Is MacKeeper a legitimate program?

Kudcubfa wrote:

Well, I can say with certainty I'm not biased. I was given a MacBook as a gift but also use pc's for work and at home. I'm neither a "fanboy" or part of whatever cult I keep seeing in these discussions.

So, in my humble, non technical and casual opinion, the software is great. Not a bit of trouble.

I will say this, there is a lot of creepy "conspiracy theory" feel to this whole discussion. I expect the comic book guy to jump in any second with "worst-software-ever!"

Do you imagine that all the detractors are making their stories up then?

Kudcubfa wrote:

Heres a good article. I have it and use it and so far no problems.

http://www.cultofmac.com/170522/is-mackeeper-really-a-scam/

- You should always trust a review written on a website. Especially when the said website is/was selling the said software. I see no conflicts of interests whatsoever ...😉

The following link offers some balanced information about it.

http://www.cultofmac.com/170522/is-mackeeper-really-a-scam/

From the given website:

"We believe that we have a great product and we want people to know about it and the only way to do this is to explore every medium of advertisement."

Balanced information?

SO frustrating. Now I am a newcomer to to Apple/Mac world and have defected to the "light side" from being a PC user since I've been able to use a computer. I was under the impression that Macs don't get viruses on their machines and that was the #1 selling point for me, but now with all these discussions about the pros and cons of Mackeeper I just don't know anymore. I've successfully removed the software from my laptop but do I need anti-virus software or not??? I come to these Apple forums for support but just get a bunch of confusing back and forth heresy and arrive at no resolution. What to do, what to do? Is there a licensed Apple computer "cleaner" so I can always count on machine to work at its most optimum capabilty? Thanks guys!

JVillalobos21 wrote:

I was under the impression that Macs don't get viruses on their machines and that was the #1 selling point for me

Which is generally true, but they are not immune. You have to keep your software fully up-to-date, don't disable any security features and pay attention to all the warnings you get. If you are asked for your admin password or to approve an invalid certificate, be sure you fully understand why you are doing that. Apple wants you to disable Java in all your browsers. And only download legitimate software and files from trusted sites.

now with all these discussions about the pros and cons of Mackeeper I just don't know anymore. I've successfully removed the software from my laptop but do I need anti-virus software or not???

If you don't feel like doing all the things I outlined, then you probably need some form of A-V software, otherwise there is adequate protection built into OS X 10.6.8 and above. But just to be clear, MacKeeper is a lot more than just an A-V product. It also has a lot of mostly unneeded "cleaning" processes, which should be an entirely different discussion topic.

Is there a licensed Apple computer "cleaner" so I can always count on machine to work at its most optimum capabilty?

Yes, it's all built into OS X. It will normally keep everything running smoothly and will not require any routine user maintenance at all. Sometimes you will run into issues and when that happens, come back and describe the problem in detail and someone will point you in the right direction.

do I need anti-virus software or not???

There's no easy yes or no answer. You probably can get by just fine without, but even if you do use anti-virus software, you need to know how to stay safe. See my Mac Malware Guide.

I come to these Apple forums for support but just get a bunch of confusing back and forth heresy and arrive at no resolution.

Yes, unfortunately, that's always the case here when it comes to the topic of anti-virus software. There are a lot of people out there who will tell you “There are no Mac viruses” and who will get downright rude about anti-virus software. Others can get equally vehement that anti-virus software should be considered a requirement. Both sides tend to make their cases based on a lot of hearsay and isolated incidents, and not a lot of personal experience or decent data. As with most cases where two groups violently argue with each other over extreme points of view, the truth lies somewhere in the middle... ground that, in this case, few people seem to tread.

Is there a licensed Apple computer "cleaner" so I can always count on machine to work at its most optimum capabilty?

There is no need to "clean" your Mac regularly, except to keep the dust off! See The myth of the dirty Mac.

JVillalobos21

Hypochondriacs.

Thats what you have on these forums for the most part. People are tuned to being afraid and they think that pointing out the boogie man is the best way to look like they are intelligent and safe.

FACT:

There is no mac virus that has effected the operation of a mac system that i have seen since 1998. There wasnt any before then either. There are trojans and back door things but you must put in your password in order for a virus to effect your operation. There are no worms as far as i know as i do not believe that unix allows application duplication.

I am not an expert. I have not studied anything but the 12 Macs i have owned since 1998. While i have had to replace ram, connections and hard drives. I have never had a system failure or operational problems due to some virus. I even tried to download some from a site that claimed that they collected Mac viruses. It never worked and my mac just kept on humming.

I will say that it is possible for a mac to carry a virus that does not effect the mac at all but will effect a pc that you transfer file or send emails to. Even thats rare.

