My mac froze and shut down. Is there a way to retrieve unsaved files?, My mac froze and shut down. Is there a way to retrieve unsaved files?

My mac froze then shut down. Is there a way to retrieve my unsaved files?

It depends what you are using, you haven't told us, and whether you ever saved in the first place which you also haven't told us.
In OSX Lion (OSX 10.7) Pages will have auto-saved after the initial save and reopening the file will take you back to the last save.
Prior to Lion you would only have the last saved version. Utilities like ForEverSave would have auto-saved for you or you would need to manually save with command s.
If your whole Mac froze and it wasn't a battery issue in a laptop, then I would try and determine the reason as this should not be happening.
Peter

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  • Macbook Pro (2011) froze while working, forced shut down, now won't turn on. Grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel for hours. Help?

    Macbook Pro (2011) froze while working, forced shut down, now won't turn on. Grey screen with apple logo and spinning wheel for hours. Help?
    Unfortunately do not know the operating system since I never updated anything and I can't get in to it.
    Thanks for your assistance.

    If you want to preserve the data on the boot drive, and it's not already backed up, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data, you can skip this step.
    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is not fully functional. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
    1. Boot from the Recovery partition or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
    2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
    3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

  • Hi, my Macbook Pro just shut down for no reason. Before, there were black lines all over the screen. Then it shut down and it started to make beeps (3). What can I do?!

    I was using my computer just as usual, I was on Microsoft Words and doing lectures on the Internet. Then, out of nowhere, the screen froze and black lines appeared all over the screen and the computer shut down. The screen was all black, but I think it was still open because my laptop was doing sounds, three beeps. When it beeps, the little light that shows you when your laptop is open is bright, so the beeps and the light are synchronized. AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, help me!!!

    There is a hardware problem. Possibly bad RAM. Please make a Genius Appointment and take it in for service.

  • The sound on me ipad randomly shuts off, there are no specific warnings or the lot, it just shuts down then randomly starts up again. What's the problem? And please let me know if other owners are experiencing the same troubles...

    The sound on my ipad shuts of
    I'm a new user of these apple forums so I don't really know how stuff works, bur here's my question
    Recently, the sound on my iPad Air randomly shuts down, (os 7.1 downloaded) then it randomly pops up again. Sounds in the videos of photo gallery still works, as well as the videos on the internet (browser: chrome), and videis on Facebook too, but sounds like key board clicks, lock sounds, and games from the App Store store stop working... Please help, and I would also like to know if there are any other owners out there who face the same problem...

    Rev_JC:
    Welcome to Apple Discussions.
    There are a number of possible approaches to your issue. At first I thought it may be that your logic board was going out. The it sounded as if you needed to Reset the PMU. Finally, who talked about slapping it around and getting results, it sounds like it may be a loose display cable or something of that sort. Since you are completely new to Macs your best bet would be to go online and make an appointment at the Genius Bar in your local Apple Store. It costs nothing. They will look over your computer and give you an idea of what is wrong and what it will cost to rectify it.
    Meanwhile, to help to identify your computer more closely, while the computer is booted go to Apple Menu > About this Mac. That will tell you the OS you have installed, the Processor speed and the computer you have. Please report this info back with you response.
    Please do post back with further questions or comments.
    cornelius

  • 15" i7 Macbook Pro from early 2011.takes the mac laptop two or three tries to boot successfully. It would turn on, show gray screen, shut down, turn on again, show gray screen, shutdown, and then turn on, show gray screen, before it can finally get

