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mystery login items
- Thread starter snail22
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Have you tried clicking on the little "info" icon next to the toggle? This typically will open Finder window and select the program. Once selected, right-click and select "Get Info". In the "Get Info" box, look at the "Where". Sometimes the folder hierarchy will provide a clue to what installed the program.
Yes all the "osascript" ones point to the exact same executable file: usr/bin/osascript, and "purge" points to usr/sbin/purge
These are actually listed under "Allow in Background", so they're not login items even though it's within the "Login items" preferences (don't get me started on how much I hate the new System Prefs).
Just thought it was weird that there are 5 duplicates and they say "unidentified developer". But I don't want to go deleting items from the usr/bin (if that's even possible) without knowing what I'm doing.
These are actually listed under "Allow in Background", so they're not login items even though it's within the "Login items" preferences (don't get me started on how much I hate the new System Prefs).
Just thought it was weird that there are 5 duplicates and they say "unidentified developer". But I don't want to go deleting items from the usr/bin (if that's even possible) without knowing what I'm doing.
I would most likely agree with you!!
All of these will have been started by something in a plist. At a guess the osascript ones are from apps that use a bit of AppleScript for some operations. The purge will be for an app that allows you to purge the disk cache. And they could be left over from apps which you have deleted. But how to find them?
The .plist files are most likely in one of (but may be elsewhere!):
/Library/LaunchDaemon
/Library/LaunchAgents
~/Library/LaunchAgents
Apart from just looking at every plist in these locations (a long process), you can try searching. Spotlight is somewhat cantankerous about searching library files and/or plists. You would be better off using FindAnyFile (frequently referred to as FAF) with a search like this:
Sort the results by Path and look for items in the Library folders above. The names are probably sufficient to tell you what apps created them.
Another useful app is Lingon X which allows you to explore all background tasks (but is not an app for beginners).
You can't delete osascript, but you can delete the plist files which run osascript if you no longer need them. But don't delete anything until you understand the purpose!!!
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