Tagged Questions

8
votes
1answer
110 views

What kind of “messages” does Activity Monitor track with the “Messages Sent” and “Messages Received” columns?

In Activity Monitor on OS X, it is possible to add additional columns to the process list view. Two columns available in that list are "Messages Sent" and "Messages Received", which show up as "Sent ...
0
votes
1answer
34 views

How to disable the docked Finder monitor pop-up on OS X?

Attached is the screen shot of annoying screen monitor round cornered box, not sure what thats called. I dont know how it appeared!!! I wanna disable it. The Command+option+escape window doesn't show ...
1
vote
1answer
118 views

killing httpd spawns new processes

In short, I need to kill all httpd processes so I can run a particular program. When I go to Activity Monitor and Quit all of the httpd processes, a new one is immediately spawned. I'm not sure what ...
0
votes
1answer
117 views

There is a process called SH using 100% of my CPU

I checked the Activity Monitor and noticed 2 processes called sh that were eating my CPU. What apps are related to these processes and how can I stop them from eating all CPU?
0
votes
1answer
80 views

Mac has enough memory, but still pages in, is that a problem?

I recently upgraded my memory, but I notice that while the OS does NOT page out at all (from what I see in Activity Monitor), the machine pages in regardless. Why does that happen? Is that a problem? ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views

Alternative activity monitors for OS X?

I’m a bit intrigued by the new detailed activity monitors and progress indicators in Windows 8 (copying files, the task monitor, network activity, etc.) It got me thinking: surely there must be some ...
0
votes
1answer
163 views

How many threads is normal in OSX Lion?

I just rebooted my system and right now Activity Monitor is showing over 500 threads running. Before I rebooted it was over 900. Is that normal?
2
votes
1answer
2k views

VM size in Activity Monitor: hundreds of GB?

When I open the Activity Monitor, I get something looking like this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1342. But why the heck is "VM size" around 100-200 GB?? Here is the capture from the apple support: ...
2
votes
1answer
3k views

Make Activity Monitor show more than 4 cores worth of CPU usage in the Dock

Is it possible to force more than 4 cores in the Dock, this looks like a feature apple does not want after checking out Mac OS X: Activity Monitor shows one CPU Usage graph on systems with more than ...
3
votes
2answers
374 views

Help identify what process is using CPU when active processes suggest machine is idle

After rebooting, and with only the activity monitor open, my MB Pro (10.6, i7) shows a very high idle % (98% or higher) but then shortly after drops down to 40% - 50%. There are no processes in the ...
4
votes
5answers
4k views

How can I see bandwidth usage on a Mac?

I am having internet problems and the ISP technicians suggested that something is using my bandwidth. Is there a software to monitor which processes use how much bandwidth?
4
votes
1answer
4k views

how to start/stop/restart processes

As a new comer from Windows OS, I wonder how to start/stop/restart a service on Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 ?(it's straight forward on Windows using its Task Manager). I tried Activity Monitor, but ...
2
votes
1answer
253 views

Mac app to show cumulative CPU usage?

Activity Monitor will show you how much CPU time the current instances of each process have taken. I want an app that will show the total CPU time all instances of each process have taken, so I can ...
8
votes
5answers
4k views

What's triggering my Finder's CPU binges?

A few times a week, the Finder on my Macbook shoots up to around 100% CPU use, and the fans start blasting. I've done everything I can think of - repaired permissions, rebooted, trashed preferences, ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views

MacBook Running Really Slow, Activity Monitor Reports HUGE VM

My MacBook is running really really slow at the moment, I have quit loads of processes (but activity monitor only reported about 10% cpu usage anyway). I had just noticed I have a VM Size of 250GB! ...
6
votes
6answers
10k views

Is there a keyboard shortcut for launching Activity Monitor?

I can't seem to find a shortcut for launching the activity monitor. Does it have one?
23
votes
2answers
8k views

What's the difference between Real, Virtual, Shared, and Private Memory?

The different columns in Activity Monitor are a little confusing
8
votes
1answer
919 views

What does it mean when a %CPU exceeds (# of cores) x 100%?

Several responses to a question I asked earlier suggested I try Opera kiosk mode, so I decided to download it and give it a try. Once the download had completed and the disk image was being verified, ...