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Level 7

20,707 points

HTML5 is Evil

I need help blocking HTML5. Whenever I log on to my Mac, Safari automatically opens (it's NOT configured to do so) and I the following message pops up:

The website “http://download.cnet.com” is requesting 1 MB of disk space to store “html5 test db” as a database on your disk.

I click NO and then an application that I do not want automatically downloads.

How do I stop the garbage HTML5 from taking control of my machine?

Flash never caused me problems like this.

iPod classic, Mac OS X (10.6.7), iPad-1 IOS 4.3.3

Posted on Jun 15, 2011 4:46 AM

60 replies

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 15, 2011 10:57 AM in response to etresoft

etresoft wrote:

The site wants to store some HTML5 data, is allowed to do so automatically, and so asks you.

Can I block that message?

Badunit

Level 7

26,012 points

Jun 15, 2011 11:32 AM in response to Philly_Phan

You are incorrect. MacKeeper.zip (10MB) is being downloaded.

As far as I can tell you had not mentioned that particular fact before.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 15, 2011 12:12 PM in response to Philly_Phan

MacKeeper.zip (10MB) is being downloaded.

So that's it. Mysteriously, MacKeeper keeps being downloaded, and when you pay the scumbag who peddles that garbage, it just as mysteriously stops. I wouldn't be too surprised if you just discovered a new trojan. Time will tell.

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 15, 2011 12:15 PM in response to Badunit

Badunit wrote:

You are incorrect. MacKeeper.zip (10MB) is being downloaded.

As far as I can tell you had not mentioned that particular fact before.

You're correct. I had not identified it by name. I said merely "application."

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 15, 2011 12:17 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:

MacKeeper.zip (10MB) is being downloaded.

So that's it. Mysteriously, MacKeeper keeps being downloaded, and when you pay the scumbag who peddles that garbage, it just as mysteriously stops. I wouldn't be too surprised if you just discovered a new trojan. Time will tell.

No. The sequence was that it mysteriously stopped. Then, I loaded the package and decided that I liked it. I contacted the developer (not CNET) and paid them directly for the product.

Again, CNET is a reseller.

a brody

Level 10

83,017 points

Jun 15, 2011 12:22 PM in response to Philly_Phan

Mackeeper is not that highly regarded in the Mac community. Clam AV is better known.

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 15, 2011 12:26 PM in response to a brody

Actually, I wasn't too concerned about virus protection. I was pulled in by the "other features." I kind of like them.

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Jun 15, 2011 12:31 PM in response to Philly_Phan

Lemme get this straight... you had MacKeeper continuously hounding you and downloading to your computer via shady JavaScripts or something on CNET, causing you to start this thread complaining about it, and then you decided that this is a GOOD thing and paid them for it? Are you freakin' nuts? Please say I'm misunderstanding something!

First of all, you may not be aware of the MacDefender outbreak, but it's entirely possible that a new variant of MacDefender could pop up at any time calling itself MacKeeper. (It's already called itself MacDefender, MacShield, MacProtector and MacGuard.) If you paid for that, you'd be giving your credit card number to hackers. On the other hand, perhaps it was the legitimate (barely) MacKeeper, sold by extremely shady - I would say bordering on fraudulent - means by an unscrupulous company. That's not much better.

In the future, do not install something you didn't intend to download!

a brody

Level 10

83,017 points

Jun 15, 2011 12:36 PM in response to Philly_Phan

The only "other" feature you need as utility on a Mac, is a backup software. Everything else is fluff. Especially things that clean system cache files. Believe it or not, the system NEEDS cache files to speed the machine up. It is when they get corrupt, you need to be able to isolate them after a couple backups are made and determine if they are what's really wrong with your system.

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 15, 2011 1:08 PM in response to thomas_r.

Lemme get this straight...

You read only alternate words and make up what you think was said.

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 15, 2011 1:18 PM in response to a brody

I've been kinda lax lately about keeping my SW up-to date. MacKeeper keeps track of of the rev level of all my applications and tells me which ones are due for updating. Also, when you trash an application, it locates all support files and asks if you want them also trashed.

I don't think that I have a need for much of a virus protector and this might not be the best but it's better than nothing.

The $38.95 that I spent isn't much more than the $30 that I spent to upgrade my Mac Pages and to buy the iPad Pages only to find that they're not particularly compatible. Those purchases were a total waste of money. I received absolutely zero benefit.

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Jun 15, 2011 4:41 PM in response to Philly_Phan

You said that Safari was opening at login and opening a page which was then downloading an application to your machine. You were worried about what was being downloaded into a database on your hard drive and concerned that an application was being downloaded without your permission. You then clarified that the application was MacKeeper. Then you suddenly say you installed it and you like it. Where am I wrong?

Installing something like this is completely counter to your initial concerns and, to put it bluntly, is a very dumb thing to do given that there is an actively distributed bit of malware right now called MacWhatever (you pick today's name) that is constantly being changed to stay ahead of anti-virus software. You appear to have lucked out with crappy software from an unethical company rather than an outright scam, but you'd darn well better learn from this mistake or a scam will get you eventually.

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 15, 2011 5:38 PM in response to thomas_r.

Have a nice day.

etresoft

Level 8

46,602 points

Jun 16, 2011 9:33 AM in response to Philly_Phan

I think the issue that seems to have been lost is that the legitimate MacKeeper isn't known to download itself like that. If you like MacKeeper, go to their website, download it, install it, and pay for it, that's fine. If a "MacKeeper.zip" mysteriously shows up in your downloads folder, that is probably just a new name for an old trojan. Don't install that one.

If you start getting some "educational" web sites pop up on their own, then you have the trojan, not the real MacKeeper.

Philly_Phan Author

Level 7

20,707 points

Jun 16, 2011 9:38 AM in response to etresoft

I agree wholeheartedly and I did exactly what you're suggesting (great minds run in concentric circles). In fact, I made a voice call to the MacKeeper support team first. I thought that I had said that previously but, if I did, it probably got lost in all the "what in heck is going on" posts.

In any event, thanks for your help and your suggestion.

HTML5 is Evil