Fixing a powerbook hard drive

I started a discussion about a powerbook that failed to boot, and I had trouble getting my files off it. The archived thread is here
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7169808&
I have been able to recover my files, and was able to reinstall the os, but in testing it failed again. I ran techtools deluxe, which returned almost 4000 errors in the surface scan and didn't give the option to repair.
What can I do here? Can these errors be fixed? Or do I need a new hard drive. I do have a detailed pdf of how to replace the hard drive (quite a handy doc actually, it got given to me by a repair man who fixed my screen) but haven't looked at that yet. I'm hanging for the new macbook, but it'd be great to bring this thing back to life, cause other than, well the hard drive failing, it's still in good nick.
Where can I get a new hard drive?
Responses appreciated!
-Luke

Luke:
I'd love to know where the best place to get drives are. I'm in australia.
I am not familiar with where one would buy the HDDs in Australia. However, I would begin by looking over the available HDDs, and deciding on which one you would like, then we can look for an vendor in Australia. I would not buy a drive on eBay. You need a good sound drive, and not one that has been previously used. If you can get a good price on a brand new HDD from an eBay store then I would consider it.
You need a 2.5" PATA/IDE HDD. Modern drives come in 7200 rpm up to 100 GB in capacity, and 5400 rpm up to 250 GB in capacity. Most manufacturers offer a 3 year warranty on their drives with the exception of Seagate, who offer a 5 year warranty. Here is a list of HDDs from which you can choose. Use the links in the sidebar to screen for size (capacity) and manufacturer.
Once you have found a couple of drives in which you are interested, do a Google search for a source close to you.
cornelius

Similar Messages

My external hard drive will not open and only shows up in Disk Utilities. When I try yo repair it, it give me and error of invalid sibling link. How do I fix my external hard drive?

My external hard drive will not open and only shows up in Disk Utilities. When I try yo repair it, it give me and error of invalid sibling link. How do I fix my external hard drive?

Invalid sibling link may not be fixable by Disk Utility. (Disk Utility is very conservative, and will not attempt repairs that might cause you to lose data.)
It is an indication of serious Directory damage.
that leaves
a) third-party Utilities that will take those risks, or
b) re-initializing the drive (which deletes all your data) and restoring from another backup source.
c) "Copying off whatever files you can salvage" has gone by, and you cannot copy anything off a drive that will not mount. You may be able to use "rescue" programs such as prosoft engineering Data Rescue to copy files to another drive, but that sounds a lot better than its reality. You may get many files, but not get ANY filenames.

Powerbook Hard Drive Data Recovery

A few months back, I bumped the desk that my Powerbook was on pretty hard. The laptop did a bounce, the desktop locked up, and that was it. Whenever I attempt to boot up the drive, it makes god-awful sounds, and the farthest I get is the grey Apple logo - no spinning wheel. Sometimes just a blank grey screen. Seems pretty clear that it's a physical problem, as if the hard drive can't spin. I have no idea what this means for the data - if it could possibly still be in tact and retrievable (no, I don't have it backed up, and yes, I know that's a no-no).
I tried hooking up the Powerbook to my desktop in Firewire target disk mode, but the screen just stayed black after powering on. I tried booting from my DiskWarrior 3.0.3 CD, but it will not look at the hard drive, because it's the boot up drive.
The prospect of a home remedy looks pretty hopeless at this point, but if you know of anything else I can try, please let me know. And if not, I'd appreciate it if you could point me in the direction of a reliable, affordable service company that might be able to assist. Many thanks.
-Vince

if the drive makes noises, problem is likely with the hardware and running utilities may not be able to fix it.
if possible, get a qualified technician to check internal connections or possibly remove the drive and connect it via external enclosure/adapter
DriveSavers is one of the best known recovery providers:
http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/

12" powerbook hard drive weirdness. Little help?

