Resolving an issue with ATTServer and MDWorker processes

ATSServer

Part of the font server in Mac OS X called Apple Type Solution Server. responsible for managing the available fonts and making them available to apps.

MDWorker

Spotlight indexing daemon. A short term for metadata server worker. Basically a search engine for the Mac.

Why did I mention it?

Under certain circumstances, these system processes can cause problems by eating up a lot of CPU resources. Launch Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor and search for these processes.

If you notice that ATSServer is eating up your CPU resources, then it is most likely that Spotlight is trying to index a lot of PDF files on your Mac. You can resolve this issue by excluding PDF documents in the Spotlight search.

1. Go to System Preferences... > Spotlight > Search Results
2. Uncheck PDF Documents from the list. 

If you notice that MDWorker is eating up your CPU resources, then it is most likely a Spotlight issue. You may need to rebuild your Spotlight indices. To do this, do the following:

1. Go to System Preferences... > Spotlight > Privacy
2. Add, then remove, the volume whose Spotlight indices you wish to rebuild. See this KB article from apple for more info: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2409

Post Title : Resolving an issue with ATTServer and MDWorker processes

Resolving an issue with ATTServer and MDWorker processes,

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Resolving an issue with ATTServer and MDWorker processes