Hi,
I have ran a speed test on my internet connection and it is currently at 0.48, I believe that I may have a virus in my mac. I have had a technician from my provider test the line and the speed on his laptop was 8.45.
What is the best free program that I can get? Or do I have to fork out money for an antivirus program?
thanks
iMac
I use
bitdefender virus scanner
and
virusbarrier express
both free both from app store
I do not think you have a virus. Most people here think Apple is virus free (and I agree) ... but.
If you are doubtful and go checking for anti-virus protction, the best you can get is Sophos and / or ClamXav, the latter being free.
Warning. Do not download or have anything to do with MacKeeper or anything from Zeobit.
Considering there are zero viruses for OS X it's a waste of time and money and resources. There are a few trojans but they are 1000% different than viruses. Almost alll the antivirus applications for OS X tend to create more problems than they solve which is why I recommend no antivirus software. However if you must ONLY install ClamXav which is free, kept up-to-date and unobtrusive. I'd also recommend educating yourself by reading articles such as Thomas Reed's Mac Malware Guide, don't read articles from the antivirus vendors they're only trying to sell their products.
agree many people see software crash's and or bugs or periodic hardware defects as
1. virus / trojan /malware
2. they are being hacked
It's almost certainly not a virus (aka malware.)
First thing to try is to make a new location in Sys Prefs>Accounts. See BDAqua's instructions for doing this
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4994232?answerId=21873611022#21873611022
If that doesn't help, this may be a DNS server issue. Test with OpenDNS, Level3.net or GoogleDNS to see which of these improves the speed.
In Sys Prefs>Network>Advanced>DNS enter these numbers above any others that may be there and hit Apply.
For OpenDNS
208.67.222.222
208.67.222.220
For Level3
4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
For GoogleDNS
8.8.4.4
8.8.8.8
Hi,
I'm still fairly new to mac, so all this jargon is like a different language to me. lol
I've tried to enter those DNS numbers and I can't see any difference. 😟
I'm not sure if I'm doing it right
Hi,
I've read the guide, and it's just my internet that's slow. He only talks about the whole computer being slow/shutting down. and Malware doesn't cause that. So I'm not sure where to go from here because the technician tested the lines and they were fine.... so yeah, i'm clueless lol
Are you using WI-FI? If you are, option-click on the Airport icon. What is the Transmit Rate showing there?
To enter new DNS numbers (Sys Prefs>Network>Advanced) click on the + button. You will get a new field in blue, as shown in the screenshot below. Enter one number there, then hit OK. You will be brought back to the main tab. Hit Apply. Go back to Advanced and repeat for the second number, then hit OK. You will be brought back to the main page and hit Apply again. You can reorder the way the numbers appear by dragging them. Not absolutely certain of this, but the numbers first listed will be the DNS servers used first; second will be contacted next. If you put all those numbers in (all three sets), you can then test which servers are the fastest for you by rearranging the list order.
DNS (Domain Name Server) is like the phone book. It translates names into telephone numbers. You can't dial a name. DNS servers translate site names into numbers. Some servers are better/faster than others.
Also be sure to turn off IPv6 in TCP/IP
To check that OpenDNS is working, go to http://www.opendns.com/welcome/
Message was edited by: WZZZ
Also, before even trying the above, open Network Utility in Utilities and go to the Ping tab and enter google.com and hit the Ping button. Can you paste in the results.
No I'm using cable - I've done as per your instructions. I've done a speed test and my internet speed is still around 1.16Mbps - when the technician checked it. The speed was around 8Mbps - so im not sure if it's to do with DNS, don't know.
But thank you 🙂
OK, do the other stuff. And what's this about the computer shutting down? And whatever browser you're using, test with another. If Safari, try Firefox and vice versa.
Message was edited by: WZZZ
If you have a wireless connection to your router, please connect to it with Ethernet, if possible, and turn off Wi-Fi. Any difference?
dns have nothing to do with is
what dns is is that it translate the www.apple.com to an IP address
so rather then typing in
you type in
both will give you the same page but one will be more intuative
Nothing to do with DNS itself. We are talking about DNS servers and speed. I was only explaining what DNS meant.
The OP can try namebench to test which is the fastest.
http://lifehacker.com/5420931/namebench-helps-you-find-the-fastest-dns-server-fo r-your-computer
And the problem may have nothing to do with the DNS server; we are in the process of trying to figure that out.
How do I get rid of viruses on my mac?