I'm usually pretty good at diagnosing stuff like this, but this one's got me stumped.
Every once in awhile, my powerbook refuses to write to the hard drive. It'll read from the disk just fine (opening documents works) but attempting to save them brings up a dialogue box like "Couldn't Save foo.txt to folder Documents." A restart generally fixes it right up, at least for awhile, before it goes all whacky again. I'm not sure if this is a hardware problem (loose drive ribbon, maybe?) or something weird with my permissions (though verifying them doesn't help).
Anyone ever seen anything like this before? Any advice'd be appreciated.

did you tried to boot from the "first aid" cd (hope you know it) then go to the "disk utilities" and repair your hd. it's quite difference. if it's still not work. please go to check your disk info and see how much space left of your hd. i guest your model may have 40gb or 60gb, but whatever, if there is some space you lost (as like as the total available space is low but your used space is not as high as your hd's total capaciy.) it may be having some bad sectors or clusters damage on your hd.

PowerBook Hard Drive Trouble. And it could be serious

Hi
Yesterday whilst playing Football Manager 2006 my computer locked up. Initially I got the spinning beachball on the game, but then I used expose to get to the desktop and the computer would not respond to any of my mouse clicks (but the beachball had mysteriously disappeared). After I while I forced the computer to shut down (by holding the power button for a few seconds), then rebooted it. It got as far as the Apple logo screen with the twirly thing but that's as far as it got; it would just sit there with the twirly thing twirling.
So I booted the computer off the install DVD and ran Disk Utility. I got the warning "First Aid Failed", giving the cause as "Underlying task reported failure on exit". the info section states "Keys out of order"and "The Volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired."
To get a better idea of things I ran the Apple Hardware Test which the computer passed. I tried to boot the computer again but now it gets to the Apple Logo with the twirly thing and greys out with the "You need to restart your computer" warning, something I'm used to seeing on my old PowerMac but not on my PowerBook.
With this information I attempted to use Target Disk Mode to save some of the data on my hard drive which I haven't backed up (ie most of it. I know, I'm a schmuck). Although the PowerBook displayed the FireWire logo as it should the hard drive did not appear on the other computer. So I shut the PowerBook down again.
Now I've returned to Disk Utility. I've clicked "Repair Disk" and I got the same "First Aid Failed" warning I got when trying to verify. the info window give the following information:
Keys out of order
Rebuilding Catalog B-tree.
The volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired.
Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on 1 volume
1 volume could not be repaired
So this is where I find myself. I've heard good things of an app called DiskWarrior, which can supposedly fix disks that Disk Utility can't... is it worth buying this or is my hard drive comepletey screwed? Or is there anything else I can do? Anything at all?
Thanks in advance.
15" PowerBook G4 1.67GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1 GB RAM; also every Mac I've owned has had 'issues'. My G4 PowerMac is a pain in the arse too

*UPDATE*
Last night I ran DiskWarrior... it took several hours (I left it going through the night) and in the morning woke to dicover that it had in fact recovered most if not all of the data on my hard drive. I clicked replace directory and repaired the hard drive, then used DW's hardware to check if the disk was OK. It was, so I quit DW and rebooted my laptop.
So far so good.
But the laptop still hangs on booting... it gets to the Apple logo with the twirly thing and stays there. It doesn't crash any more. I left it for an hour and a half and it still didn't boot. So I started up from the DiskWarrior CD again and ran a check. It found a couple of new errors, and fixed them. It still won't boot.
I'm guessing that an Archive & Install of OS X would be my next step? If the data on the hard drive is fine but the computer still won't boot, there's gotta be something wrong somewhere.
The major plus is that my data seems to be okay, but maybe the OS has taken a knock.
Let me know your suggestions. Thanks for you help so far.

G4 Powerbook Hard Drive Problem - PLEASE HELP!!

