# What Antivirus & Spyware Removal Tools for Mac?



## BratDawg

Free, preferrably. On the pc side we have Grisoft's AVG, Spybot, and Adaware. I see AVG does not support mac.

Someone is having problems with a mac here and I have no idea what to try with it.

Thanks,


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## jd_957

google and a couple clicks brought up the following. hope this is what you are looking for.

http://www.unwantedlinks.com/macsupport.htm


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## emoxley

Also look around at www.versiontracker.com and see what they have. I'm sure they have something. Good luck!


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## BratDawg

Oh, man! A site called "unwanted links" for macintosh - that's scarey. Thanks, tho, I'll look. I was going to google, but thought I'd check here first and see what people like to use for mac, rather than experiment myself. I found out the hard way that the Mac world is very different from the PC in terms of alot of things.


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## jd_957

oh man. can see you coming back and saying THANKS. just because the site says 'unwanted'. does not mean it is bad. you asked, we provided.

what one can see with two eyes open.


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## MSM Hobbes

Couple things... do a search w/in this Apple forum for antivirus, and take a gander at this thread in particular: http://forums.techguy.org/t322977. Good luck! 

BTW, Virex is recommended as free antivirus for Mac's.


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## BratDawg

Thanks. I'll look at the links. Someone just dumped an OS9 machine in my lap. :~ I been looking at some of the links and I'm having trouble weeding thru what might work on a mac - alot of the software links don't specify what os they work on - pc or mac or what.

I really don't want to spend all night on this - what are you guys using? Please point me to something specific that is comparable to adaware and spybot if there is something.

Thanks.


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## emoxley

Check here for anti-virus program for mac. Look at bottom for a link to a defrag program for mac, but Norton's is one of the best (but it's not free).
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macos/154

Also found these:
http://www.ftm-intl.org/free-mac-spyware-remover-download/free-mac-spyware-remover-download.html

Here is the starting page for Google's search results for "mac spyware remover".
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mac+spyware+remover&btnG=Google+Search

Good luck!


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## MSM Hobbes

emoxley - sorry, and please do not take this the wrong way, but 100% disagree w/ the statement "Norton's is one of the best"... their anti-virus products are bloated, worthless, fat, not worth a dime, a resource-hog, and crappy - *and*! causes many many systems to crash via conflicts, etc.  So, yea, Norton = :down:, IMHO + many others too. [Martha - whatcha think - was I clearer that time??? LOL...  ]

Warning... as an update to my prior post in this thread, please note that Virex v 7.5 is known to have major issues!

Again, for OS X, recommend to check out http://www.clamxav.com


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## MSY-Houston

Made me laugh!

I have to use Norton at work, so I'm used to it.... (My certified Apple guy hates it! Don't go quoting me...)


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## zoombini

I also use Norton Utilities and Anti-virus at work and found it worked well with OS 9, but not with OS X.

Disk Doctor was a life-saver at times with OS 9, but with X it's very hit and miss. I've actually made a few HD's a lot worse on an X system by using it and find Apples own command line fixes better than any third-party apps. Perhaps this is a reluctance on their part to learn about OS X properly...who knows....
As for the Anti-virus on X.......spend ur money on Virex or use the link provided above.

Spyware is non-existant on a Mac. Theres lots of scare stories but essentially OS X has YET to fall victim to this problem.


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## emoxley

I've used Norton for years on my macs, and never had a problem with it (performa 575 w/OS 7.5.5 and grape flavor iMac with OS 8.6). I got it for my pc also. I think the mac version is better! AVG is better than Norton for the pc, but they don't have a mac version, that I know of.
I will still use Norton Disk Doctor for fixing problems, and Norton's Speed Disk for de-fragging. 
MSM Hobbes........
You're entitled to your opinion......


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## MSM Hobbes

Thanks!  You too!  Of course, majority of what is posted is opinion, tainted w/ a tad amount of facts, plus a wee dose of knowledge, and then topped off w/ personal experiences.


