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New to Skype
#31966 12/02/14 05:04 PM
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Coming under pressure from friends/relations, I finally downloaded/joined Skype today.

However, every time I click on Skype (in the dock, saved to Applications) it comes up with the same message: This is blahblah from the internet are you sure you want to open it?

Yes I do, stop asking me that!

So what simple step have I left out? (Skype itself seems a very great deal of bothersome palaver IMO), but anyway, helpful answers appreciated.

Many thanks.


Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #31968 12/02/14 06:54 PM
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It sounds as if you are getting the message that can appear when you first download a zipped application. Why it repeats every time is curious--and annoying!

There is a setting in Preferences>Security&Privacy>General tab that you can change to allow identified or "anywhere" apps to be opened.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: New to Skype
Ira L #31974 12/02/14 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted By: Ira L
It sounds as if you are getting the message that can appear when you first download a zipped application. Why it repeats every time is curious--and annoying!

There is a setting in Preferences>Security&Privacy>General tab that you can change to allow identified or "anywhere" apps to be opened.


Hi Ira

Skype installation is not zipped...... and I see no such setting in my System Preferences......


Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #31976 12/02/14 07:59 PM
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When you downloaded Skype, it was placed into quarantine. (Specifically, an extended attribute named com.apple.quarantine was added to it.) Well, actually it was added the .zip or .dmg file it came to you as, but was propagated to the actual application when you unzipped or opened the .dmg.

To make the message go away, the quarantine flag has to be removed. The easiest way to do that is to select the app in Finder (not in the Dock, not in the Launchpad) and right-click or control-click on it to get the contextual menu. Select "Open" from the contextual menu. You'll have to authenticate as an admin, but once you've done that you won't ever see the dialog again for that app.

Pre-Yosemite, launching the app using Open from its contextual menu would remove the com.apple.quarantine extended attribute. On Yosemite, the app is instead added to a global exceptions list stashed somewhere.

Alternatively, if you have write access to the app, you can remove the extended attribute yourself. But of course, you should never have write access to your apps; if you can modify them, so can malware. This is a job for the superuser.

In Terminal, running as an admin, enter the command:

sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /full/path/to/the.app

Enter your admin password at the prompt.

Re: New to Skype
ganbustein #31978 12/02/14 10:01 PM
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> When you downloaded Skype, it was placed into quarantine.

Is that how all (post Snowy, at least) d/l's are treated nowadays?

Bensheim's question is the first of its sort that I remember seeing, and it seems like it would have come up sooner were that the case.

Edit: I've got this in my (what passes for)kbase:

To permanently turn off this warning message, open a Terminal window...:

defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool FALSE

Then log out and back in again.


Does it enter into Bensheim's picture in any way?

Last edited by artie505; 12/02/14 10:07 PM.

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Re: New to Skype
ganbustein #31979 12/02/14 10:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: ganbustein
When you downloaded Skype, it was placed into quarantine. (Specifically, an extended attribute named com.apple.quarantine was added to it.) Well, actually it was added the .zip or .dmg file it came to you as, but was propagated to the actual application when you unzipped or opened the .dmg.

To make the message go away, the quarantine flag has to be removed. The easiest way to do that is to select the app in Finder (not in the Dock, not in the Launchpad) and right-click or control-click on it to get the contextual menu. Select "Open" from the contextual menu. You'll have to authenticate as an admin, but once you've done that you won't ever see the dialog again for that app.


OK I tried that, and now it opens without interrogating me, many thanks...

I did not have to authenticate as an Admin - it just stopped asking me.

FWIW I'm on 10.6.8 - this might help someone else?

Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #31980 12/02/14 10:24 PM
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I'm also running 10.6.8, and I've never experienced your issue.

I get the quarantine warning once, and only once, with each d/l (the Terminal command in my other post notwithstanding), 100% of the time.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #31983 12/03/14 12:06 AM
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Originally Posted By: Bensheim
I did not have to authenticate as an Admin - it just stopped asking me.