I came from a PC and it is wierd to adjust to just using the computer and not fixing it yearly. Other than repair permissions which i do about every 3 months on my macs, I do not ever have to maintenance my system os. Because of heavy use (35-65hr per week) video editing, GFX, CGI and audio design i do use Disk Warior once a year on my hard drives. Disk Warior is never used on my main drive.

Just run your mac and don't worry about virusses the chances of you getting a virus is 75% less than you getting one from a one night stand.

Thomas Reed studies this so i would +1 his post on this issue.

Ok so here's my issue (disclaimer: I have not read all 8 pages of this forum): MacKeeper does advertize itself as anti-virus software, but it also purports to delete unnecessary files, uninstall applications, and generally keep one's computer running smoothly. I have owned MacKeeper in the past, but I don't feel confident saying that it didn't harm my computer in any way. Maybe it made it run slower, I don't know. My point is, however, that a discussion of whether or not Macs get viruses doesn't completely cover the issue and if MacKeeper is a scam, then what other software is there that has the same non-anti-virus functionality of MacKeeper?

emily.wherever wrote:

if MacKeeper is a scam, then what other software is there that has the same non-anti-virus functionality of MacKeeper?

I don't necessarily categorize it as a scam, although some of their advertising methods have been and still are to some extent very scam-like. Their A-V software has actually progressed to the point of being better than average, after starting out as a recycled PC scanner.

As to the other functions, most users will never need them (see Thomas Reed's link above to "The myth of the dirty Mac") and novice users could very well do more harm than good by using them routinely or without knowing exactly what they do. When problems do develop, there are almost always free utilities available to do those same tasks. At the end of Beware MacKeeper, Thomas has a list of alternative software.

I found the article of Thomas Reed excellent: it's very well balanced and spot on. It's a very good read.

You can replace the MacKeeper antivirus by the Free Sophos Mac Antivirus.

Another list of replacement for Mackepper amazing list of Nutilities (non-utilities) can be found here, and they are almost all free, and often, much better. i.e see "Prey"

http://themacschool.blogspot.com/2012/09/mackeeper-is-scam.html

I too unfortunately got tangled up with MacKeeper. I have Apple Care with whom I spent an hour going in and out of windows, files, etc. Whatever magic they did I was free of MacKeeper interference. One thing we did do was look through files/applications to find their name or some link for the file they put in my system. Not a computer person as you can tell. I would recommend Apple Care in this situation.

As you say DO NOT DOWNLOAD MACKEEPER. There may be two groups using this name and one is a scam.

I used Apple Care to fix a problem, and the tech worked and worked until he figured it out. yes, good experience there. I don't recall, however, if it was post-MacKeeper or not.

Biggest problem due to MacKeeper has been with Adobe Acrobat, "organizer database' damage. I have tried all the solutions found on the Web, tossed and reinstalled Acrobat completely. But the problem remains.

Today dealing with a Checkbook upgrade problem. If it turns out to be a MacKeeper problem, I will definitely go back to Apple Care.

To start I would call myself a longtime Mac user but not a pro, I started with a G3 unit and never looked back.

Three or so years ago my current iMac had slowed to nearly unusable. This is when I found MacKeeper, when I first installed it I ran thru the cleanup processes and my iMac was usable again. I now run MacKeeper on my iMac and my Macbook Pro for work. I do not use the real time virus program but I run a scan once a week and run the cleaning system once every three months. In three years MacKeeper has only found two threats on my home computer and nothing on my work computer, to me this sounds about rite. In the three years I have not had any serious issues with either computer that I can relate back to MacKeeper. The couple of complaints I do have is that it wants you to be logged into Zeobit all of the and it slows down time machine. The second of the two issues is why I found this post. My backup drive died and I attached a new drive. I would like to shut down MacKeeper while the full backup is running. I asked their live chat guy how to completely stop MacKeeper and MacKeeper helper and he said it could not be done but I could easily uninstall the program. 1. Click "command+Q" 2. drag MacKeeper to the trash. MacKeeper then uninstalled itself as far as I can tell.

Three or so years ago my current iMac had slowed to nearly unusable. This is when I found MacKeeper, when I first installed it I ran thru the cleanup processes and my iMac was usable again.

Sometimes, files in a Mac's cache can become corrupt, and that can cause all kinds of issues, including performance problems. Although "cleaning" caches is not a good idea on a regular basis, in this case MacKeeper probably helped because of that corruption. Of course, you paid Zeobit money to do something you could have easily done yourself, either by manually deleting some things or by using a number of free alternatives.

This is the unfortunate aspect of MacKeeper... as they say, "every now and then, even a blind squirrel will find a nut."

I've been a Mac Tech for over 12 years now and MacKeeper is Malware and not a legit program, and yes Mac's don't get viruses, ONLY viruses I've ever seen in these 12 years were in OS 9. PC users have the worst herd mentality there is. Oh and my wife owns a PC and it has gotten viruses. My G4 Mirror Doors and now Mac Pro I've had since 2010, not a single virus.