    Hello All,
    I have a 15" i7 Macbook Pro from early 2011. The past few weeks, it has been getting increasingly difficult to get on my computer. It takes the mac laptop two or three tries to boot successfully. It would turn on, show gray screen, shut down, turn on again, show gray screen, shutdown, and then turn on, show gray screen, before it can finally get to the dark gray log-in screen. Even when I finally get logged in to start working, thinking it would be okay now, it shuts down randomly.
    I've ruled out the possibility of a software problem because I've just done a clean re-install of Mac OS X Mavericks on my computer just yesterday.
    I did upgrade the RAM recently, about a month and a half ago, from 4GB to 16GB, I went to the apple store four days after that upgrade to have them do a hardware test, and clean the inside of my laptop, which helped with previous heat issues. When they did the hardware test, the hardware was all registered as fine from their system.
    I've tried resetting the SMC, PRAM, and doing the internet recovery hardware test, but to no avail. I thought I could at least find out what parts needed to be replaced from the hardware test but it seems that when the hardware test is almost finished, the computer just shuts down, So I am unable to see the results.
    My computer is also having battery issues, under battery condition, it says "replace now," parts have been ordered, waiting for arrival. But if the battery health is low, it should still boot up fine, it would just hold a significantly less charge.
    Could this be a hard drive issue?
    Has anyone had similar symptoms and how was it resolved?
    Does anyone know what I can do to alleviate this issue?
    I haven't had time to take it to Apple because I'm currently taking a 21 credit semester academically. I'm an art and design student so my computer is basically the bane of my existence. Help! Any constructive advice is welcomed!
    Thank you so much for your input!
    -Christina C.

    Problem description:
    The Hard Disk is failing.
    EtreCheck version: 2.0.11 (98)
    Report generated November 4, 2014 at 7:59:28 AM EST
    Hardware Information: ℹ️
      MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) (Verified)
      MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2
      1 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core
      16 GB RAM Upgradeable
      BANK 0/DIMM0
      8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
      BANK 1/DIMM0
      8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
      Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
      Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
    Video Information: ℹ️
      Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
      Color LCD 1440 x 900
      AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 1024 MB
    System Software: ℹ️
      OS X 10.9.5 (13F34) - Uptime: 0:3:43
    Disk Information: ℹ️
      TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF disk0 : (750.16 GB)
      S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
      EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
      HDV4 (disk0s2) /  [Startup]: 749.30 GB (712.10 GB free)
      Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>  [Recovery]: 650 MB
      MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898 
    USB Information: ℹ️
      Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
      Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
      Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
      Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
      Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
    Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
      Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
    Gatekeeper: ℹ️
      Mac App Store and identified developers
    Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
      /Library/Application Support/Avast/components/fileshield/unsigned
      [loaded] com.avast.AvastFileShield (2.1.0 - SDK 10.9) Support
      /Library/Application Support/Avast/components/proxy/unsigned
      [loaded] com.avast.PacketForwarder (1.4 - SDK 10.9) Support
    Launch Agents: ℹ️
      [not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.userinit.plist Support
    Launch Daemons: ℹ️
      [invalid?] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.init.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.uninstall.plist Support
      [loaded] com.avast.update.plist Support
      [invalid?] com.perion.searchprotectd.plist Support
    User Launch Agents: ℹ️
      [invalid?] com.avast.home.userinit.plist Support
      [loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support
      [invalid?] com.jdibackup.ZipCloud.autostart.plist Support
    User Login Items: ℹ️
      None
    Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
      AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.1 Support
      QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
      JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version
      Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9
    User Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
      TroviNPAPIPlugin: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9 Support
      Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: Unknown
    Safari Extensions: ℹ️
      Avast Online Security
      Trovi Search for Safari
    3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
      None
    Time Machine: ℹ️
      Time Machine not configured!
    Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
          16% mds
          7% WindowServer
          1% loginwindow
          1% fontd
          1% com.avast.daemon
    Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
      120 MB com.avast.daemon
      86 MB Google Chrome
      52 MB Finder
      52 MB WindowServer
      41 MB Google Chrome Helper
    Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
      13.45 GB Free RAM
      1.34 GB Active RAM
      944 MB Inactive RAM
      1.43 GB Wired RAM
      1.11 GB Page-ins
      0 B Page-outs

  • I have a mac OS X and when I close it and reopen my screen opens and then shuts down for an instant and then reopens.  Does anyone have this occur??  I have shutdown and restarted often.

    I have a mac OS X and when I close it and reopen my screen opens and then shuts down for an instant and then reopens.  Does anyone have this occur??  I have shutdown and restarted often.

