Suspicion of malware - MBP humming very wildly for no reason.

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Level 1

8 points

Suspicion of malware - MBP humming very wildly for no reason.

Hi everyone,

My Macbook Pro - El Capitan 10.11.4, mid-2010 - is installed with Avast Free Mac Security. I have scanned my download folder from time to time.

Recently, my MBP occasionally has wild humming sound, probably the CPU fan, out of nowhere. The room is cool and well ventilated, I have no program running except word, excel, and google chrome. It happens 3, 4 times a day.

My questions are: 1) Is this because of malware/spyware, and how to eliminate the noise. 2) Which antivirus/anti-malware/anti-spyware will best protect my MBP.

Thank you for any advices.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010)

Posted on May 5, 2016 8:55 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

May 5, 2016 10:01 AM in response to Thinh M. Le

Remove Avast correctly

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

141,466 points

May 5, 2016 10:01 AM in response to Thinh M. Le

Please read Apps can affect Mac performance, battery runtime, temperature, and fan activity - Apple Support.

Which antivirus/anti-malware/anti-spyware will best protect my MBP.

Please read Effective defenses against malware and other threats.

To properly remove "Avast" use its uninstaller, which will have been included with its downloaded installer package. Use no other technique, procedure, or utility to remove it.

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

411,265 points

May 5, 2016 9:08 AM in response to Thinh M. Le

The best anti-ware is you. There are many, many, many, many topics about this but the bottom line is there's little out there targeting Macs in comparison to Windows. No viruses in the wild. Some malware but you have to be pretty careless to install it in the first place and there's some free tools to handle it on a case by case basis. Usually the problems arise when running protection software which starts scanning all your files and drive. Nothing is 100% sure to protect a computer because the bad guys are always one step ahead. The only real reason to run any protection software is if you frequently swap files with Windows users and you want to be nice to them and make sure you don't pass on something you got from another Windows user.

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Answer 4

Thinh M. Le Author

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2016 9:55 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks so much John. It's a very comprehensive guide on "effective defenses against malware and other threads". I already uninstall Avast properly.

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Answer 5

Thinh M. Le Author

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2016 10:01 AM in response to Limnos

Thanks Limnos for the advice. I have followed most of the items in John Galt's "Effective defenses..." . I started out installing Avast as a trial, after my machine had been harassed by MacDefender (?) or some sort. It took me so long to completely remove the annoying MacDefender. How did I get MacDefender in my MBP at the first place? I probably click on something when I was half-asleep !!!

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