Community Members Recommending Downloads

You may be worried about the trustworthiness of a download that a member here on Apple Support Communities recommends, especially if you have placed your trust in a software recommendation before and have it turn out to be malicious or harmful. If a community member tells you not to download something that another member has recommended, you may be torn about what to do.

First, understand the reputation system. We do get spammers here on ASC, and the moderators usually ban them or at least edit out the posts as they come up. However, if you see a member who has a considerable number of points, whether it is 100 or 100,000, their posts can usually be considered trustworthy. Only the poster who asks a question can award points, so if a member has accumulated points, it is because people have found their solutions helpful. Of course, members do make mistakes, and their posts should not always be taken as the absolute truth, or at least not as the best solution. That said, if such a poster is recommending that you download a program to help with your problem, there is a very good chance it is safe. This is especially true if multiple members recommend a solution. The forum Terms of Use also requires that everyone posting an answer test their solution first. This goes two ways: users should not recommend downloads they have not tried (or at least disclose that they have not tried it), and other users should not tell people NOT to download something unless they can show that the solution does not work. If you see someone recommending a scam product, by all means, speak up, or for Level 2+ users, report the post.

Two common programs that helpers refer people to here are AdwareMedic and EtreCheck. Then there are some helpers who post alternative solutions, which is great, so anyone coming across that thread will have choices. However, in order to pick the solution which works best for you, it is important to have all of the facts. First, there may not be a need to download anything to solve your problem, but in most cases, it will be much more efficient. Take the adware problem, for example. Many posters have come here because they experience adware. Some may be reluctant to download a program like AdwareMedic, since downloading something they thought was trustworthy is what gave them adware in the first place. This is where the reputation system mentioned above comes in. You can also search the forums for the name of the software being recommended, and you can usually find others who have tried the program and reported back. If you download AdwareMedic, it can find adware and offer to remove it in a snap, rather than having to hunt around for a series of files, which costs more time, and runs the risk of an incomplete removal. In fact, if certain adware is removed incorrectly, you system may not be able to boot. As another example, look at the high volume of posters asking how they can speed up their Mac. This is where posters may ask you to run EtreCheck, and paste its report into a reply. In this case, EtreCheck posts a lot of helpful information about your system that many helpers here can use to advise you. If you run other kinds of diagnostics, such as Terminal scripts, that other people suggest, they may be the only ones who are able to interpret it. If they do not revisit the thread, you are out of luck. In regards to the above examples, the developers of both AdwareMedic and EtreCheck are also members of this forum who are well-respected, with many reputation points.

In conclusion:

• If someone advises you against downloading something per another member's recommendation, or you are skeptical about downloading third-party software in general, make sure you have all the facts. Maybe you decide it is best to pass, or maybe you decide that the best chance of getting your issue resolved would be to run the program being recommended, with the confidence that it is trustworthy
• Keep in mind that more members will probably be able to help you if you run a program or task that many helpers are familiar with
• If you do not want to download a program because you are not sure exactly what it does, and would rather follow a set of instructions, including running commands in Terminal, make sure you know exactly what they do, too
• Running such a program probably saves time, and ensures accuracy if the program is stable
• The advice in this tip will likely hold true in most cases, but not 100% of the time