I have a powerbook G4 15 inch alu. It is running OSX version 10.4.11
My system profiler tells me I have a 74.5GB hard drive with 69.34GB used, but I had wiped the HD in September 2008 and reinstalled the OS and few other programmes and files, so this shouldn't be the case at all.
I have found that my the problem is with my Users folder - within Users, my user account (the main account, I have another account setup so my mum can use her iPhone) has 67GB used. But when I go into my user account (clicking through the icons, after double-clicking the MacintoshHD desktop icon), none of the folders within my account run to anwhere near 67GB. Totalled, they come to around 10-15GB at most. There's a good 50GB or so of hard drive that just seems to be missing.
I ran Drive Genius to repair permissions and that eliminated a couple of GB of this 'missing space' but no more than that. How can I go about finding and reaccessing my lost hard drive space?
FWIW - I reinstalled the OS in September because this was my University laptop and the result of 4-5 years use had resulted in loads of unwanted files. I saved the important stuff to discs and then reinstalled because it was much easier (I thought) than trying to find and get rid of all the unwanted stuff.
Please please help. At the moment, the computer is running fine if a little sluggishly (understandable given how much of the hard drive is 'used'), but I had a nasty experience earlier this year with my G5's hard drive crapping ut and really don't want to end up in the same boat with this one. I also need that extra space back so I can use some programmes I can't install or work with as things stand.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this and respond, I don't know enough about computers to have any clue as to how to proceed, so your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

eww - will do and report back.
cornelius - apologies for the ambiguity there. Hope this clears things up a bit:
Users folder = get info says 69.34GB used
Double-click on the Users folder and I get three folders - the shared folder, my mum's account folder, and my account folder. My account is the main/master account.
The shared folder is empty. My mum's account folder has a couple GB used, mine has 66.5GB used.
I double-click on my account folder, and get icons/folders for Desktop, Library, Movies, etc (the usual stuff). When I do Get Info for each of these, the sum of GB used by them is about 10-15GB, nowhere near the 66GB supposedly used.
If it helps any, the File System is Journalled HFS+
S.M.A.R.T. status is verified, and Drive Genius, Disk Warrior, and Disk Utility aren't picking up anything bad other than the corrupted permissions I repaired prior to making this post. Repairing permissions only freed up a few GB more space, still got 50 missing GB to locate and free up. Or start saving for a replacement HD, but if this is a sign of a crash, I'd rather know now so I can plan for that.
Many thanks to both of you for responding so quickly - hopefully this problem is solvable.
It doesn't make sense, there's nothing else which could have used those 'missing' GB. And, as I only reinstalled everything in September I know there's no way the few programmes I've added and 10 or so CDs I've copied onto the G4 could account for the missing 50GB. My HD should have most of its space free - minus the space used by OSX, any OSX updates, and literally a handful of small apps and files.

Can you fix the whirring hard drive noises that are heard on the Classic?

I'm aware that hearing the noises when selecting a playlist or song or browsing is normal, but to be honest, it can be a little irritating. I got my Classic for Christmas, and I have no other issues with it (no white screens, troubles calling up a song, or charging/syncing difficulties - nothing). The noises have been present since I first started using the iPod. Is there any way I can fix the whirring without buying a new hard drive?
Thank you!

You might want to check out these two threads:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5325838?tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5369545?tstart=200
This topic has been discussed ad infinitum and these threads might give you some ideas on dealing with the changes. Also, as stedman1 suggested, be sure to leave Apple your feedback on the matter: http://www.apple.com/feedback/ Good luck!

Can I hook an Powerbook hard drive to an external drive bay?

I'm trying to help a friend out with his Powerbook. For some reason, when he plugs in the power cable to it, it doesn't seem to recognize it. He's tried 3 different cables, so I'm thinking it's the piece in the motherboard.
Now, Mac motherboards are new to me. He has another Mac he's using and he just wants to get the data off of the hard drive. Is there an external bay we can get so we can get that data from his old Powerbook to his new Mac?

