Imac running like a virus, tried a few things, need help.

Have you done any of those suggestions, and if so, what were the results?

Ways to help make a slow Mac faster

17 Reasons Why Your Mac Runs Slower Than it Should

Slow Mac Performance? This Article Solves It!

Fix slow start-ups in OS X | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews

6 Easy Tips to Speed Up OS X Yosemite on Your Mac

Avoid using any third-party software that claims to clean up your computer. Usually this software does more bad than good. Furthermore, you don't need it. Note that all computers will become slower over time even under normal use. Experienced users typically erase the hard drive and do a clean install from scratch at least once a year or whenever installing a major OS upgrade. Of course doing so also means you must maintain regular and multiple backups.

Add more RAM or cut back on the number of concurrently running applications and utilities. Remove unnecessary software such as anti-malware and software that promises to clean your Mac. Check for runaway processes: Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan acti… Also see:

Pre-Mavericks

Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time (>=70,) then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

Mavericks and later

Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the View menu. Click on the CPU tab in the toolbar. Click twice on the %CPU column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of %CPU, then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

One Possible Cause for a Slow Computer

(Thanks to EtreSoft for this contribution.)

If you have a problem with a slow machine and are using Google Docs, then check if the Google Docs page is showing in top sites in your browser. Once it gets into Top Sites, you get a Safari Web Content process that slows down your entire machine, but you don't even get a window for it. That's the key point. The problem will not be definitively solved until you remove the Google Docs page from Top Sites.

[This has been modified for clarity and syntax by Kappy.]

If nothing above helps then:

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

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

Boot into Safe Mode, then reboot normally.

Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive

Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.

When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu.

Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless and more reliable.

Alternatively, see:

Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive

Choose the version you have installed now:

OS X Yosemite- Reinstall OS X

OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X

OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X

OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X

Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet

if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

You would likely know if you were using Google Docs. I would not recommend anyone install utilities like CleanMyMac because they really aren't needed and use up system resources unnecessarily. Furthermore, system related issues can be aggravated by any third-party software that is running. Getting things back to normal should always start by removing all third-party add-ons and peripherals.

I've provided some options to try. It's up to you whether you wish to do so. I can't make any guarantee they will work. There are a lot of things that can cause such slowdowns including mechanical ones such as a failing disk drive. My personal preference would be to backup my files, erase the drive, and reinstall OS X. If it still doesn't work, then I know I have a hardware problem.

A

"CleanMyMac" is a scam and a common cause of instability and poor performance. Depending on what version you have, the developer's instructions may not completely remove it. Follow those instructions, then do as below.

Back up all data before proceeding.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder may open with an item selected. If it does, move the selected item to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Repeat with this line:

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent

Restart the computer and empty the Trash.

You may also have to remove one or more of these items in the same way:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Scheduler.plist

Never again install "CleanMyMac" or anything like it.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

B

When you see a beachball cursor or the slowness is especially bad, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.

Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.

Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.