Should I install ClamAV?

Hi! I am new to OS X. Been a Windows user for as long as I can remember. Hope that explains my overwhelming fear about viruses, spywares and etc crawling underneath applications. Been reading lots of ex-Windows users' frustrations in this forum. I have downloaded ClamAV for precautions. Should I install ClamAV? Will it affects MBP's performance adversely? Or perhaps, you guys can suggest a better alternative to ClamAV. Users of ClamAV are more than welcome to voice their views.

BTW, what kind of maintenance MBP needs? Defragmentation of HD? Thanks alot in advance.

 

See this thread: Why is there Anti-Virus software for Mac??

And read this Sticky: Mac Users Guide.

 

I don't think its necessary. Don't worry about antivirus, just turn on the Firewall. As for defragmenting the hard drive, not necessary. Great, huh?

 

I don't bother defragmenting my HDD really - as Sam said it's not really necessary, and there aren't many defragmentors for OSX anyway - just iDefrag really, and it's insanely annoying trying to defrag your internal HDD (i.e. you have to create a boot DVD or mount an alternate start-up volume, etc. etc. etc.)...might be worth doing every few months or so at most.

On the other hand, I do defrag my external hdd now and then - it's full of large several-GB files that change on a daily basis.

It's too bad there isn't a more robust defrag program like Diskeeper Pro Premier for OSX, but then again, there isn't really demand or need for one yet.

 

The only maintenance I really do is calibrate the battery and Repair Permissions after an Update.

Repairing Permissions is easy, just go to Applications --> Utilities --> Disk Utility. Then select your Hard Drive with OSX and click the button that says "Repair Disk Permissions".

You can also download Automator scripts like Maintenance 3.7 that do the maintenance for you.

 

Well, it's never a bad idea per se. I mean, you can't be too safe, I guess. The good thing about ClamAV is that it was originally designed for Linux and other UNIX-based systems, and therefore it doesn't sit in your resources constantly scanning things. It only scans what you tell it to when you tell it to do so.

So basically, I would say it's not really necessary for the operation of YOUR computer. But if you want to install it so that you can scan files that you download before you open to avoid hassle and/or spreading viruses to your Windows-using friends, I think ClamAV is a great choice and shouldn't slow your computer down.

 

I say no to the AV. Security software usually causes more problems than it fixes and on the Mac where there are no viruses in the wild, I think it is unnecessary.

As for defragging, I would say unless you move huge files a lot, like video editing, I would not worry.