I've got the greys

[BraveNewMalden]

Hello there.

My iMac is running incredibly slowly, which may just be the way things are with two-year-old Macs, or it could be connected to another thing I've noticed.

When I click on the HD, it shows the normal folders like Applications and Library but also loads of greyed out folders called stuff like .fseventsd and .vol and 'cores'. I suspect I'm not supposed to open them - I'm not even tempted - but I have no idea what they're doing there and if I should be worried.

I called the Apple help people about the slow running and the guy had never heard of this grey folder problem and couldn't suggest a way to fix it. He did suggest reinstalling the OS, which I did, but that didn't get rid of all the greyed out folders (or get my Mac up to speed, come to that).

Have you brighter people got any suggestions? Happy to provide whatever additional info I can, but I can't do coding as I am over a thousand years old.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

This happens sometimes after a macOS update. As always, make sure you have a current Time Machine or other backup of your data.

You can use the Terminal application (located in the Applications > Utilities folder) to issue a command to re-hide these "System" folders.

1. Launch the Terminal application
2. Copy and paste this into the Terminal window and press the Return key:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

3. Restart your Mac

Let me know if that doesn't work,

C

 

[BraveNewMalden]

It did! Thank you! The only grey file left is one called default.profraw and whatever that is, I can live with it.

Thanks again.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries, glad it worked.

The file default.profraw is created by CleanMyMac. It isn't supposed to be hidden. It can be deleted, but will reappear if you run a scan with CleanMyMac.

C

 

[BraveNewMalden]

Hi Cory. 'CleanMyMac' and 'Bitdefender' were two of the programs the Apple help guy said I should get rid of, suggesting they were responsible for slowing the Mac down. Bad advice, do you think?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

No, that's sound advice. There are many third-praty utilities that either do more harm than good, or cause noticeable slow downs. The worst offenders are MacKeeper, and most antivirus apps. I have never recommended CleanMyMac, as it was known to cause all kinds of issues. Lately though, it seems to have turned into a helpful application.

Personally, I have all of my utilities installed on an external drive that I can startup from to run when needed. There really isn't a need for an antivirus on a Mac, but if you want to use one, I suggest ClamXAV. Previously, Apple included it's scanning engine for email services in Mac OS X/macOS Server. It is best to disable all real-time scanning however, and run it manually when needed. The real-time/background scanning is a major cause of slow downs.

Malwarebytes for Mac is one of the best tools out there. It is safe, and really good at identifying and removing malware.

Hope that helps,

C

 

[honestone]

To endorse what Cory said, Malwarebytes and ClamXAV are excellent for dealing with malware, adware, and viruses. For disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, the combination of Onyx and Tech Tool Pro work real well for me. Another excellent one is AppCleaner. That software will find most files/folders, etc. associated with an application that one wants to remove (along of course with the application itself).

Finally, one can do quite a lot of disk cleanup on their own. That always help to keep a Mac running "lean, mean, and clean".

 

[BraveNewMalden]

Thanks. I'll go for the free version of Malwarebytes for now, consider ClamXV when I've finished spending on Christmas and run CleanMyMac from time to time. I'll delete all traces of BitDefender and see how things go.

 

[honestone]

You can actually use ClamXAV in trial mode for 30 days:

https://www.clamxav.com/