What is this unpacking app that appears in my dock periodically?

Question

Level 1

8 points

What is this unpacking app that appears in my dock periodically?

I have Lion 10.7.4 and it works fine. Occasionally, I see an unpack app appear in the dock for about two seconds, and then it goes away. I've never been able to mouse over it to see what its name is. By "unpack" I mean the app seems to be a .pkg icon, the open box with something sliding out of it. I get the impression it's unzipping something, but I don't know what. Is there some way I can find out why this app is running periodically and whether it's normal? I worry that I have a virus.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 6, 2012 5:52 PM

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Answer 1

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Jul 6, 2012 6:07 PM in response to GreatBigBore

Do you have your Software Update Preferences (in System Preferences) set to check/download/install updates automatically? Or, for that matter, do you have "automatic check/update/install" checked on any third party application (which is normally the default)? I usually go through and turn those off because I prefer knowing when and what is being downloaded/installed. Not sure if you're on 10.6.8 or Lion, so I'm not sure what your options are in System Preferences.

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Answer 2

GreatBigBore Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 6, 2012 6:15 PM in response to babowa

Hmm, I don't think there's an option for auto-install. There is auto-download, but I don't see anything for install. It has always notified me before installing. I really do have Lion 10.7.4, installed on top of Snow Leopard, on top of 10.6.8 kitty, whose name I've forgotten.

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Answer 3

GreatBigBore Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 6, 2012 6:17 PM in response to babowa

Also, every update Ive ever seen took at least a minute. This thing appears for two seconds and disappears. If it hung around longer, I could mouse over it and at least get a name to plug into google.

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Answer 4

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Jul 6, 2012 6:24 PM in response to GreatBigBore

Hmmm, I thought for sure that was the cause.... not sure what else could be happening. If it appears to become a problem, you could always use the recovery partition to reinstall Lion, but that should be a last resort. Let's hope someone else will chime in with another idea.

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Answer 5

TildeBee

Level 7

31,923 points

Jul 6, 2012 6:30 PM in response to GreatBigBore

Any of these look familiar?

http://en.softonic.com/s/rar-unpack:mac

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/16357/unpkg/

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