I have installed McAfee secutiry on my MAC OS X. It is now painfully slow. What can I do?

Question

HELP! My Mac is now painfully slow. Downloading any internet site takes forever. Is it because of the McAfee program I have installed? If so, what can I do? It's driving me insane but I need to have security on my Mac.

Answer 1

Is it because of the McAfee program I have installed?
Very likely. You don't need it and I would delete it and instead use ClamXav.
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. Whilst it is a fairly safe bet that your Mac has NOT been infected by a virus, it may have another security-related problem, but more likely a technical problem unrelated to any malware threat.
You may find this User Tip on Viruses, Trojan Detection and Removal, as well as general Internet Security and Privacy, useful:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2435
The User Tip (which you are welcome to print out and retain for future reference) seeks to offer guidance on the main security threats and how to avoid them.
More useful information can also be found here:
http://www.reedcorner.net/mmg/