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## herr53

We installed Virex on a G5. After installing one of the OS X updates, the computer started to become unstable. We called Apple tech support and were told that Virex was not compatible with the more recent versions of OS X. They told us that Virex was supposed to create an update to resolve the problem. We couldn't find a download site for Virex on the web. We have tried and failed to remove the Virex software by dragging everything we could find to the Trash. When we rebooted, Virex was still functioning. Any suggestions as to how to get rid of it?


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## MSY-Houston

herr53 said:


> We installed Virex on a G5. After installing one of the OS X updates, the computer started to become unstable. We called Apple tech support and were told that Virex was not compatible with the more recent versions of OS X. They told us that Virex was supposed to create an update to resolve the problem. We couldn't find a download site for Virex on the web. We have tried and failed to remove the Virex software by dragging everything we could find to the Trash. When we rebooted, Virex was still functioning. Any suggestions as to how to get rid of it?


The following locations are where Norton AntiVirus files are installed in OSX. I figure that the same locations are probably used for Virex, so check them out (look for files named Virex, Mcafee, etc.)

I've used Norton AntiVirus, and though many have had trouble with it, I haven't (that is, yet--quick, where's some wood?!)

Your system may tell you that you don't have permission to move the files, but all you have to do is select the file or folder icon, get info (command/apple key + i) and look for Ownership & Permissions, and Details. Or, it may ask you to authenticate the procedure by typing in your password.

Anyway, check these locations out. I'm giving you file or folder names that are specific to Norton, because of the naming convention for OSX (you'll see what I mean).

*Hard Disk-Root Directory Files and Folders:*
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Application Support/NAV.history (file)
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Norton Solutions Support (folder)

Hard Disk-Root/Library/PreferencePanes (folder)
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Preferences (folder, none for Norton, but check it)

Hard Disk-Root/Library/Receipts/LiveUpdate.pkg (files)
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Receipts/Norton AntiVirus.pkg
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Receipts/Norton AutoProtect.pkg
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Receipts/Norton ScheduledScans.pkg
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Receipts/Norton Scheduler.pkg
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Receipts/NortonNortonAVDefs.pkg
Hard Disk-Root/Library/Receipts/NortonQuickMenu.pkg

Hard Disk-Root/Library/StartupItems/NortonAutoProtect (folder)
Hard Disk-Root/Library/StartupItems/NortonMissedTasks (folder)

*Application Files and Folders:*
Hard Disk-Root/Applications/Norton AntiVirus (alias)
Hard Disk-Root/Applications/Norton Solutions (folder)

*User Files and Folders:*
Hard Disk-Root/Users/yourname/Library/

Note the company-Symantec-used for the filename instead of application name-Norton AntiVirus)

*Hard Disk-Root/Users/yourname/Library* (files)
com.symantec.app.SmallScanner.plist 
com.Symantec.LiveUpdate.plist
com.Symantec.NAVX.plist
com.symantec.schedScanResults (folder)
com.Symantec.Scheduler.plist
com.symantec.symsched (folder)

I think that's everything, but not positive. Anyway, you get the idea. I tried finding an uninstaller, too, but was unsuccessful. Perhaps someone else will know.

You do need antivirus software (as I'm sure you're aware), and the latest security patches for any application software that will need it (probably Microsoft products).

Good luck,

Martha


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## MSY-Houston

It's probably an autoprotect file that's giving you problems. But as you can see, there are tons of files. If your computer won't allow you to drag the file or folder to the trash, drag it/them to the desktop and then restart your system. Once the computer's been rebooted, it's no longer working off of any previous application commands that were stored in RAM at previous startup, so you should be able to delete the files.

m


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## MSY-Houston

Almost forgot. Here's the McAfee/Virex Download site.

http://www.mcafeesecurity.com/us/downloads/default.asp

m


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