The easiest thing would be to put the PB into target disk mode, but it sounds like that isn't going to work with no power and a bad motherboard.
It's about a 30 step process to remove a hard drive from a PB, but once you have it out there's dongles that let you plug in various drives and attach them via USB to a computer.
"Newer Technology Universal 5.25/3.5/2.5" Hard Drive & Optical Drive to USB2 Adapter w/Power. Everything you need to Plug and Play any SATA/ATA/IDE/ATAPI Drive via USB 2.0/1.1 port. Fast, Simple, Plug & Play. GREAT for transferring data, etc. (NWTU2NV2SPATA)" - http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/U2NV2SPATA/

How do I fix my internal hard drive stalling all the time??

Hello,
I have a few hard drives attached to my G5.
2 external and one additional internal.
My issue is with my internal drive. It's a 750 GB drive.
if ever I return to my computer after being away for more than 15 minutes, every time I try to access something on that drive...meaning, I cause it to wake up. It stalls and I get the spinning beach ball forever. till most time I have to force shut down my computer.
So if I happen to be working in any softwares I use and try to open a file in that software that is on that drive ....it stalls. If i'm in my finder and happen to have a window open, 3-4 folders deep into that drive. when I click on a file in that window ....it stalls.
the only time it doesn't, is if I'm in finder and close all the windows and THEN click on that internal hard drives icon then it opens normally.
So it's ONLY when I try to wake the drive up does it stall. never have any issues when I'm just working away normally.
this is my second drive and had something like this going on with the previous drive too. when I was running. OS X 10.2-10.4
so I'm pretty sure it's not the drives that are faulty
Is this a known issue? are there any fixes??
if anyone can help that would be great thank you
internal hard drive info:
Capacity: 698.64 GB
Model: ST3750640AS
Revision: 3.AAK
Serial Number: 5QD*VF
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ata
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Serial-ATA
Bay Name: "B (lower)"
OS9 Drivers: No
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Fatbarbarella 750:
Capacity: 698.51 GB
Available: 289.75 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s3
<Edited by Moderator>

Not a solution, but something to try.
In the Energy Saver preference window, do you have the "Put the hard disk....possible." checked or unchecked?
Try it the opposite of what you have selected now.
Also, do you have the same problem if the energy saver is moved to Never?
 Cheers, Tom

Itunes on both external hard drive and powerbook hard drive.

I currently have itunes running on my powerbook G4, but have about 300 CD's that I want to import but wont fit.
I bought a lacie hard drive with the thought that I could move my itunes application and library onto this external hard drive, import all my CD's.
What I want to do is to be able to open up itunes on the lacie drive and have access to all my music, but be able to disconnect my powerbook and be able to run itunes on it with the current library I have. Essentially keeping both applications and libraries separate from each other. When I install the application on my lacie drive, open it, change the library location under preferences to access the hard drive, import a CD, this CD now appears on the itunes app I open on my powerbook. Is there a way to keep them separate? How do I create my full library on the LaCie Drive, but be able to still maintain a more limited library on my powerbook in an easy way?

Hi donnarose -
My music set up sounds similar to what you are trying to do. I have a 250 GB external drive at home that I connect to when I want to access my entire iTunes library. I have the iTunes app in my applications folder on my powerbook. I kept the original iTunes library file on my powerbook and created a new one for all the music on the external drive. If my external drive is not connected I can ask iTunes to use the library on the powerbook, and when the drive is connected iTunes uses the library there. By holding down the option key when iTunes launches, you are prompted to choose or create a library file.
That's probably not the clearest explanation, but it's working well for me.
Good luck.
Darth

Using a removed G4 Powerbook hard drive with an MBA.

