LizT1976

Q: Bitdefender - how long does it take to scan entire system?

Been advised to do this, that's fine. It's been running half an hour. Does anyone know how long it'll take in total? I'm not a huge fan of leaving my Mac on overnight but I will if I have to. Any advice gratefully received.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Aug 28, 2014 11:17 AM

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Q: Bitdefender - how long does it take to scan entire system?

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  • by MadMacs0,

    MadMacs0 MadMacs0 Sep 2, 2014 7:08 PM in response to LizT1976
    Level 5 (4,801 points)
    Sep 2, 2014 7:08 PM in response to LizT1976

    LizT1976 wrote:

     

    what is iSkySoft and do I need it?

    It would appear to be a Company that sells at least fourteen Video Tools for Macs. I don't see that you mentioned it on any of the previous seven pages here, so don't know what you might have nor a clue as to whether you need it or not.

  • by LizT1976,

    LizT1976 LizT1976 Sep 3, 2014 2:12 AM in response to MadMacs0
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2014 2:12 AM in response to MadMacs0

    The thing is that going thru the detritus of the last 3 years I am bound to come across crap I downloaded (now and then I'll do a rip of an episode of something [Mad Men, Breaking Bad] for my dad and burn it to DVD so in the past I've searched for video tools) and haven't used since. I've deleted it along with Jaksta (same issue) and Quark (got a trial version for a client, never used it). A quick q: In Application Support/Google/Chrome/Local Storage there's a load of little bits - should these be left? Or emptied every so often? Pic here: http://tinypic.com/r/2s66hit/8

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 3, 2014 3:32 AM in response to LizT1976
    Level 9 (51,196 points)
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    Sep 3, 2014 3:32 AM in response to LizT1976

    Liz, if your goal is to rid your Mac of any and all junk downloaded in the past you are going about it in the longest most complex fashion, Is that what you want to do?

     

    iSkysoft is (a) Data Recovery Software and (b) poor video converters.

     

    You never needed it.

     

    And please note that right now you are the biggest danger to your Mac, this is NOT Windows, stop messing with it or you'll end up making this site your second home.

  • by LizT1976,

    LizT1976 LizT1976 Sep 3, 2014 3:38 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2014 3:38 AM in response to Csound1

    Well, I would like to remove unnecessary stuff from it - but if it's a complete wipe you're going to suggest I don't want to do that. I don't want to give the impression that my Mac is filled with crap slowing it down - it isn't. I don't particularly want to mess with it anymore, no. If you think there is stuff in it that is dangerous then tell me. If not, I can live with it. I only want to remove stuff that is damaging; pointless stuff can stay.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 3, 2014 4:13 AM in response to LizT1976
    Level 9 (51,196 points)
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    Sep 3, 2014 4:13 AM in response to LizT1976

    I think that you should leave it alone now, unless and until a problem surfaces. A clean wipe (which you should not be scared of) is the simplest way to ensure that your Mac is sans junk.

     

    Chrome will generate more files than sand in a sandstorm does, if you are going to use it then a change in attitude will be needed. You will have zillions of little files from Chrome, some 'helpers' will be running. It is not a tidy app, you'll need to let it make a mess.

     

    As far as I can see there is nothing harmful running on your Mac now, lets leave it at that unless a reason to do so emerges.

     

    One more thing, if you are reluctant to restore from a backup what will you do when you have to?

  • by LizT1976,

    LizT1976 LizT1976 Sep 3, 2014 4:22 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2014 4:22 AM in response to Csound1

    When I have to? I hopefully won't have to! If I do - I'll get over it. It seems like a pain to do, complete wipe then spend hours putting everything back on via my backup, which I don't really know how to use in that direction, if you know what I mean. Even in that case, given that the drive has my Mac's contents on it, wouldn't that just put back on the load of crap I'm trying to get off?

     

    Ok, re Chrome. If those Local Storage files are a consequence of using it, and are not damaging, then left alone they shall be!

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 3, 2014 5:36 AM in response to LizT1976
    Level 9 (51,196 points)
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    Sep 3, 2014 5:36 AM in response to LizT1976

    LizT1976 wrote:

     

    When I have to? I hopefully won't have to! If I do - I'll get over it. It seems like a pain to do, complete wipe then spend hours putting everything back on via my backup, which I don't really know how to use in that direction, if you know what I mean. Even in that case, given that the drive has my Mac's contents on it, wouldn't that just put back on the load of crap I'm trying to get off?

    Only if you restored everything, which you wouldn't.

     

    It seems like a pain to do, complete wipe then spend hours putting everything back on via my backup

    And compared to the amount of time you have already put into this it probably wouldn't be much different.

     

    But as I said, it's time to stop poking around under the hood until there is a good reason to. Just enjoy the Mac.

  • by LizT1976,

    LizT1976 LizT1976 Sep 3, 2014 6:56 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2014 6:56 AM in response to Csound1

    The only issue that remains that I worry about is Mail. As I said earlier, I check Mail for a client. They get a lot of spam and I delete it. When the now-gone ClamXav ran it found infections there. As discussed, they're designed (if that's the right word) for Windows so they are not harmful to me. So just to make sure - if I delete them, and then delete them from the Trash in Mail that should be ok, right? They're not laying nasty eggs on the Mac anywhere?

