2009 27" iMac runs HOT... running slow (beachballs from ****).

The article below may help.

Use Activity Monitor on your Mac - Apple Support

Please post an EtreCheck report of the system and we can look for obvious issues. You can learn about it and also download it from http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

I have a 2009 21.5 " iMac that had Snow Leopard which ran hot, the case was hot to touch from the top to 2/3 of the way down. I've upgraded to Yosemite and its still very hot with no noticeable difference. I installed the Macs Fan Control to take a look at the temps. Are these values normal.... Sometimes my fan comes on and just stays on for awhile. Any suggestions and is this a major problem....

I used http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck recommended by rkaufmann87. The results are below.

Problem description:

2009 21.5 “ iMac with Yosemite runs very hot to the touch.

EtreCheck version: 2.3 (135)

Report generated 7/30/15, 2:24 PM

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) (Technical Specifications)

iMac - model: iMac10,1

1 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: (What does this mean?)

ATI Radeon HD 4670 - VRAM: 256 MB

iMac 1920 x 1080

System Software: (What does this mean?)

OS X 10.10.4 (14E46) - Time since boot: about 2 days

Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

Hitachi HDE721010SLA330 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

(disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (911.30 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GA11N ()

USB Information: (What does this mean?)

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Silicon Labs Dynastream ANT2USB

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

Mac App Store and identified developers

Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[not loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.actualtechnologies.odbcdriver.ataccess.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

Macs Fan Control Application (/Applications/Macs Fan Control.app)

Garmin ANT Agent Application (/Applications/Garmin ANT Agent.app)

Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.3.6 [Click for support]

NP2020Player: Version: 4.5.4.0 [Click for support]

F5 SSL VPN Plugin: Version: 7000.2011.0104.1 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.12 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 18.0.0.209 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.0.61118.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 18.0.0.209 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

CitrixICAClientPlugIn: Version: 11.8.2 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.12 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.2.0.0 - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 51 Check version

User internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 [Click for support]

WebEx64: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Safari Extensions: (What does this mean?)

Zotero Connector

3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

Flash Player [Click for support]

Java [Click for support]

Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

74% mdworker(15)

35% mds

27% WindowServer

15% Training Center

10% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(7)

Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

1.27 GB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(7)

701 MB kernel_task

451 MB softwareupdated

393 MB AdobeReader

205 MB Google Chrome Helper(2)

Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

1.19 GB Free RAM

6.81 GB Used RAM (2.28 GB Cached)

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

Jul 28, 2015, 09:42:42 AM Self test - passed

Nothing remarkable shows up in your EtreCheck report with the exception that you do not use Time Machine. I hope you are backing up the computer somehow? If not this is a MAJOR error and will eventually cost you lost data that will not be able to be recovered, including photos, music, movies, financial information etc....

As far as the heat goes, the exhaust port on the computer is where you feel the heat so that is normal. You did not post specific temps so your machine may be operating normally. As for the fans, a normal SMC reset (do 2-3 times) normally resets the fans however if they don't then you may have a failed fan sensor or some other hardware issue. In other words, this would require a trip to your local AASP to have the machine professionally diagnosed and serviced. One thing you can do is remove the RAM cover and vacuum out any accumulated dust. DO NOT blow into the computer!!!!!!!!

mdworker is using too many processor cycles. There are several threads reagrding the same type of problem, here's one mdworker process suddenly high CPU usage You can use the search tool pr Google for others.

You may have a failing HD, your HD is reporting:

HAN MAC intel i5 HD (disk0s2) / : 999.35 GB (683.57 GB free) - 8 errors.

Before you do anything, please backup and test it. Then boot into the Recovery Partition by holding down Command + R on startup. Run Disk Utility and run Verify Disk on the HD and then run Repair Disk. If errors appear after the 2-3rd run of Repair Disk this means the HD should be replaced.

S.M.A.R.T. is not always reliable. Don't start spending money yet, the HD may be okay. See if DU is able to successfully repair the drive.

HI not to cut in, I just dumped my 2011 27' at Apple store. It literally just shut down and wouldn't come on for nothing. I've been hearing a whirling noise for 3 yrs and it gets super hot after being active for 10 to 15 min. The ran a peripheral diagnostics and it passed....I looked at the guy and said no, you are going to keep it and run it and then you will know the noise and the hot part..... I don't need my apartment going up in flames because my computer starts a fire. It is something that I felt I needed to stick to and have them address. If and when I get an answer I will share here, ok?

I have another question that maybe you can help with. I decided to buy more memory for it, the guy at best buy said this will work for my iMac but it says laptop...it is DDR3 PC3-10666 both 1333MHz and 10666. The Apple Store no longer sells my memory so third party was my option, I have found that the 10666 is fine but does it matter if it's for a laptop?

OK, off to do lesson plans on my iPad....urg! Thanks

Best Buy sells third party bargain basement ram, avoid the temptation and don't do it. Macs require specific spec quality ram and the brands BB sells play fast and loose with the specs, they consider close to be good enough. That may work in PC's but not Macs. Get your ram online from either

OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/ or Crucial http://www.crucial.com/

Your 2011 iMac requires EXACTLY

1. Replace the hard disk. A hard disk that has failed and subsequently "repaired" by Disk Utility will fail again, probably in a very short period of time, for the very same reasons that caused it to fail to begin with.
2. Do not use "TechTool Pro" or similarly ill-conceived utility. They cannot possibly convey any benefit. TTP has been specifically implicated on this site for causing perfectly good hard disks to fail. Although there is no way to independently verify the accuracy of those reports, if nothing else, using it will perform needless activity that can only accelerate a hard disk drive's eventual demise.
3. Carbonite is known to run poorly on Macs. Same goes for Google products including Google Drive.