Dr Cleaner in 2024 - Help

Just remove the App itself from the running system and it will no longer be able to disclose your information.

There is no such thing as a virus 'hiding' inside saved files -- NOTHING can ever become executable unless INSTALLED in the running system, and that can not happen unless you deliberately authorize its installation and supply your Admin password.

NB> if installed by Drag and Drop to the /Applications folder, remove by Drag and Drop to the Trash. If installed with a complex installer, the software-maker's un-installer is the best way to remove. "Generic" Un-installers are JUNK!

There is no where for DRCleaner to hide, and be awakened later. if it is not already installed in your new Mac, it can not become executable and do anything unless you deliberately authorize its installation into the currently running macOS, which is on a separate, immutable, crypto-locked volume that can not be modified by ordinary means.

If a copy was saved in your old backups, it is trapped -- like a pre-historic Bug encapsulated in Amber. It can not escape and run wild without your explicit permission.

josey144 wrote:

Thank you but this was DrCleaner App which was banned from App Store in 2019-2020 by Apple.

I think they were found to be doing shady stuff with peoples information on their laptop and were banned. I stopped using my pro long before it was banned. I just want to know if my external

hard drive would be affected since it was still installed and running in the backgrounds after all these years and since I did a backup recently

You have a 2012 MBP you have not used since 2017/2018... you have a backup of that computer that has not been touched since 2017/2018(?) and you are asking if that external drive backup is compromised...

hard to believe unless you are running the app...

if in doubt erase/reformat the external drive if you want to use it today without concern.

ref: Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

josey144 wrote:

I recently found my old 2012 MacBook Pro and it still worked so I did a backup of it not realizing that a long time ago I had installed DrCleaner.

I did not realize Dr Cleaner had been compromised. I think I installed it maybe 2017/2018 and after that I stopped using that MacBook Pro and been sitting in storage ever since. When I turned my turned my laptop on recently Dr Cleaner was still running in the background and I think I may have turned the wifi on as well. Would it still be compromised today? If the app was still installed was it still feeding data? Did it corrupt with my external drive with the backup I did? I deleted Dr. Cleaner today but I used the same external drive for my current MacBook Pro. Am I at risk for my data being compromised? Please help.

ref: https://helpcenter.trendmicro.com/en-us/article/tmka-10021

if in doubt search the developers website or contact their: Support/Help/FAQ/Known issues/Uninstall…

As long as you don't type your admin password into an installer window fro DRCleaner, you are at NO risk whatsoever.