MacBook Pro using massive amounts of bandwidth?

[lazerbrains]

I have a MacBook Pro that has been acting funny lately, and has been slow, and my MS Office 2008 has been freezing and crashing. I recently got off the phone with my ISP, and I apparently have been using massive amounts of bandwidth. I went and took a look at my Activity Montior, and apparently, the apps that are using the most bandwidth, are Microsoft Word (#1), kernel, and Window Server.

Does anyone know what could be causing this? Has my machine been hijacked. Is there any test I can run to find out what is up. I do have Sophos Anitvirus installed and running for about 6 months now, and it hasn't seemed to catch anything.

Any info or suggested steps to proceed would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[AFPoster]

I do have Sophos Anitvirus installed and running for about 6 months now, and it hasn't seemed to catch anything.

I'd remove Sophos since it's not doing anything but primarily because you don't need an Anti-Virus on a Mac.

Second I just ran into similar issues and they told me to reformat my hard drive. I have Lion so I had to redownload Lion, place it on a boot disc, delete my drive and re-install to fix my issues.

 

[lazerbrains]

I'd remove Sophos since it's not doing anything but primarily because you don't need an Anti-Virus on a Mac.

Second I just ran into similar issues and they told me to reformat my hard drive. I have Lion so I had to redownload Lion, place it on a boot disc, delete my drive and re-install to fix my issues.

Thanks for the advice. Has anyone else found a solution, or anything that will help without a full reinstall?

 

[GGJstudios]

I have a MacBook Pro that has been acting funny lately, and has been slow, and my MS Office 2008 has been freezing and crashing. I recently got off the phone with my ISP, and I apparently have been using massive amounts of bandwidth. I went and took a look at my Activity Montior, and apparently, the apps that are using the most bandwidth, are Microsoft Word (#1), kernel, and Window Server.

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top). Also, click on the System Memory tab at the bottom. Then take a screen shot, scroll down to see the rest of the list, take another screen shot and post them.

Has my machine been hijacked. Is there any test I can run to find out what is up. I do have Sophos Anitvirus installed and running for about 6 months now, and it hasn't seemed to catch anything.

No, your computer hasn't been "hijacked" or "hacked". Sophos should be avoided, as it could actually increase your Mac's vulnerability, as described here and here... and here. I highly recommend you uninstall Sophos.

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

You don't need any 3rd party antivirus app to keep your Mac malware-free. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. You cannot infect your Mac simply by visiting a website, unzipping a file, opening an email attachment or joining a network. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which cannot infect your Mac unless you actively install them, and they can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install. Also, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.

Mac Virus/Malware FAQ​