'm not used to seeing

This may be a dumb question, an this may not be the right place to ask, but is it worth it to get some kind of malware/virus detectors for OS X?


I run parallels for my work, with windows 7 as the OS. I noticed, especially when using Parallels, that the fans eventually run high rpm's: the CUP fan around 1700 or so, maybe a bit higher at times. Eventually at always goes up when I'm using it.


And just now the optical and HD fans were over 1000 -- around 1100 or so for the optical fan, and 1300 for the HD fan.


The power supply 2 temp also changes, but that may be normal, since I don't know how that works.



I have istat pro to monitor all this.


This doesn't seem to have happened before, and i was just wondering if maybe I've got some kind of virus that causes this.


Now I'm not an expert when it comes to this stuff, and I know that the fans will run higher when you use the machine, but it just seems to me that it could be possible that something else would be causing this, something that shouldn't be there and makes things work more than they should. When I just have the machine on and using, say, Safari and nothing else, the CPU fan RPM is around 939-941 (which I guess is the normal kind of 'idle' speed).


in my iStat pro, even with windows running, the CPU use by the User is 10% or so and the "System" portion of it is maybe around 4 percent or so, with the idle portion being somewhere around 86 to 88 percent. I just thought that with that much of the CUP being idle that it wouldn't be taking the machine that much to cause the fans (most notably the CUP fan) to run so high.


Even when I shut down paralells the fan still runs kind of high (around 1300-1400 rpm or so).


So I'm just wondering, since as I said this doesn't seem to have happened before; and I'm not sure if I had this problem before I went to Yosemite from Snow Leopard.


I'd be happy to post a screen shot of my istat pro, but I don't know how to do that or if it's even possible.


Has anyone else experienced this?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Dec 17, 2014 6:08 AM

Reply
6 replies

Dec 17, 2014 8:13 AM in response to Knopflerfan

Knopflerfan wrote:


... is it worth it to get some kind of malware/virus detectors for OS X?


Absolutely not. Some of those products are outright scams and others are simply worthless.


You may need third party anti-virus protection for your Windows system but Windows viruses cannot affect OS X. Virtualization software such as Parallels will place demands on any hardware and it likely to be the cause of the high CPU load you describe. Windows is particularly inefficient.

Dec 17, 2014 7:48 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis -- thanks, but if I may ask, could it be that Parallels would be a runaway program? Even when it's running the percent of the idle CUP usage is about 88 percent. But when I quit it, the fan can still run high and not go down to it's 'usual' levels. Right now I've been running I tunes and Safari and the iStat is telling me that the CPU idle percent is between 100 and 97.


I don't seem to have this problem on my MB Pro; which is why I started the thread. I get high fan speeds but they go down after a bit, and that's a core 2 duo, where as my iMac is a quad core i7.


Are you familiar with Parallels at all, and if so, could you give me some advice as to how to best Configure it regarding memory and CPU usage? Right now I have it 4GB of memory and one core (or one CPU in the Parallels window).


What gets me, as I said, is the fact that the CPU Fan still stays high when I quit the program.


Still learning, so I apologize if I'm asking basic questions.

Dec 17, 2014 8:09 PM in response to Knopflerfan

could it be that Parallels would be a runaway program?

It could be, but the effect would most likely be seen in the kernel (kernel_task), so you wouldn't necessarily be able to tell what was causing it. "Parallels" is always loaded in the kernel, even when you're not using it.

the CPU idle percent is between 100 and 97

If you have high fan activity when the CPU is idle, see below:


Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) - Apple Support

Are you familiar with Parallels

I know what it is, but I've never used it. I can't tell you how to make it work better.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Any malware detectors for os X? High fan speeds that I'm not used to seeing

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.