    A Safe Mode boot might help ..
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    A Safe Mode boot takes much longer than a normal boot so be patient.
    Once you are in Safe Mode, click Restart from the Apple () menu.
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  • Everytime i shut my mac down and restart i always find recovered files in my trash and I'm afraid to empty it even thou they are still in my docs folder too

    everytime i shut my mac down and restart i always find recovered files in my trash and I'm afraid to empty it even thou they are still in my docs folder too. Why does it do this? and will I delete files i have in my docs they look like same ones.

    If the Trash contains folders of recovered files

  • My power mac g4 was working fine i hit a key and it shut down and now it has the symble of the firewire slot floting around the screen and i can not get it to start back up

    my power mac g4 was working fine i hit a key and it shut down and know it has a symble floting around the screen like the firewirs symble and ot wont turn back on how do i fix it

    It does sound like the T key is stuck.
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  • HT1918 my account has been hacked and there are itunes purchases posted to my cc. how do I shut down? help please!

    my account has been hacked and there are itunes purchases posted to my cc. how do I shut down? help please!

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  • My Mac is slowing down and when I jump on the internet I see the rainbow ball a lot and it goes no where, I have to shut it down and try to restart several times a day?

    My Mac is slowing down and when I jump on the internet I see the rainbow ball a lot and it goes no where, I have to shut it down and try to restart several times a day?

    See if either of these help    : http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/25_ways_speed_your_mac
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  • My Mac book pro gets to the screen with the apple logo with a spinning loading symbol and an actual loading bar underneath it and when the loading bar gets to about 1/2 - 3/4 the computer shuts down how do I fix this?

    Need it fixed asap

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  • I shut down firefox one day and when i started it back up all the tabs i had open from last session are still there.never used to be like that now every time i open the browser there are about nine of them..how do i prevent this?

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    It is possible that there is a problem with the files sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.
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  • When I turned my Macbook on and signed in, it has been shutting down automatically and restarting itself immediately after opening the desktop. The error message said, I'd shut down my computer unexpectedly. How can I get it to stop shutting down on me?

    Since downloading OS X Mavericks, my computer has been shutting down midway of starting up. Please help! The problem began after downloading the software free update. Now when I start my computer, it will starts up normal but when the desktop appears, there will be an error message that I shut down my computer because of an error and if I would like to open the applications that were open before the sudden shut down I should press continue. Then when I select continue, it will open up another communication window that my computer is restarting because of an error. Then the screen will revert to shutting down and restarting again. This has been going on now all morning. Can someone hlep me on how to resolve this issue?

    Very Important, how much Free Space is on your Hard Drive first of all? Click on the Macintosh HD on the Desktop, then do a Get Info on it.
    Could be many things, we should start with this...
    "Try Disk Utility
    1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
    2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
    *Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
    3. Click the First Aid tab.
    4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
    5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
    Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
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    Do they launch OK while in Safe Mode?

  • My MacBookPro (mid 2012) will not complete the boot process. Yosemite's progress widget gets about 1/3 to 1/2 way across when the logo disappears and the screen goes all white for 10-15 secs or so, then the machine shuts down and restarts.

    My MacBookPro (mid 2012) will not complete the boot process. Yosemite's progress widget gets about 1/3 to 1/2 way across when the logo disappears and the screen goes all white for 10-15 secs, then the machine shuts down and restarts. This sequence will repeat seemingly forever unless I shut it down manually.
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    The machine is BootCamp(ed) with Windows 8.1 which I use from a VMWare virtual machine instead of natively so that I can have both OSes running at the same time. I also think this is unrelated to my problem. I have been using this setup for more than 2 years.
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    Install or Reinstall OS X from Scratch
    Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
    Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
    Erase the hard drive:
      1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
      2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
          left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
      3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
          the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
          the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
      4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
    Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Install button.
    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
               because it is three times faster than wireless.

