Is this the same for MacKeeper 2012

MacKeeper is a legitimate product, not malware. It doesn't have a great reputation here in the Apple Support Communities forums (largely because its advertising practices seem somewhat deceptive) but it does offer various functions you might find useful.

R C-R wrote:

MacKeeper is a legitimate product, not malware. It doesn't have a great reputation here in the Apple Support Communities forums (largely because its advertising practices seem somewhat deceptive) but it does offer various functions you might find useful.

Overall, this is a bit of a stretch. "Somewhat deceptive" Only somewhat? "not malware" well, yes, keeping to a strictly technical definition of malware. "...functions you might find useful." Useful? Like screwing up your computer big time? Functions, I might add, most of which are either not needed or can be found better and for free elsewhere. "Legitimate," again, well, yes, but only technically. Yes, not literally unlawful.

These are softballs, foamballs rather.

Regardless of what you think of the product, it has received favorable reviews from reputable Mac sites, & there is no hard evidence that it is "screwing up" anybody's computer "big time," whatever that is supposed to mean.

If we went by all the anecdotal reports for things like this in the forums, we would have to say that everything, including OS X itself & every popular app from every major vendor, is capable of "screwing up" computers "big time."

I haven't heard anything about MK using credit card #s illegitimately or selling them. That said, I wouldn't want them to have mine. They are supposed to offer a refund, but it's supposed to be a cold day in jell before they do that. If it were me, I'd call my credit card and dispute the charges.

Monty CM wrote:

... should I be cancelling cards? calling banks? I've read too many scary comments now about mackeeper that I just don't know what to do...

I haven't found any credible reports about the maker of MacKeeper misusing credit card info. I suggest just doing what you should be doing anyway: review your cc statements promptly for any charges you did not make & notify the issuer immediately if you see any.

R C-R wrote:

Regardless of what you think of the product, it has received favorable reviews from reputable Mac sites, & there is no hard evidence that it is "screwing up" anybody's computer "big time," whatever that is supposed to mean.

If we went by all the anecdotal reports for things like this in the forums, we would have to say that everything, including OS X itself & every popular app from every major vendor, is capable of "screwing up" computers "big time."

Oh please. You aren't really being taken in by all that BS are you? I've seen enough to be highly suspicious of those "favorable" reviews. I wouldn't trust any of the reviews from those so called "reputable" sites. Until some truly independent body not beholden to advertising does a complete "laboratory" analysis -- and I'm not waiting around for that to happen before warning somone about it -- all we have to go on is anedcote. And there's overwhelming anecdotal evidence from "independent," "reputable" users all over the place, not just here, who have suffered the damage it may do. And that's good enough for me. I wouldn't let it within 100 miles of my computer.

Norton for Mac gets "good" reviews too.

Also, don't use their uninstaller. I've heard it leaves some bad stuff behind.

Do it this way and you can read more about it.

http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/

WZZZ wrote:

Oh please. You aren't really being taken in by all that BS are you?

I try not be be taken in by all that ... wherever it appears. 😉

Monty CM wrote:

Well, whatever the situation is with Mackeeper - whether it is legit or not - they have offered to give me a full refund, so I feel much better about the whole thing.

Please let us know if you do actually get a refund -- some users report they have but others say they are still waiting, months after that was promised to them.

Thanks for the follow up. Glad you got your money back.

WZZZ wrote:

Also, don't use their uninstaller. I've heard it leaves some bad stuff behind.

Do it this way and you can read more about it.

http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/

That site may well be going offline soon. 😟

Since I posted that procedure in September the site has come under increasing attacks from unknown parties. Initially, MacKeeper (or rather Zeobit, MacKeeper's developers) threatened me with legal action. When I pointed out their legal threats had no teeth, they then offered to hire me... 😕

In November of last year someone (not me) registered 'applehelpwriter' under a .net domain, but hid their identity on Whois by using a protected name service. They then illegally mirrored my site, removing my name and the post to MacKeeper...

This week, I managed to get that illegal mirror taken down through official channels. Coincidentally, this week my own service provider has contacted me to say that my site is associated with a spamming scam (I have never been involved in spamming, and indeed doing so would be detrimental to my reputation. I don't sell anything, only my services as a tech writer to developers, which is such a limited market that spamming would be counterproductive).

Today, it seems my service provider has locked me out of my site because someone has reported my site as containing unacceptable content. Given that my site is nothing other than fairly basic user tips for OS X, it is hard to imagine what that could be...(I'm still waiting for a reply from my service provider to see what, exactly, the complaint is).

Am I being paranoid in thinking this could have something to do with MacKeeper and Zeobit??? Oh, probably... 😎

The procedure I wrote for uninstalling MacKeeper can be found via downloadable pdf here, if you should need it:

http://cl.ly/1R2r191D0W2G2s3U1O02