# Do you use system maintenance software on Mac?



## stigc56 (Aug 15, 2019)

Hi
A year ago I was made aware that virus is a problem ALSO for Macs.
I installed a package TotalAV to run on my 6.1 Mac Pro.
It scans for virus web threats and claims to be able to make my system goes faster, cleaning my disk (?).
It's a little pricy - a subscription - and I wonder if it's necessary?

What do you think?


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## chocobitz825 (Aug 15, 2019)

never again. those things did more damage than good for me. Whether they put adware on my system or ended up deleting vital files, it was a mess ultimately not worth it. that's just my experience at least.


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## ThePrioryStudio (Aug 15, 2019)

Hi, personally I leave anti virus well alone, it just slow things up and is invairiably the root of a problem yet to be found. All computers could get a virus, sure but I think it depends on how and what you're putting on the machine.

If you are constantly plugging in external pen drives and ext HDD from clients, downloading links from the web from multiple sources, randomly clicking on adverts and pop ups, sure there's a chance there may be an infected file somewhere. But In my years of working on macs, I've never once had a virus and so I've never felt the need to buy anti virus software. 

Disk cleaning is automatically done on later macs OS. Maintenance tasks like repairing disk permissions and the like are now done when the machine starts up and shuts down. If you're careful with what you put on your machine and keep it organised I don't see an issue. 

These disk program operate by removing small files expecting those files to be trash or tiny cache or orphan documents. On occasion these small files also could be application prefs or machine prefs. 

In my experience, apps that report to save you time and help you out seem to take over the machine and take more of your time, frustrating you in the process.


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## Alex Fraser (Aug 15, 2019)

ThePrioryStudio said:


> Hi, personally I leave anti virus well alone, it just slow things up and is invairiably the root of a problem yet to be found. All computers could get a virus, sure but I think it depends on how and what you're putting on the machine.
> 
> If you are constantly plugging in external pen drives and ext HDD from clients, downloading links from the web from multiple sources, randomly clicking on adverts and pop ups, sure there's a chance there may be an infected file somewhere. But In my years of working on macs, I've never once had a virus and so I've never felt the need to buy anti virus software.
> 
> ...


Absolutely this. I've run multiple Macs for years without a single issue. Just be careful about what links you download and the sites you visit. Also, get your email through a provider (like gmail) that scans for viruses and scams on your behalf.

The stock MacOS works hard to make sure you don't do anything daft, too. Just make sure all the security settings are enabled.


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## Sarah Mancuso (Aug 15, 2019)

A good ad-blocker and a bit of common sense will keep your computer running better than intrusive scanning tools.


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## babylonwaves (Aug 15, 2019)

__





Download Free AntiVirus for Mac | Mac Virus Scanner | AVG


Download FREE AVG antivirus software for Mac. Protection against viruses, malware & spyware. Easy-to-use virus scanning and clean up. Download TODAY.




www.avg.com





AVG is for free, works great and if you configure it right, you can run it on a DAW mac without issues (make sure it doesn't automatically scan your samples/project drives). As it turns out, the days mac users can afford to have no virus protection are over.

But: I wouldn't like to have TotalAV or CleanMyMac or anything that optimizes near my Macs.


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## JohnG (Aug 15, 2019)

I use Avast. I don't know if it's Amazon or something but I keep getting travel-related spam, even through Gmail. I also use a program called Disconnect that was recommended in the Wall Street Journal. 

And I never use Google for search because they seem to store every single thing you ever do.


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## Kent (Aug 15, 2019)

I've had good success with the free Bitdefender Virus Scanner: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bitdefender-virus-scanner/id500154009?mt=12

I just run it once a month and it's only ever found something once. I recommend it to my clients, and one even had something like 70k virus copies that it found, quarantined, and deleted. That computer was much healthier after BVS! 👍


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## stigc56 (Aug 15, 2019)

Okay, so even Macs are now a target, it didn't use to be like that - but I will consider one more time if ToalAV is the right thing.
Sounds tempting with the free app though. 
Thanks a lot!


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 15, 2019)

I was going to recommend DiskWarrior for directory maintenance (although Alsoft has yet to release a Mojave version), but this appears to be a virus software thread. Perhaps the title should be changed?

Best,

Geoff


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## stigc56 (Aug 15, 2019)

It's because I use TotalAV which is a suite of tools - brought to my attention mainly because the rumors about virus on Mac, but I'm interested in the overall picture because this summer I've had a Samsung SSD gone bad and my second Graphic card in my Mac suddenly not working, and I wonder if I could have done something to avoid that. So that's why I'm asking.
Hope it makes sense!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 15, 2019)

stigc56 said:


> Okay, so even Macs are now a target, it didn't use to be like that



The security is also a lot better these days. Infecting macOS or Windows isn't so easy anymore, because both Apple and Microsoft are very serious about preventing it.