  • I believe that i have malware on my mac, osx 10.9.4. accordingly, i've tried to run clamxav (on my mac HD) but just get a spinning wheel, then have to shut down. any advice on how to stop spinning wheel or get rid of malware? please help. :-).

    i believe that i have malware (possible highjack of safari browser) on my mac, osx 10.9.4. accordingly, i've tried to run clamxav (on my mac HD) but just get a spinning wheel, then have to shut down. any advice on how to stop spinning wheel or get rid of malware? i have symnatic endpoint and, after scanning, it reveals nothing. please help. :-).

    are locked user files or that have incorrect permission a bad thing?
    Yes.
    why am i removing symantec?
    Short answer: Because it's worse than useless and worse than the imaginary "viruses" you're afraid of would be if they really existed. For the long answer, see below.
    1. This is a comment on what you should—and should not—do to protect yourself from malicious software ("malware") that circulates on the Internet and gets onto a computer as an unintended consequence of the user's actions. It does not apply to software, such as keystroke loggers, that may be installed deliberately by an intruder who has hands-on access to the computer, or who has been able to log in to it remotely. That threat is in a different category, and there's no easy way to defend against it.
    The comment is long because the issue is complex. The key points are in sections 5, 6, and 10.
    OS X now implements three layers of built-in protection specifically against malware, not counting runtime protections such as execute disable, sandboxing, system library randomization, and address space layout randomization that may also guard against other kinds of exploits.
    2. All versions of OS X since 10.6.7 have been able to detect known Mac malware in downloaded files, and to block insecure web plugins. This feature is transparent to the user. Internally Apple calls it "XProtect."
    The malware recognition database used by XProtect is automatically updated; however, you shouldn't rely on it, because the attackers are always at least a day ahead of the defenders.
    The following caveats apply to XProtect:
    ☞ It can be bypassed by some third-party networking software, such as BitTorrent clients and Java applets.
    ☞ It only applies to software downloaded from the network. Software installed from a CD or other media is not checked.
    As new versions of OS X are released, it's not clear whether Apple will indefinitely continue to maintain the XProtect database of older versions such as 10.6. The security of obsolete system versions may eventually be degraded. Security updates to the code of obsolete systems will stop being released at some point, and that may leave them open to other kinds of attack besides malware.
    3. Starting with OS X 10.7.5, there has been a second layer of built-in malware protection, designated "Gatekeeper" by Apple. By default, applications and Installer packages downloaded from the network will only run if they're digitally signed by a developer with a certificate issued by Apple. Software certified in this way hasn't necessarily been tested by Apple, but you can be reasonably sure that it hasn't been modified by anyone other than the developer. His identity is known to Apple, so he could be held legally responsible if he distributed malware. That may not mean much if the developer lives in a country with a weak legal system (see below.)
    Gatekeeper doesn't depend on a database of known malware. It has, however, the same limitations as XProtect, and in addition the following:
    ☞ It can easily be disabled or overridden by the user.
    ☞ A malware attacker could get control of a code-signing certificate under false pretenses, or could simply ignore the consequences of distributing codesigned malware.
    ☞ An App Store developer could find a way to bypass Apple's oversight, or the oversight could fail due to human error.
    Apple has so far failed to revoke the codesigning certificates of some known abusers, thereby diluting the value of Gatekeeper and the Developer ID program. These failures don't involve App Store products, however.
    For the reasons given, App Store products, and—to a lesser extent—other applications recognized by Gatekeeper as signed, are safer than others, but they can't be considered absolutely safe. "Sandboxed" applications may prompt for access to private data, such as your contacts, or for access to the network. Think before granting that access. Sandbox security is based on user input. Never click through any request for authorization without thinking.
    4. Starting with OS X 10.8.3, a third layer of protection has been added: a "Malware Removal Tool" (MRT). MRT runs automatically in the background when you update the OS. It checks for, and removes, malware that may have evaded the other protections via a Java exploit (see below.) MRT also runs when you install or update the Apple-supplied Java runtime (but not the Oracle runtime.) Like XProtect, MRT is effective against known threats, but not against unknown ones. It notifies you if it finds malware, but otherwise there's no user interface to MRT.
