Is MacKeeper a legitimate program?

I installed MacKeeper and it did not do what it was supposed to do (restoring deleted files). What it did to was bringing my Mac to a halt. Fortunately, there is good information on the net on how to get rid of it.

And no, you cannot buy it in the AppStore - go and try to find it. (Not in my country version, anyway)

I've had MacKeeper on my iMac and my MacBook Air (and before that my white MacBook) for over 3 years and I've found it to be brilliant. I have never understood the negative comments about it. It has never caused anything amiss to happen to my computers, in fact all the features have helped me to maintain them in a user-friendly way. YES - the light version IS sold in the App Store as 911 for Mac, though I have the full version with anti-virus included. I can only guess that people who have had trouble after installing it would have had issues anyway, and I know for a fact that many people don't know how to uninstall applications properly.

I can honestly recommend it, and if I had a way of getting up on a soap-box and banging a drum for macKeeper I would!

It's SO useful.

I do agree that some people slag it off for no other reason than it seems to be the "in" thing to do.

You really ought to test it yourself before making sweeping statements.

I've used the full version of macKeeper on my beloved macs (iMac, MacBook Air, and before that white mac) and have found it to be a really useful and well designed piece of software.

It has done everything that it claimed to. I think it's sad that it has gained so many negative comments from those who haven't used it, but just quote others.

Oh - and I don't work for Zeobit, and they haven't offered me a job to write this.

I'm English.

Well Helen, at least you stand out from the crowd! 🙂

I'm sure we're all glad that you haven't had any problems with MacKeeper. However, you should not criticize those who seek to prevent others from having some of the well-documented problems with MacKeeper. (I personally have had a number of people tell me how using MacKeeper to "clean" their Macs ended up causing them to have to reinstall the system. And the same reports are all over.)

I'm sorry if it seemed that I was criticising anyone - I didn't mean it to appear that way. All I'm trying to do is give an honest account of how I and 2 of my friends find MacKeeper - we all like it. I don't actually KNOW anyone who has had trouble with it. And I'm inclined to think (though I have no proof) that satisfied customers don't tend to come on forums to big it up. It can be quite scary going against an angry tide! I only got on here by accident really whilst looking for something else, and decided to finally put my side of the MacKeeper case.

Hello - I just want to put your mind at rest re: MacKeeper. I totally agree with roam, and I have done a lot of research on the internet which backs up the fact that many professional critics like it, but the often savage criticism comes from some of the mac community who may or may not have tried it.

I have used MacKeeper on an iMac and a MacBook Air for the last 2 years and I had it on a white macbook before that. One of my friends has it on an iMac, the other on a white MacBook (both for 2 years, and another friend has just started up with it, (so we can't count her!)

However, NONE of us has ever had any issus with it, but just found it to be a useful and well-designed app.

I have never regretted buying it,and I'm hoping and trusting that I never will.

There are tutorials included in the app, which if followed, make it quite easy to use.

I like MacKeeper - I have used it for quite a long time, along with friends - and no-one is either paying me, bribing me or offering me jobs to say nice things about it. I'm just telling it as I see it - and if MacKeeper wrecks my sysem in the future I will be the first to change my mind about it.....I'll come on here and own up to my mistake!

I totally agree with roam, ...

I try to think independently, and was not recommending this product, nor was I condemming it.

Thomas A Reed in response to my attempted objective research, has said that the developers pay for positive reviews of this software. I have no reason to disbelieve him, for he is a reputable fellow, and consequently this information casts a shadow on any positive review of this product thereafter.

I would be imterested in knowing exactly who the developers have paid. We should know, or how can we make informed decisions. They should be named.

I have no ax to grind in any of this but I do have some personal experience.

I have a MacBookPro using OSX 10.6.8. Earlier this year I bought MacKeeper to help me find duplicate files and delete them so I could gain more space on my hard drive. After several weeks of running MacKeeper, my system crashed. When I took it in to my local Mac repair store, the guy there told me he was getting quite a lot of business from people who had downloaded MacKeeper. He also said my disc was corrupted and it would have to be replaced. Luckily it was still under warranty.

I am still looking for a reliable program that will find duplicate files and is SAFE because there seem to be many duplicates on my system and I would love to gain more space but I am very wary of downloading any other such programs because of this experience. And there are hundreds of programs out there just waitng to get inside your Mac.

Again, this is just my experience with MacKeeper and I certainly do not profess to be an expert in this area.

This begs the question "Is there a legitimate, SAFE, utility for the Mac that the Mac Community recommends as an alternative to MacKeeper?"

Most of the functions MacKeeper performs are either absolutely unnecessary or can be accomplished with free software. See Beware MacKeeper.

helenfmb wrote:

I would be imterested in knowing exactly who the developers have paid.

Look in the mirror...

No legitimate user on these forums recommend MacKeeper. There are some that argue that it is not malware (including Thomas), but none recommend installing it. They make you pay what you can do for free, to say the least.

The general concensus is that you need no utility at all. At times when you get that irrational fear (I get it) that something is amiss, ClamXav is as much as you need.