I have a similar problem to the one mentioned here: http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-for-Mac/AutoProtect-is-Hogging-CPU/td-p/72199
SymAutoProtect appears to be using very high amounts of the CPU. I'm on Mac 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard), running Symantec 2.1.1 (5). I've just updated the virus definitions.
When I look at the processes, I usually see something like this:
root 32157 99.8 3.5 430492 145708 ?? Rs Thu10AM 50:20.15 /Library/StartupItems/SymAutoProtect/SymAutoProtect nodaemon
Per the above thread, I ran the following: sudo fs_usage | grep Norton
And got:
11:03:23 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000020 sh
11:03:23 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000007 sh
11:03:23 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000016 sh
11:03:23 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000022 sh
11:03:23 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000022 sh
11:03:23 lstat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/SymQuickMenu>>>>>>>>>> 0.000005 SymQuickMenu
11:03:23 stat ../Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/liveupdt.log 0.000020 smcdaemon
11:03:23 open ../Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/liveupdt.log 0.000012 smcdaemon
11:03:23 lstat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/SymQuickMenu>>>>>>>>>> 0.000006 SymQuickMenu
11:03:23 lstat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/SymQuickMenu>>>>>>>>>> 0.000007 SymQuickMenu
11:04:24 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000015 sh
11:04:24 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000021 sh
11:04:24 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000022 W sh
11:04:24 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000015 sh
11:04:24 stat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/Registry 0.000007 sh
11:04:24 lstat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/SymQuickMenu>>>>>>>>>> 0.000009 SymQuickMenu
11:04:24 stat ../Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/liveupdt.log 0.000017 smcdaemon
11:04:24 open ../Norton Solutions Support/LiveUpdate/liveupdt.log 0.000011 smcdaemon
11:04:24 lstat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/SymQuickMenu>>>>>>>>>> 0.000006 SymQuickMenu
11:04:25 lstat64 /Library/Application Support/Norton Solutions Support/SymQuickMenu>>>>>>>>>> 0.000006 SymQuickMenu
And so on...
Running sudo fs_usage | grep SymAutoProtect returns:
11:37:00 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources 0.000013 APPrefTool
11:37:00 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Contents 0.000008 APPrefTool
11:37:00 stat64 rary/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Support Files 0.000006 APPrefTool
11:37:00 open encePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Resources>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 0.000006 APPrefTool
11:37:00 stat64 Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/APPrefTool 0.000010 APPrefTool
11:37:00 open Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/APPrefTool 0.000009 APPrefTool
11:38:01 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources 0.000013 APPrefTool
11:38:01 open /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources 0.000011 APPrefTool
11:38:01 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Contents 0.000007 APPrefTool
11:38:01 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Resources 0.000005 APPrefTool
11:38:01 stat64 rary/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Support Files 0.000005 APPrefTool
11:38:01 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources 0.000005 APPrefTool
11:38:01 open encePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Resources>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 0.000008 APPrefTool
11:38:01 open encePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Resources>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 0.000007 APPrefTool
11:38:01 stat64 Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/APPrefTool 0.000009 APPrefTool
11:38:01 open Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/APPrefTool 0.000009 APPrefTool
11:39:02 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Contents 0.000009 APPrefTool
11:39:02 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Resources 0.000006 APPrefTool
11:39:02 stat64 rary/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Support Files 0.000006 APPrefTool
11:39:02 stat64 /Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources 0.000008 APPrefTool
11:39:02 stat64 Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/APPrefTool 0.000017 APPrefTool
11:39:02 open Library/PreferencePanes/SymAutoProtect.prefPane/Contents/Resources/APPrefTool 0.000010 APPrefTool
I don't know exactly what is going on, but it seems that AutoProtect is possibly stuck scanning the files that it itself is modifying??