cron process always running

Question

Level 1

9 points

cron process always running

I downloaded one of these system maintenance utilities today - launched it, took a look at it and didn't even run any of the tasks. I'm always reluctant to use these types of things. I ended up un-installing it and basically, not even using the utility other than to just take a look around at it. And now the "cron" process continually runs in my Activity Monitor. It won't quit. Restarted numerous times and it just runs and runs in the background all the time whereas, it never used to do this. I've never seen it before in the Activity Monitor under Snow Leopard.

I run a really clean Mac and like to keep as few processes running as possible. Is there a way to turn the "cron" process off and have it run only when needed - perhaps a daemon or some sort of preference file that is causing it run constantly now? Maybe a Terminal command that I can use?

27-Inch iMac 2.66GHz Intel Core i5 - 4 GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.6.3), Other Macs: Power Mac G5/Dual 1.8GHz Running Mac OS X 10.4.11

Posted on Apr 23, 2010 10:24 PM

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Answer 1

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Apr 23, 2010 11:34 PM in response to Gerard James

Naming the utility would be most useful. Look in each Library folder for a subfolder named LaunchDaemons, LaunchAgents or StartupItems. Also, in the login items of your Accounts prefPane. BTW, it's harmless and takes up no real space, so you can live with it until you contact the developer and ascertain how to delete it.

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Answer 2

Gerard James Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 24, 2010 10:17 AM in response to baltwo

Cocktail was the utility I decided to try out ( I don't really like naming any utilities in the forum and I'm certainly not saying anything bad about Cocktail other than the fact that I found it a bit too technical for me and ended up with this cron process running all the time after uninstalling it). I looked in each Library folder for LaunchDaemons, LaunchAgents and StartupItems - nothing there. Nothing in the login items of my Accounts prefPane. I did contact the developer but no word back yet. Is cron perhaps supposed to be running as a process all the time under Mac OS X 10.6.3 and maybe I just haven't noticed it before? Is it running in your Activity Monitor? I just don't recall ever seeing it before and it isn't running on our Power Mac G5/Dual 1.8GHz under Mac OS X 10.4.11.

Thanks for your help.

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Answer 3

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Apr 24, 2010 11:18 AM in response to Gerard James

AFAICT, cron isn't normally running, so it appears that Cocktail may be the culprit. I don't use it, so you'll have to wait for the developer to get back to you. A perusal of hits from a google search for *cron on os x* reveals that there may be a crontab file in the hidden /etc folder. Check http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2001020700163714 and if there is one, you can delete it without any problem, since it doesn't exist on my machines.

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Answer 4

Steve M.

Level 5

4,758 points

Apr 24, 2010 12:02 PM in response to Gerard James

Gerard,

We have fairly open discussions around here and posters freely name products by name if they are used on or in conjunction with their Mac. I find it very enlightening and learn a lot by reading about other users experiences and problems with particular named products.

As an aside, I do think it is possible to go overboard with some of these third party utilities that run all sorts of processes and clear out all sorts of caches and the like.

Regards,
Steve M.

Message was edited by: Steve M.

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Answer 5

Gerard James Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 24, 2010 4:42 PM in response to baltwo

Bang on! That's exactly what it was. crontab file inside the /etc/ folder created at 4:40 PM yesterday when I installed Cocktail. Deleted that file and no more cron running. Cocktail is the culprit. Why it doesn't remove the file when you do an uninstall isn't very cool. Perhaps the developer may want to improve on this. Now it seems like there are a few other processes running that I'm not used to seeing so I will have to go through the system and see what else this utility has "added". I think the lesson I've learned here as someone pointed out in this thread is to stay away from these system maintenance utilities. I've used Yasu many times over the years and that one, I find harmless and by far, the best.

Thanks for your help!

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Answer 6

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Apr 24, 2010 5:02 PM in response to Gerard James

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you were able to solve the problem. You might want to let Cocktail's developer know about that file. Also, for maintenance, see:

Mac Maintenance Quick Assist,
Mac OS X speed FAQ,
Speeding up Macs,
Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
Essential Mac Maintenance: Get set up,
Essential Mac Maintenance: Rev up your routines,
Maintaining OS X, and
Myths of required versus not required maintenance for Mac OS X for details.

Good computing.

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Answer 7

R C-R

Level 6

17,794 points

Apr 24, 2010 5:08 PM in response to Gerard James

FWIW, I have Cocktail installed on several of my Macs & see no cron process running as a result. Admittedly I don't use that utility anymore or even keep it current (I now prefer Onyx) but it should not leave anything behind if you follow its maker's instructions to uninstall it, which is not the same as just deleting the application. As explained at Maintain - Cocktail - Support, the proper way to do this is to +Choose Uninstall Cocktail from the Cocktail application menu.+

The main lesson to be learned here is to look for the instructions if you want to remove something like this.

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Answer 8

Gerard James Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 25, 2010 3:40 PM in response to R C-R

Not sure why you show no cron process running after installing the very latest version of Cocktail - CocktailSLE 4.7.4. I did exactly as noted on the support page, in fact - I actually installed Cocktail a second time and did the uninstall exactly as noted on the support page. Twice:

*Choose Uninstall Cocktail from the Cocktail application menu.*

Still ended up with a continually-running cron process until baltwo showed me how to shut the process down.

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