Best Cleaner For A MacBookPro?

Glad you got that sorted out.

For the benefit of future readers of this thread here's a thought. If at some point you decide that you must run antivirus software pick one of them. Do not have two installed at the same time since they will usually both launch in the background, both eat system resources (slow down the system) and often present contradictory results.

I suppose the same could be said for almost any utility that runs in the background.

billwill said:

WOW! I uninstalled MacScan 2 and Sophos last night, then rebooted and let it sit all night in standby. I've been on it for the last 4 hours and haven't seen the beachball ONCE!!!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU both for your kindness and great advice. Have a great weekend!

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That sounds awesome Bill!!! It's amazing sometimes how much anti-virus programs can "bog-down" a computer.

- Nick

Is there a anti-virus program for the Mac that you would recommend? One that doesn't/wouldn't run in the background? Thanks again.

billwill said:

Is there a anti-virus program for the Mac that you would recommend?

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Yes...none! From what I hear from experts...there are no Macintosh virus's. So you would be installing anti-virus software to scan for what doesn't exist.

But to answer your question...I have heard good things about Sophos. But why install it...if the computer is now running great...and you really don't need it??

- Nick

billwill said:

Is there a anti-virus program for the Mac that you would recommend?

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Common sense.

Honestly, although there will be a day when Macs become susceptible to viruses on a regular basis, that day has yet to come. In the mean time, preoccupy yourself with learning how to avoid anything that might be shady. Stay away from questionable content, don't open anything unless you trust the source, etc.

Thanks again. I'll stay away from all the anti-this and anti-that programs. They were the main impetus in me leaving WinDoze and going to Macs about 5 years ago. It seemed like every time I logged on, I had to update or upgrade something, always with a fee. I'm liberated!

I really appreciate all the help you guys have given me. I still consider myself a newbie. It's nice to have all your experience and knowledge available. Have a great weekend.

FWIW I have 10.6.8 and I run Sophos because I have heard there ARE viruses out there. Its operation is completely transparent and the only time I ever saw the timer was when my HD was on the way out.

I haven't used MacScan because friends here have used it and experienced exactly the problems this user experienced. I believe the problem is twofold - MacScan isn't a good product, and running two anti-virus packages is ALWAYS a bad idea (on Mac and on Windows). The anti-virus product developers tell you that.

peterbj7 said:

FWIW I have 10.6.8 and I run Sophos because I have heard there ARE viruses out there.

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BELIEVE ME...if there were Mac viruses out there...we would know about it! Our membership is too large...and world-wide...for viruses on a Mac to be unknown to the Mac-Forums Community.

- Nick

Well, for me there's no overhead so I'll carry on using it. If I start to encounter problems I'll reconsider.

peterbj7 said:

Well, for me there's no overhead so I'll carry on using it. If I start to encounter problems I'll reconsider.

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Hey...if you're not experiencing any performance issues...no problem.

But as you can see in this thread..."billwill" seems to have completely eliminated the performance issues on his computer after uninstalling the anti-virus apps he had. There were two of them...so maybe together they were causing some real issues.

- Nick

I'm sure that's the case. Anti-virus applications almost always interfere with one another, on Windows at any rate. I reckon he would have had the same result if he'd just uninstalled MacScan.

billwill said:

I'll do that, Nick. Thanks to you and Harryb2448. MacScan has NEVER found anything and Sophos has found maybe 3 or 4 things in the last year, all of which were cookie trackers. I'll delete 'em both using their Uninstallers. Thanks and have a great weekend.

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If all you are finding are cookie trackers, then perhaps you should consider getting a cookie manager. For Safari, I use Safari Cookies. There are similar add-ons for Firefox, though I don't use any since I rarely even use it.

As for AV software, as has been mentioned, OS X does have built-iin malware detection that Apple updates in the background as needed. I am of the opinion that it's OK to keep a 3rd party option around as a "2nd opinion", but I wouldn't leave any running in the background. ClamXav is a good freebie that seems to be the most Mac-friendly (i.e. doesn't cause a bunch of performance headaches like most the commercial ones seem to do), and you can set it up so it only runs a scan on demand. Or have it do a background scan on a set schedule when you aren't using the computer. Safe computing practices go a long way to safeguarding yourself, but people do get fooled and the malware authors are getting craftier at finding ways to trip people up. But don't get too worried about it. Malware on OS X is nowhere near the levels it has been on Windows and barely a blip on the radar.

peterbj7 said:

...and running two anti-virus packages is ALWAYS a bad idea (on Mac and on Windows).

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Actually, that's not entirely accurate. Long before I switched to OS X, I was active on Windows-based troubleshooting forums. The standing advice many of us had was to have one piece of AV software do the background scanning, and have a second one available to run periodically (just to scan the drive entirely, not run in background) as a 2nd opinion. If you read some of the more in-depth AV software reviews, you'll find that none of them find 100% of the malware thrown at them. I recall one group of reviews done by PC Magazine that I was highly critical of because their editor's choice, Norton AV, found fewer pieces of malware than a couple of the others they tested. They just liked the interface better.