Is the account you use on your Mac by any chance an Admin account?


alternaut moderator
Re: New to Skype
artie505 #31986 12/03/14 04:15 AM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
> When you downloaded Skype, it was placed into quarantine.

Is that how all (post Snowy, at least) d/l's are treated nowadays?

Not all downloads. Depends on which app you used to do the download. Safari and most other browsers automatically quarantine anything they download. Likewise Mail.app and some other modern mail clients. If you download it with FTP or curl it (probably) won't get quarantined.

Originally Posted By: artie505
To permanently turn off this warning message, open a Terminal window...:

defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool FALSE

Then log out and back in again.

There's a reason for quarantining downloads. That command turns off the whole quarantine system, leaving you more vulnerable to malware. One accidental click on the wrong link in your browser or in mail, or opening the wrong email attachment by accident, and they've just placed a malicious app on your computer. If you cripple your security by turning off quarantining, you'll never know.

(And no, you do not have to enter an admin password to install apps. You only need the admin password to install the app in /Applications, and not even then if you've also crippled security by making /Applications writeable by your day-to-day user.)

(You would also need to enter an admin password to install an app using Installer.app, but only if the creator of the .mpkg checked the checkbox to require it. Malicious software would rarely have that box checked.)

Notifications from the system that something out of the ordinary is happening should be welcome. Sure they can be distracting, but they come up precisely when you need to be distracted. It is insane to start turning off security features just because they're working.

Re: New to Skype
ganbustein #31991 12/03/14 03:21 PM
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Originally Posted By: gangbustein
Notifications from the system that something out of the ordinary is happening should be welcome. Sure they can be distracting, but they come up precisely when you need to be distracted. It is insane to start turning off security features just because they're working.

Let me add my hearty AMEN to that.


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Re: New to Skype
alternaut #31994 12/03/14 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted By: alternaut
Originally Posted By: Bensheim
I did not have to authenticate as an Admin - it just stopped asking me.

Is the account you use on your Mac by any chance an Admin account?


Yes. But here's a weird thing. When I load Skype (I'm still not using it, trying to learn how to use it...) I see that it mounts the disk image on my desktop. It loads ok and works ok AFAICS, but it does that.

That cannot be usual/normal, can it?

Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #31995 12/03/14 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bensheim
But here's a weird thing. When I load Skype (I'm still not using it, trying to learn how to use it...) I see that it mounts the disk image on my desktop. It loads ok and works ok AFAICS, but it does that.

That cannot be usual/normal, can it?

No, that's not normal.

But let me guess. You put Skype in your Dock, for easy launching, and the disk image mounts when you click on the Dock icon. (Alternatively, you put an alias to Skype.app somewhere convenient, like on your Desktop. Same difference. Putting something on the Dock just saves an alias to it in Dock's preferences.)

And furthermore, I'll guess that when you put it on the Dock (or made the alias) you did it by dragging from the copy of the application on the disk image.

Aliases are clever. If you make an alias to something on a disk image, the alias will mount the disk image if needed to get at its target.

To see if that's what you've done, right-click (or control-click, or click-and-hold) on the Dock icon to get the menu to show up, and from that menu select Options→Show in Finder. Or select the alias in Finder and select File→Reveal Original (⌘R). See where the original is. I'm betting it's the one on the disk image.

Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #31997 12/03/14 08:40 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bensheim
Yes. But here's a weird thing. When I load Skype (I'm still not using it, trying to learn how to use it...) I see that it mounts the disk image on my desktop. It loads ok and works ok AFAICS, but it does that.


I've seen that quite frequently on machines checked in for service. Skype and Firefox are the big two, but I've seen it with other apps also.

Mac is "weird" (unusual) in that it can generally run apps from locked volumes, and does not require running an installation process in most cases. So you can download FF and run it exclusively from the disk image, never actually having installed it. And many people do.