Hi
When my G4 Powerbook finally died I removed (carefully) the hard drive and fitted it into a caddy. Plugging the caddy's USB lead into my new MBA however does not produce any result. Any tips on how I retrieve the files from the old hard drive? Thanks

Thank you both.
I am aware of the radical difference in processors and was never intending to try to boot the Air from the G4 drive, only to recover the files - mainly .doc and Appleworks files with a few photos, tunes and one or two video clips. (Yes, I know I should have backed them up more regularly!)
When I plug the caddy's lead into the Air a red LED on the caddy comes on. Nothing appears on the desktop - I've never been entirely clear what it means to speak of a drrive "mounting". My G4 always had a " Macintosh HD" icon on the desktop, but I've chosen not to have that dispalyed on the MBA.
Disk Utility seems to show two drives but I think they're actually the same - at least in the primitive sense in whiish I use the phrase "hard drive". The top line of the side bar in Disk Utility shows a drive icon and next to it says "121.33 GB Apple SSD" Assuming that SSD means Solid State drive and given the size this must be the Air's own internal drive. (confirmed by the mention of GUID partition table in the description to the lower right of the Disk Utility window. On the line below, but indented as if subsumed under the top line, the same icon appears agian with "Macintosh HD" next to it. However, highlighting that brings up the information that this has a Capacity of 120.47 GB. Since my G4 had a 60GB hard disk I think this second line must also be refering to the internal drive in the MBA.
I know, of course, that the G4's drive may be extinct, though when the Powerbook was trying to start the drive would at least spin!
I'll appreciate any other suggestions you could come up with and in the meantime get back to the retailer I bought the caddy from to see if they can answer the questions canadacam39 raises.
Thanks again

Powerbook Hard Drive Kaput?

Hi GUys.....My PB 12in started really acting funny the other day and then it wouldnt even boot up so I wiped the drive and with about 4 tries finally successfully installed panther....
It took unusually long to load the software...Now its booted up and everything runs really slow...getting spinning wheel of death alot and installing other software is taking way to long. It feels like its really struggling...so yeah sorry about the long explain but would you think its time for another hard drive? thanks for reading
cheers

Hi Jeffro
I wouldn't necessarily say the PowerBook is "trashed" just yet.
Firstly is it still under warranty? If so then it can be repaired under warranty.
If it is out of warranty then you can either get it repaired/replaced (for a hefty fee) or source the component (ie. a motherboard) online and replace it yourself. Both components and replacement instructions can be found at http://www.ifixit.com - but I should warn you that the job is not an easy one for novices. Alternatively you can source the component and get an Apple Authorised Service Provider to do the replacement.
Whatever you intend to do it is worth getting the PB checked professionally first and have the problem confirmed.
15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, PPC Mac minis, 12" iBooks G3/G4, Mac OS X (10.4.5) Cube, TAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Powerbook hard drive has 384 bad blocks -- replace?

I just ran techtool pro on my powerbook and it found a bunch of bad blocks. I read that if you have more than 5 bad blocks you should repair or replace the drive. But when I ran disk utility to repair it I got a message that the drive appears to be fine. The question is this; do I really need to buy a new drive?

When you go into disk utility, does the SMART status say failing? If so, replace the drive now. If you don't have it, you might want to install SMARTReporter which puts in icon on the menu bar which indicates the SMART status. It's available at http://www.corecode.at/smartreporter/
You should be making frequent backups and use TechTool to examine the drive on a regular basis. If the count increases, get a new drive.
One thing you can do is to erase your hard drive, using the security erase feature which writes zero's on the hard drive. This also maps out the bad sectors so the system won't try and use them.

My fix for missing hard drive...

Hi all,
Recently my hard drive turned "invisible" or simply disappeared. I tried EVERYTHING under the sun until i remembered that i had a spotlight comment. Deleting that fixed it. I only post this as a question because i want to see how many people are helped by it.
Thanks
Kevin

FWIW, top rated user in this forum Francine Schwieder has written extensively about this issue, both in Discussions posts like external hard drive icons missing on desktop and sidebar & on her web site in the http://www.pinkmutant.com/articles/invisible.html page.
She provides additional steps to remedy the problem when just removing the Spotlight comment doesn't do it, which is frequently the case with Leopard.