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 3, 2014 7:02 AM in response to LizT1976
    Level 9 (51,196 points)
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    Sep 3, 2014 7:02 AM in response to LizT1976

    They can not run in OS X, so they are harmless to you.

     

    If you delete the emails you can't pass them on to other (Windows) users, but either way you are not at risk. Never let any AV software delete mail, you must do it yourself, from Mail.

  • by LizT1976,

    LizT1976 LizT1976 Sep 3, 2014 8:51 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 3, 2014 8:51 AM in response to Csound1

    Understood. Blimey, I think I might actually be at the end of this saga! I'll be back in if anything else weird happens. But in the meantime, thank you so much for all your help

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 3, 2014 9:02 AM in response to LizT1976
    Level 9 (51,196 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 3, 2014 9:02 AM in response to LizT1976

    You're welcome.

  • by MadMacs0,

    MadMacs0 MadMacs0 Sep 3, 2014 6:25 PM in response to LizT1976
    Level 5 (4,801 points)
    Sep 3, 2014 6:25 PM in response to LizT1976

    LizT1976 wrote:

     

    The only issue that remains that I worry about is Mail. As I said earlier, I check Mail for a client. They get a lot of spam and I delete it. When the now-gone ClamXav ran it found infections there. As discussed, they're designed (if that's the right word) for Windows so they are not harmful to me. So just to make sure - if I delete them, and then delete them from the Trash in Mail that should be ok, right? They're not laying nasty eggs on the Mac anywhere?

    Yes, as I believe I mentioned very early in this conversation, you cannot be infected by an e-mail unless you open an attachment or click a link. Read, delete and empty the trash is all there is to it.

     

    But I should correct one impression we've given you. From what little I saw of the ClamXav results I saw a number of "Heuristics.Phishing.Email.SpoofedDomain" or similar. These are not Windows only in that might attempt to steal privacy information by directing you to a fake site. Doesn't matter whether you use Unix, OS X or Windows, clicking a link could take you someplace you don't want to be.

     

    "Heuristics", in this case, means that they are from or mention a financial institution and "SpoofedDomain" means it contains hyperlink(s) that are not known to be associated with that organization and may be a phishing attempt which is attempting to obtain privacy information (e.g. UserID and Password credentials). It has not been positively identified as such, just that something about the format of one or more links is suspicious. You can see exactly where a link will take you by hovering the cursor over the underlined words or image in the e-mail. Don't click the link unless you are certain that it will take you to a legitimate site. There is a significant probability that these are legitimate e-mail messages from a financial institution that you need, so trashing them could very well be a mistake. The only way to know is to read them. There is also a distinct possibility that you or your e-mail system have already decided that they are spam / junk / phishing and they came from your Spam / Junk / Deleted Items / Trash folders, so you should always check to make certain they are not needed and then delete them before running an e-mail scan.

  • by LizT1976,

    LizT1976 LizT1976 Sep 4, 2014 1:37 AM in response to MadMacs0
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 4, 2014 1:37 AM in response to MadMacs0

    For this client, I check their email twice a week - 4 addresses. 1 is info@thecompanyname, 2 is info@thecompany’spreviousname, 3 is catchall@thecompany’sname and catchall@thecompany'soldname. There are approx 500 emails that come in, sometimes as many as 1000. There is no Junk folder as far as I can see. Some are greyed out (not grey, kind of copper colour) and Mail tells me they think it’s spam. Out of these many hundreds of mails, only 5 or so are genuine and for the boss - now and then a client will spell someone’s name wrong (like Jams when they mean to say James, e.g.) and I’ll pick that up and forward it. I agreed to do it as a favour (it is charged of course) because I get plenty of other work from them.

     

    I have never clicked on 99% of the email that comes in and even if I did I have never, and would never, click on any link contained therein. My question is whether, after I’ve deleted these emails and them deleted them from the Mail Trash bucket, whether there are still bits of them dotted around my Mac (whether they find a way to stay) and whether this is harmful. They all live in this V2 folder.

     

    See this pic, bc it’s why I ask. I emptied all 3 boxes (Inbox, Sent, Trash) yesterday but these little emlx files are still hanging around. Should I delete them? Or are they doing no harm? http://tinypic.com/r/2j34f2b/8

     

    Which email scan should I run? (this whole thing is more bother than it's worth but it's a last resort to tell the client I don't want to do it anymore...)

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Sep 4, 2014 4:24 AM in response to LizT1976
    Level 9 (51,196 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 4, 2014 4:24 AM in response to LizT1976

    If you delete an email it is gone, it never had 'bits' that could hang around.

     

    This level of anxiety is bad, bill your client for causing it by their sloppy practices, bill enough for the anxiety level.

  • by LizT1976,

    LizT1976 LizT1976 Sep 4, 2014 4:28 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 4, 2014 4:28 AM in response to Csound1

    Then what are these emlx docs?

     

    If I'm conveying anxiety somehow, let me be clear - my level of giving a **** is fairly low on the life scale! I would say I have mild irritation that these emlx things live on my Mac but if they are doing me no harm, that is fine. I should certainly mention it to the client, however.

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