MacKeeper, in detail please

It doesn't cripple a Mac - it's just malware that doesn't really do anything that free or shareware apps can do: and it's not very good at what it can do. Even after an uninstall, MacKeeper keeps popping up with insidious messages about how your computer may be at risk.

See here - Do not Install MacKeeper and here - How to Uninstall MacKeeper.

I installed it and paid for it. I not only found that it didn't really work as completely advertised, I found it extremely annoying. I contacted the Bay Area Better Business Bureau and got a refund. One thing that I will say in the developer's favor are that they were quick to issue a refund.

Sorry that I didn't run down a detailed account of all that MacKeeper advertises to do well and doesn't - that would be a long laundry list and I simply don't have the time. Software should be seamless and play nice in the background when interacting with other tasks - MacKeeper is just annoying.

My 2¢...

Clinton

All of the files aren't deleted after the uninstall. If Clinton got alerts after uninstalling, there were artifacts left behind that kept sending messages or running popups.

This software is dishonest adware, is what it is. It alerts you of false positives... problems on your computer that aren't problems at all, or may not even exist.

The continual popups - that's what I found annoying (and, yes, I use Growl and, now, Notifications, but I find those popups helpful).

Even if you use MacKeeper's uninstall package, it will leave remnants that will popup and tell you that your computer is at risk. That's why you have to do the manual uninstall of those remnants, as outlined in the article by Phil Stokes. OS X does 90% of what MacKeeper claims to do - MacKeeper just brings the housekeeping tasks to the forefront to make it look as if it's actually accomplishing something. If you feel as if you need av software, ClamXav does a much better job. If you feel as if you need some 'spring cleaning' there are numerous apps to choose from - most are free. If you want help uninstalling apps, there is always the free AppCleaner and several others at a minimum price. In short, there's nothing on the laundry list of what MacKeeper does that can't be accomplished with free apps - or super inexpensive apps (or even OS X itself) - without advertising themselves. Wanna drag an app in the Trash - oops, here comes MacKeeper! Use the free AppCleaner if you don't want auxiliary files laying about.

I could go on and on - and, mind you, I'm not one of those who just tried the application or are going on hearsay. I installed it and bought it and then felt like a fool.

Now I'm up to 4¢...

Clinton

If you are using this info in a review, you should be putting in YOUR experiences with the product, NOT other peoples!

I was likely using an older version, as I stopped using it around April of this year - shortly after I got my new computer.

Many bandy about the term 'malware' for MacKeeper and, in the strictest sense, that's what I found it to be. Wikipedia - "'Malware' is a general term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software." (my emphasis added) It's not hostile, it can be intrusive, but mainly I found it annoying.

But they must be selling it to a number of customers who are pleased with it - how else could they afford all of those ads that seem to pop up everywhere? They get 4 star reviews on MacUpdate, have a huge following of faithful fans on Facebook, etc. They must be doing something right - so many users seem pleased with their purchases and when I contacted the BABBB, they had only 7 complaints all which were resolved (mine was, as I said, and quickly).

I feel as if I'm unbiased because I purchased and used the product - I just didn't like it (and the anti-theft 'feature', I felt, was an overstatement).

But review the product honestly - while keeping in mind that some (and I include myself) consider it malware.

Best,

Clinton

Sorry that I mis-understood your intentions ;)

OS X versions 10.6.7 and later have built-in detection of known Mac malware in downloaded files. The recognition database is automatically updated once a day; however, you shouldn't rely on it, because the attackers are always at least a day ahead of the defenders. In most cases, there’s no benefit from any other automated protection against malware.

The most effective defense against malware is your own intelligence. All known malware on the Internet that affects a fully-updated installation of OS X 10.6 or later takes the form of trojans, which can only work if the victim is duped into running them. If you're smarter than the malware attacker thinks you are, you won't be duped. That means, primarily, that you never install software from an untrustworthy source. How do you know a source is untrustworthy?

1. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec,” “plug-in,” or “certificate” that comes from that same site, or an unknown site, merely in order to use the site, is untrustworthy.
2. A web operator who tells you that you have a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with your computer, or that you have won a prize in a contest you never entered, is trying to commit a crime with you as the victim.
3. “Cracked” copies of commercial software downloaded from a bittorrent are likely to be infected.
4. Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, must be downloaded directly from the developer’s website. No intermediary is acceptable.

Disable Java (not JavaScript) in your web browser(s). Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This setting is mandatory in OS X 10.5.8 or earlier, because Java in those versions has bugs that make it unsafe to use on the Internet. Those bugs will probably never be fixed, because those older operating systems are no longer being maintained by Apple. Upgrade to a newer version of OS X as soon as you can.

Follow these guidelines, and you’ll be as safe from malware as you can reasonably be.

Never install any commercial "anti-virus" products for the Mac, as they all do more harm than good. If you need to be able to detect Windows malware in your files, use the free software ClamXav — nothing else.

They do harm by wasting CPU and I/O bandwidth, and by destabilizing the system, sometimes disastrously, with no offsetting benefit. The idea that you have to be constantly scanning all your files for imaginary "viruses" is ridiculous. Even if the "viruses" actually existed, which they don't, they wouldn't just materialize out of nowhere. You would have to download them in some form. As I wrote above, there is built-in recognition of known downloaded malware, and I've seen no evidence that third-party products that purport to duplicate that functionality do it any better.

My only experience with MacKeeper is that I installed the demo on a test system for the sole purpose of determining whether the developer's instructions for removing it were accurate, so that I could advise others accordingly. The version I tested did uninstall itself as the developer claimed, apart from a hidden data file that was apparently intended to prevent reinstallation without registering. As soon as I had determined that, I erased the volume on which I had installed it.

Of course, I never actually used MacKeeper. Unlike the members of Zeobit's target market, I'm at least a little bit computer literate, and I wouldn't fall for such an obvious scam.

Pr0digy V. wrote:

I know they scare their users into paying for the application by presenting issues that are not actually issues but...

This, right here, is the only reason you need not to install it.

I don't recall where the hidden file was. Somewhere in the system-wide Library folder. It had a randomly-generated name beginning with a period.