1. I ran MacKeeper to clean everything
You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process.
These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. Some of these apps delete caches, which can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt.
Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.
Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.
except that it does not have antivirus protection
You don't need any 3rd party antivirus app to keep your Mac malware-free. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. You cannot infect your Mac simply by visiting a website, unzipping a file, opening an email attachment or joining a network. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which cannot infect your Mac unless you actively install them, and they can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install. Also, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion have
anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.
- Make sure your built-in Mac firewall is enabled in System Preferences > Security > Firewall
- Uncheck "Enable Java" in Safari > Preferences > Security.
- Uncheck "Open "safe" files after downloading" in Safari > Preferences > General
- Be careful to only install software from trusted, reputable sites. Never install pirated software. If you're not sure about an app, ask in this forum before installing.
- Never let someone else have physical access to install anything on your Mac.
- Always keep your Mac and application software updated. Use Software Update for your Mac software. For other software, it's safer to get updates from the developer's site or from the menu item "Check for updates", rather than installing from any notification window that pops up while you're surfing the web.
That's all you need to do to keep your Mac completely free of any virus, trojan, spyware, keylogger, or other malware. You don't need any 3rd party software to keep your Mac secure.
run Verifiy Disk Permissions and Repair
Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.
Five Mac maintenance myths
Disk Utility repairs the permissions for files installed by the Mac OS X Installer, Software Update, or an Apple software installer. It doesnt repair permissions for your documents, your home folder, and third-party applications.
You can verify or repair permissions only on a disk with Mac OS X installed.
Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files?
Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created. This is expected. Some applications are designed to be installed in one of those ways.
Also, certain files whose permissions can be changed during normal usage without affecting their function are intentionally not checked.
There are times when repairing permissions is appropriate. To do so, here are the instructions:
If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.
See what I said above about maintenance apps. Do NOT delete all cache files, as you will reduce performance, not improve it. Read the Maintenance Myths I posted.
On Intel Macs, it's NVRAM, and it has nothing to do with the issues being discussed in this thread. Resetting it will not help. This is another suggestion that people recommend without understanding when or why to do it.
but I still had the Safari problem so we continue:
That's because it has no effect, as I said. Most of what you posted should NOT be done and will not address what's being discussed here. Before you follow or recommend these various procedures, it's wise to first learn what they do and when to use them.