Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
DOes Mcafee anti virus slow down your comp alot?
- Thread starter Willyee3
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
Yes, any AV software you run will consume a certain amount of system resources, reducing your system's overall performance. You don't need antivirus on a Mac; just some good common sense and reasonable caution. For Windows, McAfee is one of the LAST apps I would recommend. I've had many clients over the years that had virus infections that their up-to-date McAfee AV did not catch. I certainly wouldn't recommend it, or any other AV app for Mac OS X.
Mac Virus/Malware Info
As a matter of fact, there ARE no viruses in the wild that run on current Mac OS X. Only a handful of trojans that require the user to download and install, usually entering their admin password to do so.
Last edited:
They may contain viruses, but they won't affect your Mac. However, if said files were to then be shared to a PC... it might be bad.
Not trying to be the police here but if you were downloading songs/movies legitimately (meaning paying for them or from a bona fide online store with free or paid downloads) you shouldn't have to worry about this.
common sense works for all platforms, not just mac.
no, antivirus will not slow your system down. yes it uses resources, everything that runs does, how else would it run? go to your system monitor and examine how large of a load its running. if it does cause a slow down there is something wrong there.
anyway, most malware requires user interaction. if you are one of those people who visits "dirty" websites and likes to download files that probably shouldnt be trusted, then i say good luck if you dont have any AV.
by dirty i dont mean pornographic necessarily. dirty can be any number of things from warez sites to torrents to whatever.
no, antivirus will not slow your system down. yes it uses resources, everything that runs does, how else would it run? go to your system monitor and examine how large of a load its running. if it does cause a slow down there is something wrong there.
anyway, most malware requires user interaction. if you are one of those people who visits "dirty" websites and likes to download files that probably shouldnt be trusted, then i say good luck if you dont have any AV.
by dirty i dont mean pornographic necessarily. dirty can be any number of things from warez sites to torrents to whatever.
AV = Anti Virus
As there are no viruses for Mac OS X, you can't get one.
And as the rest of the malware needs your password, you should be safe, if you employ common sense.
AV = anti-virus
Your Mac can't be infected by downloading music (.mp3, .aac, .flac, etc.) or movie (.mpg, .avi, .mov, etc.) files. Just be sure you don't install any apps or enter your admin password to open any files, if the source is questionable.
Read the Mac Virus/Malware Info link I posted.
I have recently downloaded that Sophos anti virus that was featured here on MacRumors recently. If anyone has any experience with Sophos please try to answer my question: There is a feature called on-access scanning that says it scans everything you do. So I disabled this feature, so it should not be scanning in the background right. I don't want it to scan, does anyone know if I have to change anything else or completely uninstall?
ok read, so let me get this straight, trojans have to be opened and stuff right?
so like does the clam x catch trojans as well?
anyways i ran it... and it said i had 323 errors... what does that mean? but good thing no infected files haha
so like does the clam x catch trojans as well?
anyways i ran it... and it said i had 323 errors... what does that mean? but good thing no infected files haha
I have a feeling you'll ignore my post but my question OP to you, is there any reason why you can't just download movies and music legitimately instead of illegally? If you have this much of a concern about viruses and trojans doesn't that tell you something? No matter what we tell you here it's still a crap shoot whether or not you download a corrupt file to your Mac that causes instability. You'll have to gamble if you want illegal downloads.
Instead of asking the same questions repeatedly, why not read the link I posted? It answers your questions.
ClamXav, like most AV apps, predominately catch Windows malware, which has no effect on your Mac. Read the link.
This thread was fine until it turned into asking for assistance related to material obtained in violation of its licensing agreement. This is over the line in relation to the forum rules, so I'm closing the thread.
- Status