Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Antivirus or another essential software

A

africano

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 7, 2011
114
0
Hi,

Just bought my first mac. A new mac book pro 13 inch with 8 gigs of ram. I need some advice on if I need to install antivirus or any other software to protect my mac?

Is there any software that is essential to install as a first time user? and for a new mac?

Thanks!
 
You don't need any 3rd party antivirus software to protect Mac OS X from malware. 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 10 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which 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.

  • System Preferences > Security > Firewall > (enable) (it's disabled by default)
  • Safari > Preferences > Security > Enable Java (uncheck)
  • Safari > Preferences > General > Open "safe" files after downloading (uncheck)
  • If you set up a WiFi network, make sure it's secured by a complex WPA2 password. (Upper and lower case letters, numbers & special characters)
Helpful Information for Any Mac User
 
Macs don't get viruses, but malware does exist, however many of the antivirus software out there does little to actually protect you and is usually worse then the actual malware.

As for essential software, what are you looking to do?

For me, I use office, photoshop and Lightroom, so those apps are essential for me. I also use transmit for FTP, and vmware fusion for those times I need to use windows.
 
GGJstudios said:
You don't need any 3rd party antivirus software to protect Mac OS X from malware. 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 10 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which 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.

  • System Preferences > Security > Firewall > (enable) (it's disabled by default)
  • Safari > Preferences > Security > Enable Java (uncheck)
  • Safari > Preferences > General > Open "safe" files after downloading (uncheck)
  • If you set up a WiFi network, make sure it's secured by a complex WPA2 password. (Upper and lower case letters, numbers & special characters)
Helpful Information for Any Mac User
Click to expand...

thanks a million very useful!! Ive enabled my firewall. Why should I disable JAVA? isn't it necessary for things on the net?
thanks!
 
africano said:
thanks a million very useful!! Ive enabled my firewall. Why should I disable JAVA? isn't it necessary for things on the net?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Leave JavaScript enabled. Only occasionally will you need Java, but it's a good idea to leave it disabled until you need it. Read the Mac Virus/Malware Info link I posted for details.
 
thanks maflynn! Ill look into software. Im gonna install photoshop and see if I can get a video editing software?¿

----------

What about Time Machine? Should I set that up and is there any tutorial on how to do it?

Is there anything else on my mac that I should worry about configuring or setting up?
 
africano said:
What about Time Machine? Should I set that up and is there any tutorial on how to do it?
Click to expand...
Definitely get an external drive and use that for TimeMachine. There's way too many threads about people running into issues and not having a back up.

No tutorial is needed. Hook up the external drive, format it for a Mac (in the disk utility found in applications>utilities) and start the Time Machine preference. It will ask if you want to use that new drive and it will start backing up
 
thanks to both of you for the help. Ive disabled java......I suppose if I need it it will ask me for it. What about java script?

Ill set up time machine.......but why do you prefer carbon copy? because its bootable?
 
maflynn said:
No tutorial is needed. Hook up the external drive, format it for a Mac (in the disk utility found in applications>utilities) and start the Time Machine preference. It will ask if you want to use that new drive and it will start backing up
Click to expand...

My recollection is that if you don't have TM set up, when you first plug in an external drive, TM pops up, asks if you want to use it for TM, and if you click yes, it then tells you its necessary to reformat and does that as well, so no need to separately reformat first. If my memory is correct of course :D
 
Which AV product do people recommend for running on a Mac?
I am currently using a 7 year old Dell PC running windows XP but am planning to replace it with a Mac mini.

I need to connect via VPN to the work network & a condition stipulated by IT for them allowing VPN access is that I must confirm that I am running an up to date AV product. (so no AV on my mac would mean no VPN access from home which is not an option)
 
philjo said:
Which AV product do people recommend for running on a Mac?
I am currently using a 7 year old Dell PC running windows XP but am planning to replace it with a Mac mini.

I need to connect via VPN to the work network & a condition stipulated by IT for them allowing VPN access is that I must confirm that I am running an up to date AV product. (so no AV on my mac would mean no VPN access from home which is not an option)
Click to expand...

ClamXav.
 
africano said:
thanks maflynn! Ill look into software. Im gonna install photoshop and see if I can get a video editing software?¿

----------

What about Time Machine? Should I set that up and is there any tutorial on how to do it?

Is there anything else on my mac that I should worry about configuring or setting up?
Click to expand...

This should tell most of what you need to know about Time Machine:

http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Home.html
 
Thanks for the help guys! Im the OP. Ive been messing with my new mac book pro and Im loving it. I do have some issues but I guess thats just because Im new to mac.

I haven't set up time machine as my current external HD is full of stuff and I can't just format it and lose everything. So Im gonna have to think what to do.

My iPhoto has crashed on two separate occasions.....can I run a test or something to make sure my mac is running smoothly?

So Should I install clamxasv the AV? Ive done the setting you recommended, turned off java, etc......

Last of all does anyone know how photo streaming works?¿ I mean in my iPhoto I have two events from two different dates of photo streaming, would it be possible to merge this? Does photo streaming simply send all your images from all your devices to all your other devices?

thanks for the help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back