    5. The built-in security features of OS X reduce the risk of malware attack, but they are not, and never will be, complete protection. Malware is a problem of human behavior, and a technological fix is not going to solve it. Trusting software to protect you will only make you more vulnerable.
    The best defense is always going to be your own intelligence. With the possible exception of Java exploits, all known malware circulating on the Internet that affects a fully-updated installation of OS X 10.6 or later takes the form of so-called "Trojan horses," which can only have an effect if the victim is duped into running them. The threat therefore amounts to a battle of wits between you and the scam artists. If you're smarter than they think you are, you'll win. That means, in practice, that you always stay within a safe harbor of computing practices. How do you know when you're leaving the safe harbor? Below are some warning signs of danger.
    Software from an untrustworthy source
    ☞ Software of any kind is distributed via BitTorrent, or Usenet, or on a website that also distributes pirated music or movies.
    ☞ Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, doesn't come directly from the developer’s website. Do not trust an alert from any website to update Flash, or your browser, or any other software.
    ☞ Rogue websites such as Softonic and CNET Download distribute free applications that have been packaged in a superfluous "installer."
    ☞ The software is advertised by means of spam or intrusive web ads. Any ad, on any site, that includes a direct link to a download should be ignored.
    Software that is plainly illegal or does something illegal
    ☞ High-priced commercial software such as Photoshop is "cracked" or "free."
    ☞ An application helps you to infringe copyright, for instance by circumventing the copy protection on commercial software, or saving streamed media for reuse without permission.
    Conditional or unsolicited offers from strangers
    ☞ A telephone caller or a web page tells you that you have a “virus” and offers to help you remove it. (Some reputable websites did legitimately warn visitors who were infected with the "DNSChanger" malware. That exception to this rule no longer applies.)
    ☞ A web site offers free content such as video or music, but to use it you must install a “codec,” “plug-in,” "player," "downloader," "extractor," or “certificate” that comes from that same site, or an unknown one.
    ☞ You win a prize in a contest you never entered.
    ☞ Someone on a message board such as this one is eager to help you, but only if you download an application of his choosing.
    ☞ A "FREE WI-FI !!!" network advertises itself in a public place such as an airport, but is not provided by the management.
    ☞ Anything online that you would expect to pay for is "free."
    Unexpected events
    ☞ A file is downloaded automatically when you visit a web page, with no other action on your part. Delete any such file without opening it.
    ☞ You open what you think is a document and get an alert that it's "an application downloaded from the Internet." Click Cancel and delete the file. Even if you don't get the alert, you should still delete any file that isn't what you expected it to be.
    ☞ An application does something you don't expect, such as asking for permission to access your contacts, your location, or the Internet for no obvious reason.
    ☞ Software is attached to email that you didn't request, even if it comes (or seems to come) from someone you trust.
    I don't say that leaving the safe harbor just once will necessarily result in disaster, but making a habit of it will weaken your defenses against malware attack. Any of the above scenarios should, at the very least, make you uncomfortable.
    6. Java on the Web (not to be confused with JavaScript, to which it's not related, despite the similarity of the names) is a weak point in the security of any system. Java is, among other things, a platform for running complex applications in a web page, on the client. That was always a bad idea, and Java's developers have proven themselves incapable of implementing it without also creating a portal for malware to enter. Past Java exploits are the closest thing there has ever been to a Windows-style virus affecting OS X. Merely loading a page with malicious Java content could be harmful.
    Fortunately, client-side Java on the Web is obsolete and mostly extinct. Only a few outmoded sites still use it. Try to hasten the process of extinction by avoiding those sites, if you have a choice. Forget about playing games or other non-essential uses of Java.
    Java is not included in OS X 10.7 and later. Discrete Java installers are distributed by Apple and by Oracle (the developer of Java.) Don't use either one unless you need it. Most people don't. If Java is installed, disable it—not JavaScript—in your browsers.
    Regardless of version, experience has shown that Java on the Web can't be trusted. If you must use a Java applet for a task on a specific site, enable Java only for that site in Safari. Never enable Java for a public website that carries third-party advertising. Use it only on well-known, login-protected, secure websites without ads. In Safari 6 or later, you'll see a lock icon in the address bar with the abbreviation "https" when visiting a secure site.
