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exizeo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2014
212
0
So for whatever reason...I tried out MacKeeper...

It told me my computer was in critical condition, with flashing red lights. I couldn't do anything, though, without paying.

Is this accurate, and if so, what should I do? I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but I have noticed mac slowing decent bit. Other users here advised me to 8GB ram/SSD, but I wonder if this is the cause.

If so, is there any free way to clear this 'infected' files? I could torrent...but I figure that's how the files were infected in the first place.

I apologise if MacKeeper is simply full of **** and I fell into it.
 

Commy1

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2013
728
73
I had it to. But almost immediately uninstalled it, fell into the same trap. Sigh..

I recommend replacing it with Onyx and if you're concerned with malware or virus protection then Dr. Web Light is decent for a free app off the App Store.
 

yjchua95

macrumors 604
Apr 23, 2011
6,725
233
GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
So for whatever reason...I tried out MacKeeper...

It told me my computer was in critical condition, with flashing red lights. I couldn't do anything, though, without paying.

Is this accurate, and if so, what should I do? I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but I have noticed mac slowing decent bit. Other users here advised me to 8GB ram/SSD, but I wonder if this is the cause.

If so, is there any free way to clear this 'infected' files? I could torrent...but I figure that's how the files were infected in the first place.

I apologise if MacKeeper is simply full of **** and I fell into it.

MacKeeper is malware by itself. A Mac doesn't need maintenance software, but Onyx does a good job.
 

iamMacPerson

macrumors 68040
Jun 12, 2011
3,488
1,927
AZ/10.0.1.1
The only maintenance/status apps I would recommend are:

DaisyDisk. $9.99. Mac App Store. Helps track down files that are clogging space on your HDD. (Stay out of System files when using it!)

Memory Clean. Free. Mac App Store. Scans RAM in use and clears out things that are no longer needed. Great app. Use it all the time.

iStat Menus. $16. Bjango. Keeps track of certain system usage. Awesome app!

Never trust an app that puts banners up everywhere saying your system is in "critical condition". I think I tried it once. Luckily, nothing happened to me so I just uninstalled it and called it a day.
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,541
942
So for whatever reason...I tried out MacKeeper....
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. Most only 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. In fact, deleting some caches 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. 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.
I highly recommend you completely uninstall MacKeeper, as it is useless and can potentially cause problems for your Mac.

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

borgqueens

macrumors member
Aug 10, 2013
84
0
Denmark
Uninstall

for the love of GOD uninstall MacKeeper now.

I had MacKeeper for a year or so when I got my iMac 2013 SSD I noticed it took more then 30 sec to boot. After talking to Apple they explained that MacKeeper is noting else then a malware that slows your Mac down in boot up. Uninstallet it and now my iMac takes at most 15 sec to boot up.
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,834
46,281
In a coffee shop.
Put me on the list of the those who stumbled stupidly (through not knowing enough, and not being sufficiently alert) into this trap; an absolutely horrible piece of software.

In fact, I had difficulty uninstalling it (and, thank you, GGJstudios, your welcome advice could be highlighted as a sticky), and had to ask an authorised Apple store to do the needful. Ghastly thing. Avoid at all costs and uninstall immediately if possible.
 

dmccloud

macrumors 68030
Sep 7, 2009
2,933
1,644
Anchorage, AK
99% of MacKeeper's functionality you can get for free either through features already in OS X or via free software (with significantly better reviews) such as Onyx or CCleaner. The key is that you don't need to run these apps on a regular basis, just when the system is running sluggish or you need to free up some disk space. I have both Onyx and CCleaner installed on my Macs (and CCleaner is also installed on my Windows machines), and have had no issues with either program
 

sixrom

macrumors 6502a
Nov 13, 2013
709
1
I've used OS X for years without any malware / virus problems whatsoever. It's a very robust OS that is pleasantly devoid of the kinds of vulnerabilities one experiences in Windows. By practicing good common sense computing there's no need for any of these types of apps or utilities.
 

exizeo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2014
212
0
I've gone through the uninstall process already, even before I submitted the OP. Wasn't willing to pay for it.

MAybe it left behind traces, I'll follow the linked instructions. I'm looking into Oynx and CCleaner...I'll be heading to my Apple Store Genius Bar soon due to unrelated problems, and I could ask if any remaining traces were still here.
 
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