Flash player installer indicates installation on Mac Powerbook Hard drive is impossible?

I am running Mac OS 10.8.5 on a Mac Powerbook, with FireFox 25.0.1 (also Safari, with similar results). I have turned off virus protection and firewall. Following directions after my first installation failure, I did a uninstall of the older version of flash player that I was using. No matter what I do (reboot, use Safari instead of Firefox, etc.), the auto-install progresses to "installing flash player preferences" and the action bar runs to 50%, then triggers an error message. When using the Flash Player Install App that asks where to install flash player, it tells me that installation is possible on my hard drive. What do I do next?

Regarding Anti Virus software on a Mac:
DON’T PANIC! But be aware that the Internet is riddled with potential threats to the security and well-being of your Mac or iOS device. No computer system is completely immune from possible attack, but Apple’s OS X (being Unix-based) is less vulnerable than most, particularly the latest versions - Lion and Mountain Lion. The following seeks to offer some guidance on the main security threats and how to avoid them. If you have further questions please post in the forum appropriate to your particular hardware or operating system.
There are many forms of ‘Malware’ that can affect a computer system, of which ‘a virus’ is but one type, ‘trojans’ another. Using the strict definition of a computer virus, no viruses that can attack OS X have so far been detected 'in the wild', i.e. in anything other than laboratory conditions. The same is not true of other forms of malware, such as Trojans. (The expression ‘malware’ is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software. Not all malware are viruses.) Whilst it is a fairly safe bet that your Mac will NOT be infected by a virus, it may have other security-related problem, but more likely a technical problem unrelated to any malware threat.
Since the introduction of Snow Leopard, Apple OS X has an anti-malware system built-in known as XProtect but officially called File Quarantine (see here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3662 ), which may alert you to, and prevent installation of, certain forms of malware. Later versions of OS X include further features to protect you, about which here: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11432 and Apple also recommend that you take simple steps to protect your Mac as detailed here: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10580
So what other anti-virus software do I need (or if I am still running Tiger or Leopard) ?
Whilst viruses designed to attack the Microsoft Windows operating system cannot affect Apple OS X, it is possible to pass on a Windows virus, which you may have received but not noticed, to a Windows user, for example through an email attachment. Many use the free ClamXav just to check incoming emails for this reason. However, extensive testing in the Fall of 2013 showed that ClamXav is falling behind in terms of malware detection, and our resident expert Thomas A Reed now recommends either VirusBarrier Express or Dr. Web Light, both from the App Store. They're both free, and since they're from Apple’s App Store, they can't destabilize the system. Thomas’s excellent guidance on this subject can be read here: www.thesafemac.com/mmg
Many users also like the free application Sophos (although a few have mentioned that it can slow your system down):
http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-ed ition.aspx
Do not install Norton Anti-Virus on a Mac as it can seriously damage your operating system. Norton Anti-Virus is not compatible with Apple OS X.
Do not install MacKeeper or iAnti-Virus: See this User Tip: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3022
FAKE ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE and associated MALWARE (To repeat: the expression ‘malware’ is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software.)
Do not be tricked by 'scareware', such as pop-ups on your browser, that tempts computer users to download fake anti-virus software that may itself be malware.
Once installed, the software may steal data or force people to make a payment to register the fake product. Examples include MacKeeper and iAntivirus, but there are others. Also, beware of MacSweeper and MACDefender* (also goes under the name of MacProtector, MacGuard, MacSecurity or MacShield): These are malware that mislead users by exaggerating reports about spyware, adware or viruses on their computer in an attempt to obtain payment for an application that does nothing that free utilities do not also offer, and in many cases will also mess up your system.
*Malicious software dubbed MACDefender takes aim at users of the Mac OS X operating system by automatically downloading a file through JavaScript. But users must also agree to install the software, leaving the potential threat limited.
