macbook virus checking

[triffid]

One small change I've noticed in my Mac's functioning since the problem: when I click on a link on a webpage I'm reading the clicked/linked page's url pops up in the address box but to now get to see the page itself I have to click the refresh button or hit the return. So it takes two actions instead of the one - no big deal but I was wondering why....

[sometimewoodworker]

CCleaner is useles and more danger than helpful on a Mac. So wouldn't use it at all. Try to repair your file permissions via the disk utility app. Helps often and give you back better performance. Also check your activity monitor to see any background processes or apps that maybe take more resources than needed.

I have now done the repair thing. Can you please explain in layman's terms what and how about checking 'activity monitor'?

1)In your utilities folder ther is a program called 'activity monitor': start the program.

2) near the bottom there are 5 buttons select "system memory"

3) you will see

VM size:

Page ins:

Page outs:

Swap used:

If the last 2 are not 0 then your Mac is slowing down. Restart it.

FWIW after a restart mine are

VM size: 196.12 GB

Page ins: 287.8 MB

Page outs: 0

Swap used: 0

Before

VM size: 196.12 GB

Page ins: 19.8 GB

Page outs: 0

Swap used: 0

Edited September 22, 2014 by sometimewoodworker

[triffid]

CCleaner is useles and more danger than helpful on a Mac. So wouldn't use it at all. Try to repair your file permissions via the disk utility app. Helps often and give you back better performance. Also check your activity monitor to see any background processes or apps that maybe take more resources than needed.

I have now done the repair thing. Can you please explain in layman's terms what and how about checking 'activity monitor'?

1)In your utilities folder ther is a program called 'activity monitor': start the program.

2) near the bottom there are 5 buttons select "system memory"

3) you will see

VM size:

Page ins:

Page outs:

Swap used:

If the last 2 are not 0 then your Mac is slowing down. Restart it.

FWIW after a restart mine are

VM size: 196.12 GB

Page ins: 287.8 MB

Page outs: 0

Swap used: 0

Before

VM size: 196.12 GB

Page ins: 19.8 GB

Page outs: 0

Swap used: 0

Woodworker, thanks for that guidance.

I opened the utilities folder, opened the activity monitor, but could go no further because I could see no button called 'system memory'. Instead I see five buttons near the top, not the bottom, of the window called CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, Network.

[Eaglekott]

One small change I've noticed in my Mac's functioning since the problem: when I click on a link on a webpage I'm reading the clicked/linked page's url pops up in the address box but to now get to see the page itself I have to click the refresh button or hit the return. So it takes two actions instead of the one - no big deal but I was wondering why....

I have to do this quite often also nowdays and I blame the cable error, the traffic tries to go through the broken cable and get stalled, and before it times out and try to reroute you hit refresh, and since it already is waiting for one way it chooses another and that one works.

[Eaglekott]

Some tips:

1, Verify that you have free space on your Harddrive, 10% or more,

2, Run Disk Utility first, Repair permissions and then Verify disk. If Verify says Disk appears to be ok, fine. If it says "need to be repaired" then you restart in recovery mode (cmd-r) and from there run Disk Utility and choose repair Disk, Hope it can be repaired or you need to reformat/ reinstall.

3, Download Maintenance (free) for your OS version: http://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadmaintenance.php , or if you want mor setting download Onyx. (same developer)

4, Uninstall Virus Application, They tend to slow down you computer, and they only find PC viruses anyway, you Mac OS has a built in virus prevention that is updated with your OS.

5, Someone gave a tip about Chrome browser, nice and fast but remember it is used by Google to build your "google profile" so they can send you advertisements about your interests.

1. Have plenty of HD space

2. Did this and it carried out repair successfully

3. I will download the Maintenance for OS - thanks fr the link

4. Mine is called iAntiVirus. Is this the built-in one (going by the i in its name). Otherwise, is easy to uninstall? How?

5. I've been happy enough with Safari so far.

1, Great

2, Good, then is has repaired something, that is aways good, A drive with errors tend to be more and more "broken" until can not be repaired any more.

3, Np, that is a great tool.

4, If you right-click (ctrl-click) iAntivirus in your Application folder and Choose "Show Package contents" then you should find an iAntivirus removal app there.

[Eaglekott]

Just checked the connection speed on Safari vs. Firefox for the same overseas websites. Firefox is much faster.

Hi I just had to try this, and for me most pages I have not been visiting before it felt like Safari was barley noticeable faster, but its so close I can not really be sure, For pages visited before with both Safari and Firefox, Safari felt like the winner, and of cause pages only visited by FireFox before FireFox was a clear winner. same with pages only visited by Safari of cause.

Remember you also have to try browsers in different order, If you first try Safari, and that browser try to take a route that is slow and is waiting for a time out, there is huge risk that when you try with FireFox you will get routed another way.

[sometimewoodworker]

CCleaner is useles and more danger than helpful on a Mac. So wouldn't use it at all. Try to repair your file permissions via the disk utility app. Helps often and give you back better performance. Also check your activity monitor to see any background processes or apps that maybe take more resources than needed.

I have now done the repair thing. Can you please explain in layman's terms what and how about checking 'activity monitor'?

1)In your utilities folder ther is a program called 'activity monitor': start the program.

2) near the bottom there are 5 buttons select "system memory"

3) you will see

VM size:

Page ins:

Page outs:

Swap used:

If the last 2 are not 0 then your Mac is slowing down. Restart it.

FWIW after a restart mine are

VM size: 196.12 GB

Page ins: 287.8 MB

Page outs: 0

Swap used: 0

Before

VM size: 196.12 GB

Page ins: 19.8 GB

Page outs: 0

Swap used: 0

Woodworker, thanks for that guidance.

I opened the utilities folder, opened the activity monitor, but could go no further because I could see no button called 'system memory'. Instead I see five buttons near the top, not the bottom, of the window called CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, Network.

Click "Memory"

[jcnbkk]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Some tips:

1, Verify that you have free space on your Harddrive, 10% or more,

2, Run Disk Utility first, Repair permissions and then Verify disk. If Verify says Disk appears to be ok, fine. If it says "need to be repaired" then you restart in recovery mode (cmd-r) and from there run Disk Utility and choose repair Disk, Hope it can be repaired or you need to reformat/ reinstall.

3, Download Maintenance (free) for your OS version: http://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadmaintenance.php , or if you want mor setting download Onyx. (same developer)

4, Uninstall Virus Application, They tend to slow down you computer, and they only find PC viruses anyway, you Mac OS has a built in virus prevention that is updated with your OS.

5, Someone gave a tip about Chrome browser, nice and fast but remember it is used by Google to build your "google profile" so they can send you advertisements about your interests.

Thanks for Disk Utility/Repair tips

[cheeryble]

Avoid MacCleaner like the plague.

[bubba]

One more to avoid like the plague: MacKeeper. Apart from its unethical, pervasive and annoying marketing techniques, many have called MacKeeper highly invasive malware which can destabilise your OS. It is also very difficult to completely remove once you begin to experience problems.

See:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4171

[cheeryble]

MacKeeper that's the one I meant.

Pain in the arse to remove but sadly advertised ubiquitously....should be banned.