Kernal_task running at over 200%, sometimes over 450% of CPU and seems to be causing a huge lag

here's my EtreCheck report:

(funny thing is that since I ran the report, kernal_task has gone down to around 2%...then 10 mins later went back up to 250%...huh???)

EtreCheck version: 4.2.1 (4C020)

Report generated: 2018-04-15 13:21:51

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 25:19

Performance: Poor

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

Huge lag with trying to do basic tasks like scrolling on Chrome web browser, moving tabs from one side of the screen to the other, etc.

The kernal_task is running at least 200%, sometimes more than 450% and I think this is the problem here.

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

Time Machine backup out-of-date - The last Time Machine backup is over 10 days old.

Poor performance - EtreCheck report took over 10 minutes to run. This is very unusual.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Time Machine auto backup disabled - Time Machine auto backups are disabled.

Apps crashing - There have been numerous app crashes.

Small backup drive - Time Machine backup drive is too small.

Unsigned files - There is unsigned software installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

Hardware Information:

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)

iMac Model: iMac14,2

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4570) CPU: 4-core

24 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 0/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M - VRAM: 1 GB

iMac 2560 x 1440

Kogan Monitor 2560 x 1440 @ 59 Hz

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 1.00 TB (Mechanical)

Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD (Journaled HFS+) 999.35 GB

disk0s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB

disk1 - Seagate Expansion Desk 5.00 TB

External USB 5 Gbit/s

disk1s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk1s2 - P*****2 (Journaled HFS+) 2.00 TB

disk1s3 - V*****2 (Journaled HFS+) 3.00 TB

disk2 - Seagate Expansion Desk 2.00 TB

External USB 5 Gbit/s

disk2s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk2s2 - P****s (Journaled HFS+) 1.00 TB

disk2s3 - V****s (Journaled HFS+) 999.72 GB

Mounted Volumes:

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD 999.35 GB (426.16 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /

disk1s2 - P*****2 2.00 TB (1.58 TB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/P*****2

disk1s3 - V*****2 3.00 TB (2.29 TB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/V*****2

disk2s2 - P****s 1.00 TB (167.67 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/P****s

disk2s3 - V****s 999.72 GB (50.04 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/V****s

Network:

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

One IPv4 address

Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

iCloud Quota: 141 MB available

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 (17D102)

Time since boot: About an hour

System Load: 16.46 (1 min ago) 13.36 (5 min ago) 14.44 (15 min ago)

Security:

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Agent.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Agent

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/SwitchBoard/SwitchBoard.app/Contents/MacOS/launch.switchboard

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.onlywire.client.app

Executable: /Applications/OnlyWire.app -a /Applications/OnlyWire.app

Kernel Extensions:

/Library/Application Support/Roxio

[Not Loaded] TDIXController.kext (1.7)

/Library/Extensions

[Loaded] Apowersoft_AudioDevice.kext (Apowersoft Limited, 1.6.7 - SDK 10.11)

[Loaded] SophosFileProtection.kext (Sophos, 9.7.4 - SDK 10.12)

[Loaded] SophosFileMonitor.kext (Sophos, 9.7.4 - SDK 10.12)

[Loaded] SophosWebProtection.kext (Sophos, 9.7.4 - SDK 10.12)

/System/Library/Extensions

[Not Loaded] CDSDAudioCaptureSupport.kext (1.2)

Startup Items:

Qmaster Path: /Library/StartupItems/Qmaster

System Launch Agents:

System Launch Daemons:

Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

User Launch Agents:

User Login Items:

Dropbox Application (Dropbox, Inc.

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Google Chrome Application (Google, Inc.

(/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist MachInit (?

(/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist)

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 (installed 2018-01-13)

FlashPlayer-10.6: 29.0.0.140 (installed 2018-04-11)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-02-26)

Flash Player: 29.0.0.140 (installed 2018-04-11)

JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2014-08-30)

DivXBrowserPlugin: 1.3 (installed 2007-05-24)

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: 12.3.6 (installed 2014-12-02)

PepperFlashPlayer: 29.0.0.140 (installed 2018-04-11)

ContentUploaderPlugin: 1.2 (installed 2007-05-24)

Silverlight: 4.1.10111.0 (installed 2015-07-05)

iPhotoPhotocast: 6.0 (installed 2006-11-05)

User Internet Plug-ins:

fbplugin_1_0_3: (installed 2015-07-05)

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Déjà Vu (installed 2015-07-05)

DivX (installed 2007-05-24)

Flash Player (installed 2018-03-27)

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2006-07-13)

Perian (installed 2008-09-26)

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: No

Mobile backups: No

Auto backup: No

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB - Disk used: 573.18 GB

Destinations:

V****s [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 999.72 GB

Total number of backups: 4

Oldest backup: 2014-08-28 11:09:08

Last backup: 2014-08-30 19:40:45

Top Processes by CPU:

Top Processes by Memory:

Top Processes by Network Use:

Top Processes by Energy Use:

Virtual Memory Information:

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

2018-04-14 16:45:43 SophosEventMonitor Crash (once)

2018-04-13 22:06:13 corecaptured Crash (once)

2018-04-13 00:47:04 SophosScanD.app Crash (5 times)

2018-04-11 07:37:41 Google Chrome.app CPU (once)

End of report

thanks, Kappy.

Will look into doing this as well. I figured there had to be something running in the background, but other than NordVPN, I haven't installed any app recently.

I'll also look into resetting my SMC as well (hard to think that that's just a matter of shutting down, unpluggin the cord for 15 secs or more, then restarting. Good ol' modern technology! ;-) )

Regards,

Doug

I reset the SMC as well. It brought down the kernal_task to around 10%, but after about 10 mins, it went back up again to over 200% (even saw it as high as 980% !!!)