Now, voting machines are another story...


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 15, 2019)

stigc56 said:


> It's because I use TotalAV which is a suite of tools - brought to my attention mainly because the rumors about virus on Mac, but I'm interested in the overall picture because this summer I've had a Samsung SSD gone bad and my second Graphic card in my Mac suddenly not working, and I wonder if I could have done something to avoid that. So that's why I'm asking.
> Hope it makes sense!


I'm sorry to hear about your SSD and graphics card, *stigc56*. I've had good luck with https://www.micromat.com/products/techtool-pro (Tech Tool Pro) in the past. It has a testing and repair feature that may help.

DiskWarrior is more of a one trick pony, but it does that trick really well.

Best,

Geoff


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## Nick Batzdorf (Aug 15, 2019)

By the way, kmaster is right. There's a free version of Bitscanner, and it's worth having it scan "critical locations" every once in a while to get rid of adware or whatever.

It's never found anything on my system, but I did find something on my wife's computer one time.


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## FrontierSoundFX (Aug 15, 2019)

JohnG said:


> I use Avast. I don't know if it's Amazon or something but I keep getting travel-related spam, even through Gmail. I also use a program called Disconnect that was recommended in the Wall Street Journal.
> 
> And I never use Google for search because they seem to store every single thing you ever do.



I use the free version of Avast as well. It has been on my mac for 2 years maybe and I have not noticed any issues. Besides the occasional scan or virus definition update, it seems to be pretty unobtrusive. I avoid anything that offers to "clean my computer" like a plague.

I have had nightmare experiences with the big names like Norton or McAfee though. Just impossible to get it off your hard drive.


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## ThePrioryStudio (Aug 16, 2019)

A lot of this software is worse than the virus itself. and disk maintenance tools like diskwarrior and Norton used to be decent tools in the early 2000's and when you had OS9 but booting from the recovery partition and running disk utility is as good these days.

A lot of it comes down to good housekeeping. Do your backups, archive your old delivered sessions. Back up, then back up again, take a copy home. Do regular maintenance and stick to it (Or pay a man or woman who does it for a living) Don't upgrade mid project or on a whim or when you get the latest upgrade email. 

Perhaps there's a mixture of people here that are using their machine for multiple tasks and they may not have dedicated machines to compose/mix on but the method still applies. 

That said, AVG was mentioned earlier. I know a few editors that use this on their media composers and 
they don't have issues with it overtaking their lives. As *babylonwaves *said earlier, if set up correctly you can probably instal it and forget it (Apart from upgrading the virus files )


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## Takabuntu (Aug 16, 2019)

I created 2 different accounts: an administrator account for installation and a normal user account that I use while making music. This is a best practice that also applies for the Windows OS and works for me. I'm very careful when browsing the internet and don't install anything that I don't trust. I also (try to) check the security hashes if I do download software that's not available in the App Store.


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## richard kurek (Aug 18, 2019)

babylonwaves said:


> __
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yes for all you mentioned AVG free is the way to go had it for years never an issue


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## GdT (Aug 18, 2019)

stigc56 said:


> It's because I use TotalAV which is a suite of tools - brought to my attention mainly because the rumors about virus on Mac, but I'm interested in the overall picture because this summer I've had a Samsung SSD gone bad and my second Graphic card in my Mac suddenly not working, and I wonder if I could have done something to avoid that. So that's why I'm asking.
> Hope it makes sense!


Alsoft web site says version 5 supports Mojave





Requirements — ALSOFT







www.alsoft.com


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## kitekrazy (Aug 18, 2019)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> The security is also a lot better these days. Infecting macOS or Windows isn't so easy anymore, because both Apple and Microsoft are very serious about preventing it.
> 
> Now, voting machines are another story...



But the fear mongering never ends. I can't even remember the last time I got a virus on a Windows system. I stopped buying 3rd party AV because some where resource hogs. I just use what's in Windows and the free Malwarebytes.


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 18, 2019)

GdT said:


> Alsoft web site says version 5 supports Mojave
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I guess that depends on which way you look at it. It will run on Mojave and can repair drives that aren't APFS formatted. Will it repair Mojave drives or any other APFS formatted drives? No, not yet.

Best,

Geoff


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## Alex Fraser (Sep 27, 2019)

Proving that sometimes I talk out of my backside (see post 4), lo and behold, my wife's Mac has a spot of malware onboard. Appreciate the software advice on this thread, action being taken as we speak.
(sigh)


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