Does my mac need to be scanned for viruses or spyware?

[Mitchoveli]

I know people say mac's can't get viruses but my mac book pro is running kinda slow and I was wondering if there is a free virus scan program I should run just to check it out.

 

[miles01110]

It's not running slow because of a virus.

 

[lewis82]

Unless you installed lots of obscure apps, or downloaded paid apps for free from a torrent, there isn't a big chance that you have caught a virus/spyware/malware.

You should run this command in the Terminal app:

sudo periodic daily weekly monthly

It will prompt for your password, just enter it. (This isn't any virus )

Then, go in the Disk utility app and repair the permissions of your boot drive.

 

[JonBorichef]

Even though you Mac won't be directly affected by a virus (in most cases) this is what I use. It scans everything and gives you a list of infected files.

http://www.clamxav.com/

I use it, works pretty well.

Cheers,
Jonathan Borichef

 

[spinnerlys]

Just because a computer is slow, doesn't mean it is a virus.

Look at Activity Monitor (SHOW ALL PROCESSES and sort by CPU) to see if there is any process constantly taking up much CPU %.

Also make sure that you have at least 10 to 20 % of your HDD capacity available (example: 10 to 20GB of a 100GB HDD should be free).

 

[Mitchoveli]

Thanks so much for the help everyone.

I just ran the repair permissions on my disk.

 

[MacBohemia]

I just ran the repair permissions on my disk.

But...were the permissions actually repaired? Mine weren't in spite of three (maybe four, I don't remember) attempts. I keep getting the following error whenever I verify...

Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/DVD.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSettings.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSources.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Movies.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Music.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Photos.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Podcasts.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/TV.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/BackRow.framework/Versions/A/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Frameworks/iPodUpdater.framework/Versions/A/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/iTunesHelper.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DeviceLink.framework/Versions/A/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iTunesAccess.framework/Versions/A/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Permissions differ on "Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .

No matter how many times I run it, it's the same. The terminal solution is also problematic since Version 2.0.2 of Terminal doesn't seem to work on my machine. I'm going to reinstall OS 10.5 in the next few days to see if that's an installation issue, but it's annoying in any case. I shouldn't have to do that.