I've tried shutting down other apps, but it doesn't look like anything else is taking up much of the CPU. Here's a screengrab of my Activity Monitor:

This is really starting to get frustrating!

So why did you suggest to me to use it if it is crap? It's not even installed on my computer (ie not listed as an app), so how can I get rid of it if it isn't even installed (but somehow still manages to send a popup?

Thanks for that. I removed Sophos but the problem is still there. It was going up as high as 300% and causing the huge lag in web pages (particularly with Youtube).

any other suggestions?

I thought the suggestion from CT was that CleanMyMac = crapware

Hi etresoft,

here's the latest. You can see that Sophos has been removed (used the program's removal app)

EtreCheck version: 4.2.1 (4C020)

Report generated: 2018-04-26 12:28:23

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 10:44

Performance: Poor

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

Huge lag in webpages with beach balling

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

Time Machine backup out-of-date - The last Time Machine backup is over 10 days old.

Poor performance - EtreCheck report took over 10 minutes to run. This is very unusual.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Time Machine auto backup disabled - Time Machine auto backups are disabled.

Heavy RAM usage - This machine is using a large amount of RAM.

Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

Small backup drive - Time Machine backup drive is too small.

Unsigned files - There is unsigned software installed. They appear to be legitimate but should be reviewed.

Hardware Information:

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)

iMac Model: iMac14,2

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4570) CPU: 4-core

24 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 0/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

BANK 1/DIMM1 - 8 GB DDR3 1600 ok

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M - VRAM: 1024 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

Kogan Monitor 2560 x 1440 @ 59 Hz

Drives:

disk0 - APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 1.00 TB (Mechanical)

Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD (Journaled HFS+) 999.35 GB

disk0s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB

disk1 - Seagate Expansion Desk 5.00 TB

External USB 5 Gbit/s

disk1s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk1s2 - P*****2 (Journaled HFS+) 2.00 TB

disk1s3 - V*****2 (Journaled HFS+) 3.00 TB

disk2 - Seagate Expansion Desk 2.00 TB

External USB 5 Gbit/s

disk2s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk2s2 - P****s (Journaled HFS+) 1.00 TB

disk2s3 - V****s (Journaled HFS+) 999.72 GB

Mounted Volumes:

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD 999.35 GB (435.24 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /

disk1s2 - P*****2 2.00 TB (1.58 TB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/P*****2

disk1s3 - V*****2 3.00 TB (2.29 TB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/V*****2

disk2s2 - P****s 1.00 TB (167.67 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/P****s

disk2s3 - V****s 999.72 GB (51.97 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/V****s

Network:

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

One IPv4 address

Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN

Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge

iCloud Quota: 141 MB available

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 (17E199)

Time since boot: About 2 hours

System Load: 40.67 (1 min ago) 29.75 (5 min ago) 15.26 (15 min ago)

Security:

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/SwitchBoard/SwitchBoard.app/Contents/MacOS/launch.switchboard

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.onlywire.client.app

Executable: /Applications/OnlyWire.app -a /Applications/OnlyWire.app

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Agent.plist

Executable: /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac3.Agent

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Kernel Extensions:

/Library/Application Support/Roxio

[Not Loaded] TDIXController.kext (1.7)

/Library/Extensions

[Loaded] Apowersoft_AudioDevice.kext (Apowersoft Limited, 1.6.7 - SDK 10.11)

/System/Library/Extensions

[Not Loaded] CDSDAudioCaptureSupport.kext (1.2)

Startup Items:

Qmaster Path: /Library/StartupItems/Qmaster

System Launch Agents:

System Launch Daemons:

Launch Agents:

Launch Daemons:

User Launch Agents:

User Login Items:

Dropbox Application (Dropbox, Inc.

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Google Chrome Application (Google, Inc.

(/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist MachInit (?

(/etc/mach_init_per_user.d/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.monitor.plist)

Internet Plug-ins:

AdobeAAMDetect: AdobeAAMDetect 1.0.0.0 (installed 2018-01-13)

FlashPlayer-10.6: 29.0.0.140 (installed 2018-04-11)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-04-16)

Flash Player: 29.0.0.140 (installed 2018-04-11)

JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 (installed 2014-08-30)

DivXBrowserPlugin: 1.3 (installed 2007-05-24)

OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: 12.3.6 (installed 2014-12-02)

PepperFlashPlayer: 29.0.0.140 (installed 2018-04-11)

ContentUploaderPlugin: 1.2 (installed 2007-05-24)

Silverlight: 4.1.10111.0 (installed 2015-07-05)

iPhotoPhotocast: 6.0 (installed 2006-11-05)

User Internet Plug-ins:

fbplugin_1_0_3: (installed 2015-07-05)

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Déjà Vu (installed 2015-07-05)

DivX (installed 2007-05-24)

Flash Player (installed 2018-03-27)

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2006-07-13)

Perian (installed 2008-09-26)

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: No

Mobile backups: No

Auto backup: No

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.35 GB - Disk used: 564.11 GB

Destinations:

V****s [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 999.72 GB

Total number of backups: 4

Oldest backup: 2014-08-28 11:09:08

Last backup: 2014-08-30 19:40:45

Top Processes by CPU:

Top Processes by Memory:

Top Processes by Network Use:

Top Processes by Energy Use:

Virtual Memory Information:

Clean up:

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

/Users/***/Library/Application Support/CleanMyMac 3/CleanMyMac 3 Scheduler.app

Executable not found

End of report