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Posted By: grelber antivirus - 11/13/11 07:07 PM
On the subject of antivirus programs in general:

I've been holding back installing anything, given the firewall which came with my system (OS X 10.7) and the fact that very few bad things seem to infect/affect the Mac.

And given the discussion herein, I've restrained myself from installing Sophos 7.0.5 (which I have lurking in the shadows).

What, if anything, is the experience with MacKeeper (new to me)? I'm not impressed by the reviews.


Edit: This post was a originally a reply to Re: sophos antivirus and has been moved to its own thread.
Posted By: jaybass Re: antivirus - 11/13/11 07:53 PM
I think I read unfavorable reports about Mackeeper somewhere in this forum.
I can't remember exactly when. Perhaps someone will mention it.
jaybass
Posted By: ...JER Re: antivirus - 11/13/11 08:57 PM
greiber,
The apple support forums say to avoid MacKeeper like the plague. It doesn't do anything special, and is a bear to delete. Support is non existent.
Posted By: Hal Itosis Re: antivirus - 11/13/11 10:07 PM
i occasionally use: http://ClamXav.com/
[also available at the MAS, if preferred.]
Posted By: grelber Re: antivirus - 11/14/11 09:03 AM
That's the impression I got, re MacKeeper.
I think that I'll probably to eschew any AV program for the time being, especially lacking any particularly pressing need.
Posted By: MacManiac Re: antivirus - 11/14/11 03:33 PM
Quote:
....eschew any AV program for the time being, especially lacking any particularly pressing need.

That's been my chosen path since the introduction of MacOSX...until such time as there exists a significant VIRAL threat (not a Trojan requiring my permission to install), I intend to remain free of the overhead and potential conflicts that come from running AV software.
Posted By: Hal Itosis Re: antivirus - 11/14/11 11:12 PM
Originally Posted By: MacManiac
Quote:
....eschew any AV program for the time being, especially lacking any particularly pressing need.

That's been my chosen path since the introduction of MacOSX...until such time as there exists a significant VIRAL threat (not a Trojan requiring my permission to install), I intend to remain free of the overhead and potential conflicts that come from running AV software.

ClamXav has no such overhead. None. Zero. It doesn't operate like NAV or Intego or Sophos or any of that ilk at all... rather more like Disinfectant from the good old days (System 7, for those who remember that far back). No INITs, no cdevs and no kexts are "installed"... and no background activity whatsoever (unless we request it). Simply run it on some item you're downloaded for the first time to try out, just to be sure.


Posted By: MacManiac Re: antivirus - 11/14/11 11:58 PM
Yep, I used to keep ClamXav on my machine for the longest time, but found that I wasn't using it at all....so now with Lion (and with Leopard and Snow Leopard before that) I haven't even installed it.
Posted By: Virtual1 Re: antivirus - 11/15/11 07:57 PM
MacKeeper is annoying even before you install it (it's got persistent popover/popunder/etc ads all over the internet), puts on a nice song and dance when you run it but doesn't really do much useful, gets downright pesty when its "free trial" period runs out, offers no easy uninstall option (but LOTS of ways to purchase!), and from time to time causes problems, most notably poor system performance.
Posted By: alternaut Re: antivirus - 11/16/11 02:17 PM
Originally Posted By: jaybass
I think I read unfavorable reports about Mackeeper somewhere in this forum.
I can't remember exactly when. Perhaps someone will mention it.

It was this security thread in the Mac OS X 10.0 - 10.5.x forum.
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