    Stay within the safe harbor, and you’ll be as safe from malware as you can practically be. The rest of this comment concerns what you should not do to protect yourself.
    7. Never install any commercial "anti-virus" (AV) or "Internet security" products for the Mac, as they are all worse than useless. If you need to be able to detect Windows malware in your files, use one of the free security apps in the Mac App Store—nothing else.
    Why shouldn't you use commercial AV products?
    ☞ To recognize malware, the software depends on a database of known threats, which is always at least a day out of date. This technique is a proven failure, as a major AV software vendor has admitted. Most attacks are "zero-day"—that is, previously unknown. Recognition-based AV does not defend against such attacks, and the enterprise IT industry is coming to the realization that traditional AV software is worthless.
    ☞ Its design is predicated on the nonexistent threat that malware may be injected at any time, anywhere in the file system. Malware is downloaded from the network; it doesn't materialize from nowhere. In order to meet that nonexistent threat, commercial AV software modifies or duplicates low-level functions of the operating system, which is a waste of resources and a common cause of instability, bugs, and poor performance.
    ☞ By modifying the operating system, the software may also create weaknesses that could be exploited by malware attackers.
    ☞ Most importantly, a false sense of security is dangerous.
    8. An AV product from the App Store, such as "ClamXav," has the same drawback as the commercial suites of being always out of date, but it does not inject low-level code into the operating system. That doesn't mean it's entirely harmless. It may report email messages that have "phishing" links in the body, or Windows malware in attachments, as infected files, and offer to delete or move them. Doing so will corrupt the Mail database. The messages should be deleted from within the Mail application.
    An AV app is not needed, and cannot be relied upon, for protection against OS X malware. It's useful, if at all, only for detecting Windows malware, and even for that use it's not really effective, because new Windows malware is emerging much faster than OS X malware.
    Windows malware can't harm you directly (unless, of course, you use Windows.) Just don't pass it on to anyone else. A malicious attachment in email is usually easy to recognize by the name alone. An actual example:
    London Terror Moovie.avi [124 spaces] Checked By Norton Antivirus.exe
    You don't need software to tell you that's a Windows trojan. Software may be able to tell you which trojan it is, but who cares? In practice, there's no reason to use recognition software unless an organizational policy requires it. Windows malware is so widespread that you should assume it's in everyemail attachment until proven otherwise. Nevertheless, ClamXav or a similar product from the App Store may serve a purpose if it satisfies an ill-informed network administrator who says you must run some kind of AV application. It's free and it won't handicap the system.
    The ClamXav developer won't try to "upsell" you to a paid version of the product. Other developers may do that. Don't be upsold. For one thing, you should not pay to protect Windows users from the consequences of their choice of computing platform. For another, a paid upgrade from a free app will probably have all the disadvantages mentioned in section 7.
    9. It seems to be a common belief that the built-in Application Firewall acts as a barrier to infection, or prevents malware from functioning. It does neither. It blocks inbound connections to certain network services you're running, such as file sharing. It's disabled by default and you should leave it that way if you're behind a router on a private home or office network. Activate it only when you're on an untrusted network, for instance a public Wi-Fi hotspot, where you don't want to provide services. Disable any services you don't use in the Sharing preference pane. All are disabled by default.
    10. As a Mac user, you don't have to live in fear that your computer may be infected every time you install software, read email, or visit a web page. But neither can you assume that you will always be safe from exploitation, no matter what you do. Navigating the Internet is like walking the streets of a big city. It's as safe or as dangerous as you choose to make it. The greatest harm done by security software is precisely its selling point: it makes people feel safe. They may then feel safe enough to take risks from which the software doesn't protect them. Nothing can lessen the need for safe computing practices.

  • My iMac will not shut down cause it says my mail is open but it is not and i cannot open it from the bottom of the screen don't know what to do

    my imac will not shut down cause it says my mail is open but it is not and i cannot open my mail from the bottom of the screen

    Hi there, go in to the utilites of you applications folder and find "Mail" then go stop processes.
    If you cannot find Mail then open mail up and follow the process as above.
    Thanks an Appple Certified Mac Technician Trainee

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