Is MacKeeper Malware?

[2012Tony2012]

I was going to install MacKeeper from macupdate as I thought macupdate was a trusted website, but then I read from Apple website and numerous websites that installing MacKeeper should be avoided as it's Malware and then very hard to remove.

What's true?

[simsaladimbamba]

Avoid it, there is no need for such ****** software. It is not malware per definition as far as I know, but it can harm your OS. Also look at the developer's tactics, advertising on shady websites to get you to download this *****.

You probably have already been linked to this, but maybe take a look at them again, especially the second one:

Performance Tips For Mac OS X

Five Mac maintenance myths

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Maybe have a look at Advanced Search or MRoogle to find similar threads using "mackeeper" as search term while you wait for more answers:

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[2012Tony2012]

Does this apply to CCleaner as well?

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Does this apply to CCleaner as well?

Yes. You don't need to "maintain" your Mac and you don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well. Some of these apps can do more harm than good. Some can even degrade, rather than improve system performance.

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. Caches exist to improve performance, so deleting them isn't advisable in most cases.

Many of the tasks performed by these apps 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. You can use Maintidget to see the last time these scripts were run.

Five Mac maintenance myths

[Michaelgtrusa]

I have heard that removing languages or architectures can break the OS!

[aarond12]

Originally Posted by Michaelgtrusa

I have heard that removing languages or architectures can break the OS!

It's true. While you might gain a tiny bit of storage space by removing support for other languages or architectures, many times it's difficult to know what to keep. I've seen reports of people removing English support (obviously their primary language was not English) only to find other elements of the OS or applications required it.

[old-wiz]

And considering the over intrusive popups that MacKeeper uses to advertise, I don't regard them as ethical developers.

[Roadlawyer]

I used the free trial of MacKeeper, like a fool, and now I'm having constant problems with my computer hanging up on various websites. So what to I do to both to get my Mac running properly and to make sure I've completely deleted MacKeeper. I'm using Mountain Lion, should I reinstall it?

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Roadlawyer

I used the free trial of MacKeeper, like a fool, and now I'm having constant problems with my computer hanging up on various websites. So what to I do to both to get my Mac running properly and to make sure I've completely deleted MacKeeper. I'm using Mountain Lion, should I reinstall it?

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by Michaelgtrusa

I have heard that removing languages or architectures can break the OS!

I removed all languages using CCleaner, and it hasn't broken anything on my Imac that I can see.

Who said it can break the OS? Source and evidence, and does it occur universally or only in some cases, if so, why in some cases and not universally?

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Originally Posted by Roadlawyer

I used the free trial of MacKeeper, like a fool, and now I'm having constant problems with my computer hanging up on various websites. So what to I do to both to get my Mac running properly and to make sure I've completely deleted MacKeeper. I'm using Mountain Lion, should I reinstall it?

I noticed something very intresting when I installed MacKeeper. I installed it and realised fairly quickly that MacKeeper is not something I should have on my iMac, so I decided to reboot into my Carbon Copy Cloner partition that was on my USB Hard drive, that was connected to my Imac, and when I rebooted into the CCC Clone, it had MacKeeper on it as well!!!!! So MacKeeper must have recognised the CCC clone attached to my Imac and copied itself across to the CCC clone copy!!!!

[durruti]

yes.

Originally Posted by Roadlawyer

I used the free trial of MacKeeper, like a fool, and now I'm having constant problems with my computer hanging up on various websites. So what to I do to both to get my Mac running properly and to make sure I've completely deleted MacKeeper. I'm using Mountain Lion, should I reinstall it?

[Michaelgtrusa]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I removed all languages using CCleaner, and it hasn't broken anything on my Imac that I can see.

Who said it can break the OS? Source and evidence, and does it occur universally or only in some cases, if so, why in some cases and not universally?

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I noticed something very intresting when I installed MacKeeper. I installed it and realised fairly quickly that MacKeeper is not something I should have on my iMac, so I decided to reboot into my Carbon Copy Cloner partition that was on my USB Hard drive, that was connected to my Imac, and when I rebooted into the CCC Clone, it had MacKeeper on it as well!!!!! So MacKeeper must have recognised the CCC clone attached to my Imac and copied itself across to the CCC clone copy!!!!

The guys over at the Mac Geek Gab podcast. Someone hade used Monolingual.