*(This malware is not to be confused with MacDefender, the maker of geocaching software including GCStatistic and DTmatrix. The company noted on its site it is not affiliated with the malware.)
Malware spreads through search engines like Google via a method known as "SEO poisoning." The sites are designed to game search engine algorithms and show up when users search for certain topics. It is always a good idea to Block Pop-ups in your browser preferences.
TROJANS and RE-DIRECTION TO FAKE WEBSITES
The appearance of Trojans and other malware that can possibly infect a Mac seems to be growing, but is a completely different issue to viruses.
If you allow a Trojan to be installed, the user's DNS records can be modified, redirecting incoming internet traffic through the attacker's servers, where it can be hijacked and injected with malicious websites and pornographic advertisements. The trojan also installs a watchdog process that ensures the victim's (that's you!) DNS records stay modified on a minute-by-minute basis.
Mac users should always obtain their copy of Adobe Flash Player directly from Adobe’s official website and to disable the "Open 'safe' files after downloading" option in Safari Preferences/General to avoid automatically running files downloaded from the Internet. Also, do not turn on Java in Safari Preferences/Security. Few websites use Java. Javascript is something entirely different and should be left active.
(Adobe is aware of malware posing as its Flash Player and warns users to ignore any updates that didn't originate on its own servers. "Do not download Flash Player from a site other than adobe.com," said David Lenoe, Adobe's product security program manager, in an entry on Adobe Product Security Incident Response Team's PSIRT blog. "This goes for any piece of software (Reader, Windows Media Player, QuickTime, etc). If you get a notice to update, it's not a bad idea to go directly to the site of the software vendor and download the update directly from the source. If the download is from an unfamiliar URL or an IP address, you should be suspicious.")
Last, but by no means least, using Open DNS is the simplest way of preventing infection in the first place. Open DNS also protects against phishing attacks, re-directs, speeds up your internet connection, and works for all users of OS X from Tiger upwards:
http://blog.opendns.com/2012/04/09/worried-about-mac-malware-just-set-up-opendns /
How to get it:
http://www.opendns.com/home-solutions
Java can present serious security threats: Users with Intel Macs running Snow Leopard OS 10.6, Lion OS 10.7 or Mountain Lion should ensure that they have downloaded and installed all the recent Java updates from Apple, which are designed to prevent infection and also remove any infection already present.
New Macs running Lion or Mountain Lion do not have either Flash Player nor Java installed.
+++ OTHER ISSUES +++
HOW TO AVOID RE-DIRECTION
Adding Open DNS codes to your Network Preferences should give good results in terms of added security (phishing attacks, re-direction etc) as well as speed-up of your internet connection:
Open System Preferences/Network. Double click on your connection type, or select it in the drop-down menu, and in the box marked 'DNS Servers' add the following two numbers:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
(You can also enter them if you click on Advanced and then DNS)
Sometimes reversing the order of the DNS numbers can be beneficial in cases where there is a long delay before web pages start to load, and then suddenly load at normal speed:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2296
There may be other ways of guarding against Trojans, viruses and general malware affecting the Mac, and alternatives will probably appear in the future. In the meantime the advice is: be careful where you go on the web and what you download!
GENERAL ADVICE ON HOW TO AVOID INFECTION IN THE FIRST PLACE:
1. Avoid going to suspect and untrusted Web sites, especially p'orn'ography sites.
2. Check out what you are downloading. Mac OS X asks you for you administrator password to install applications for a reason! Only download media and applications from well-known and trusted Web sites, i.e. the developers’ own web sites or the Apple App Store. If you think you may have downloaded suspicious files, read the installer packages and make sure they are legit. If you cannot determine if the program you downloaded is infected, do a quick Internet search and see if any other users reported issues after installing a particular program.
3. Use an antivirus program like ClamXav. If you are in the habit of downloading a lot of media and other files, it may be well worth your while to run those files through an AV application.
4. Use Mac OS X's built-in Firewalls and other security features.
5. Avoid Peer-to-peer sharing applications. Download torrents (such as the now defunct LimeWire) supplying pirated software, movies etc are hotbeds of potential software issues waiting to happen to your Mac. Everything from changing permissions to downloading trojans and other malicious software can be acquired from using these applications. Similar risks may apply to using Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and similar sites which are prone to malicious hacking: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8420233.stm
