My back up MacBook seems confused and slow - may have some malware on board - What to do?
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.6)
Malware and viruses are what you immediately suspect if you are running a Windows PC. With Macs it is rarely those.
"Confused" is not a technical term. We need specifics.
"Slow" could be a full hard drive, or several other things. Again, not much to work with.
Are you really running OSX 10.5.6?
You could try starting in Safe mode. That would check some system files and repair a few.
• Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support
The support article has some ideas and things to try after starting up in Safe mode.
One of them is troubleshooting the issues to find what may be a cause of the problem.
That will allow you to be running the computer, and look into system Console log files from
the times of most slowness (by time and date, exactly.) While this may not be helpful to see
a pile of stuff in the Console utility, there are times it helps if you know what to look for there.
Sometimes the Activity Monitor can show what may be running or hung up, or where some
of the system resources are being used; but sometimes maybe not. Depending on the OS X
version in use, the Activity Monitor and the Disk Utility may show other kinds of information
a user of the older systems may find not as helpful; or just enough different to confuse.
There are a few instances where a reset of the System Management Controller chip is warranted.
Before attempting this, read through the information given in the article to see if there's a match.
• Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
This should not affect the OS X or your Mac adversely, even if it wasn't needed, or didn't help.
Other items not affected by a reset of SMC may be helped by a NVRAM reset, if needed:
• How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
Sometimes to use the Disk Utility can help, either to simply 'repair disk permissions' or of the
computer can start in OS X Recovery mode, the OS X Utilities version of Disk Utility can be
used to see if a repair may be helpful. Older Macs with install-restore DVD media may be
able to use their installer's version of Disk Utility to repair some aspects of the hard drive.
At some point, perhaps there are items in the system that are out-dated and should be removed.
From this site, you can read about a helpful report-generating app that contributors to Apple
support communities had helped create and several present contributors suggest, and use:
http://etrecheck.com/ (note the selection buttons, and details on what it does, how it works
and how to make use of it) -- The report from this can be posted in a discussions reply.
You could try a report generating app such as Etrecheck to see what appears, and someone in
these discussions may be able to help deduce the results, and make suggestions on what could
be the cause of a 'confused and very slow Mac'.
Not sure what else to suggest. The etrecheck report or a system console report from the built-in
Console utility (showing suspect sections of the running system) can be helpful to view. There
may be some software you've installed that is not compatible with other software, & so on.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂
If the OP is really using OSX 10.5.6 will Etrecheck run? The one thing it does not include on the web page is system requirements which is kind of omitting the obvious for a piece of software which is supposed to be about system reporting.
Yes, that did cross my mind; and I had previously looked into what etrecheck
convenience utility app would run in. Since several users do not update their
online presence in these ASC profiles, or did for a time, then didn't... there is
a tail-chasing-dog scenario I prefer to stop second-guessing.
Manual removal methods, if there were 'adware' or malware from another
era, could include several steps. To restore from an earlier clone or time
machine backup, if one knew when the symptoms occurred may help most
issues (beyond unlikely adware/malware/viri in pre-10.6.8 OS X.)
• Tech Guides (adware, malware, performance)
http://www.thesafemac.com/tech-guides/
When a user profile (such as mine, which I don't update anymore) shows an
OS X that would be considered vintage or obsolete, yet has a computer in a
discussion which could be running as new an OS X as Lion 10.7.5, or at least
10.6.8; then perhaps they should update or upgrade the computer as needed.
Or at least their profile, or add a newer tagline to their discussion, as it applies.
Since I have an Apple MacBook1.1 13-inch coreduo 1.83GHz with 10.5.8, it
is only able to run at best 10.6.8; however I don't own Snow Leopard 10.6.8.
Yet I don't pretend the etrecheck or even malwarebytes can run on antiques.
I would presuppose the O.P. would have at least considered Combo 10.5.8.
And any last antique security updates. While none exist for old browsers...😐
My MacBook seems confused and very slow. What do I do?