But it's better to install it. That way it can run auto updates, you're not bothered with a disk image on your desktop, and don't happen to delete the mother DMG file wherever it happens to be (Downloads probably) because you don't realize you still need it and are using it.


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Re: New to Skype
ganbustein #32007 12/04/14 04:04 PM
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Originally Posted By: ganbustein
Originally Posted By: Bensheim
But here's a weird thing. When I load Skype (I'm still not using it, trying to learn how to use it...) I see that it mounts the disk image on my desktop. It loads ok and works ok AFAICS, but it does that.

That cannot be usual/normal, can it?

No, that's not normal.

But let me guess. You put Skype in your Dock, for easy launching, and the disk image mounts when you click on the Dock icon. (Alternatively, you put an alias to Skype.app somewhere convenient, like on your Desktop. Same difference. Putting something on the Dock just saves an alias to it in Dock's preferences.)

And furthermore, I'll guess that when you put it on the Dock (or made the alias) you did it by dragging from the copy of the application on the disk image.

Aliases are clever. If you make an alias to something on a disk image, the alias will mount the disk image if needed to get at its target.

To see if that's what you've done, right-click (or control-click, or click-and-hold) on the Dock icon to get the menu to show up, and from that menu select Options→Show in Finder. Or select the alias in Finder and select File→Reveal Original (⌘R). See where the original is. I'm betting it's the one on the disk image.


Yes, I did that, and it's as you said.

I'm not exactly a newbie here: I've been using Macs since 1986!

This has to be the first downloaded application which did not instal itself, I did as indicated after downloading (drag the application icon to the Applications folder) - but it does this mounting disk image on desktop when fired up.

It's (presumably) not a big deal: just puzzling. To me.

Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #32008 12/04/14 05:25 PM
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This thread reminded me my copy of Skype was years out of date so I downloaded the latest version of Skype, opened the .dmg, and drug the Skype icon/app to my /Applications folder. When I click on it Skype launches directly and there is no mounting of a disk image???

I know you are not a newbie, but it sounds as if there is something fubar in your Skype install. Have you considered starting over from scratch to see if the dmg opening can be eliminated?


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: New to Skype
Bensheim #32009 12/04/14 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bensheim
This has to be the first downloaded application which did not instal itself, I did as indicated after downloading (drag the application icon to the Applications folder) - but it does this mounting disk image on desktop when fired up.

Dragging the application (on the disk image) to the Applications folder copies it, so now you have copies of the application in two places. They're identical, but not the same.

If you want to launch the application without having the disk image mount, be sure to launch the copy that's in /Applications, not the copy that is still on the disk image.

If you launch it by clicking on a Dock icon, the one that launches is whichever one you dragged to the Dock. If that's not the one in /Applications, drag that icon off the Dock, and drag the one from /Applications to the Dock.

If you launch it through an alias, the one that launches is whichever one you made the alias for. If that's not the one in /Applications, trash the alias and make a new alias, of the copy in /Applications.

If when you dragged the application from the disk image to /Applications you happened to be holding down the command and option keys, you didn't actually copy the app. Instead, you made an alias to it, putting the alias in /Applications. In that case, trash the alias from /Applications, and drag the app from the disk image to /Applications again, this time without holding down any modifier keys.

It's easy enough to fix, and until you fix it you cannot trash the disk image, which means it'll be forever cluttering up your Downloads folder (or wherever you put it). Also, since the app on the disk image is read-only, it can't be updated. Any auto-update feature that it supports will be disabled.

Re: New to Skype
ganbustein #32013 12/04/14 09:22 PM
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OK I've done all that and by golly it seems to have worked. No disk image on desk top, I've also set it to sign me in automatically when started.

Many thanks for your patience with this pesky issue.

I'll report back on any further issues with this: right now I've contacted some friends/relatives on Skype and am waiting for them to ok my contact. It is very long winded.... email is so much easier/faster/more efficient, IMO.


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