I have two files:

Launch Agent: com.avast.update-agent.plist
Launch Daemon: com.avast.update.plist

…..which appear to be invisible.

Etrechek has located them (marked as failed) but I am unable to locate them, so I assume they are invisible. I do not have the Avast Application installed, although I did quite some time ago.

As I don't care for non-functional stuff laying around on the drive, I'd like to remove them. What's the process for locating/removing invisible files?

Thanks.

1. Click on the desktop
2. Press Command+F to bring up a Finder search window
3. for the search argument enter avast
4. Select Search: This Mac
5. at the right end of the Kind is any line click on the plus (+) sign
6. Change the line that appears to Visibility Visible or invisible
7. If the files still do not appear click on the plus sign and add System Files are Included

Alternatively use TinkerTool, OnyX, Cocktail, or defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true from the command line to make invisible files visible.

Thanks. They have been summarily dispatched.

those appear to be automatic updater hookss for Avast! antivirus. If you've already installed and since removed Avast!, they can certainly go away, and should have been removed automatically.

OTOH, if you have Avast! installed and want it to stay that way, you have just disabled the automatic updating of definitions and will need to do them manually now.

Avast was once installed but has since been removed…which caused me to wonder why anything labelled Avast should be lingering.


And, even with an application installed, I would still prefer manual updating.

If you used an Avast uninstaller it wouldn't be unusual for it to have left detritus in its wake.

Ya, that kind of stuff is a pain. A person should be able to rely on any "Uninstaller" to, well, uninstall everything. I suspect that the Avast bits are old "detritus" as I've got into the habit of using CleanApp to remove unwanted applications.

I kind of understand when an app leaves stuff behind in ~/Library, but there's no reason why an uninstaller shouldn't remove everything the installer installed.

Edit: No, there is a reason...lazy developer.