It has been estimated that one in six links posted on Facebook pages are connected to malicious software.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12967254
6. Check for security updates from Apple using Software Update and install them!
YOUR PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET and the latest risks to look out for:
There is the potential for having your entire email contact list stolen for use for spamming:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/technology/internet/20shortcuts.html?_r=1
And if you are using iPhone Apps you are also at risk of losing all privacy:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/03/hacker-claims-third-party-iphone-apps-can-tra nsmit-udid-pose-se/
The advent of HTML5 may also be a future threat to internet privacy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/business/media/11privacy.html?_r=1&hp
NOTE: Apple's Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion operating systems silently update the malware protection built into Mac OS X to protect against a backdoor Trojan Horse that can allow hackers to gain remote control over your treasured iMac or MacBook.
+++++ MORE POTENTIAL ISSUES +++++
PHISHING AND POTENTIAL IDENTITY THEFT:
"Phishing" (also known as "carding" or "spoofing") refers to email that attempts to fraudulently acquire personal information from you, such as your account password or credit card information. On the surface, the email may appear to be from a legitimate company or individual, but it's not.
As a general rule, never send credit card information, account passwords, or extensive personal information in an email unless you verify that the recipient is who they claim to be. Many companies have policies that state they will never solicit such information from customers by email, and that includes your bank, credit card company, and Apple.
If you do receive email that you're not sure is valid, here are some tips that can help you determine its legitimacy:
Learn how to identify fraudulent "phishing" email:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4933?viewlocale=en_US
How to report phishing scams to Apple:
via email to: [email protected]
If you discover that emails are being received by your entire address list which you didn’t send, it is possible that you have been infected by a Botnet. Simply put, a bot – which is short for robot – is an automated computer program that allows outside sources to control computers remotely without the users' knowledge. A botnet is a network of hundreds or thousands of computers infected with botnet malware that communicates covertly with a command-and-control (CnC) server run by a type of cybercriminal called a botmaster. Unbeknownst to the individual users, their computers are linked in a rogue network which the botmaster can utilize for a variety of nefarious purposes.
Detailed information here:
http://mac-internet-security-software-review.toptenreviews.com/how-do-i-know-if- my-computer-is-a-botnet-zombie-.html
HOW SAFE IS YOUR SMARTPHONE?
Another source of malware, apart from sites like Facebook and Hotmail, is the Android Marketplace: more than 99% of Android phones are potentially leaking data that, if stolen, could be used to get the information they store online.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13422308
The data being leaked is typically used to get at web-based services such as Google Calendar.
The open nature of the Android platform is both a boon and a danger, and as Facebook have already discovered it is also a very attractive criminal playground.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12633923
Several pieces of malware have also been found on iPhones, however only devices that had been "jailbroken" to bypass Apple's security were affected.
The company's process of pre-vetting all new applications is believed to have spared its devices from a major attack.
Additional reading:
"Antivirus Software On Your Mac: Yes or No?"
http://gigaom.com/apple/antivirus-software-on-your-mac-yes-or-no/
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: BE GLAD YOU HAVE A MAC!
Some Windows PCs can be infected with viruses during the manufacturing process in the factories - in other words they can actually be purchased with viruses bundled with the operating system!
Several new computers have been found carrying malware installed in the factory, suggests a Microsoft study.
One virus called Nitol found by Microsoft steals personal details to help criminals plunder online bank accounts.
Microsoft won permission from a US court to tackle the network of hijacked PCs made from Nitol-infected computers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19585433
This does not happen with Apple computers!

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