Virex 7.5 (#4): .Mac edition pulled? Processor usage; more

Version 7.5 (.Mac edition) pulled? Apple has apparently withdrawn the Virex 7.5 download link from its .Mac pages, instead showing version 7.2.1 as the latest release.

Processor usage We previously noted that Virex's background disk scanning activity caused severe slowdowns in other applications. Now MacFixIt reader Kris Jones reports that Virex's always-running components use a higher chunk of processor capacity then some are comfortable with:

"I previously sent a message regarding Virex 7.5, saying that it was my impression that it was slowing down my computer. I've now used Activity Monitor and found that Vshield, Vshieldcore, and Vshieldcheck combined, were hogging some 44% of my CPU. I have now completely deleted the application."

Conflict with Avid Xpress Pro MacFixIt reader Mark Block reports a conflict between Virex 7.5 and Avid Xpress Pro:

"I just spent several annoying hours trying to track down the source of assorted fatal errors that suddenly cropped up this week with Avid Xpress Pro 4.3.1. Two really bad symptoms: quitting to desktop when clicking Extract (X key) and quitting to desktop when trying to do a title fade.

I"The only thing that had changed between this weekend and earlier in the week when all was well: Virex had been updated to 7.5. A few days ago when I installed Virex 7.5, I turned off EVERY automatic function in its preferences, but I thought it was worth uninstalling the whole shebang for good measure, as a complete wipe of my hard drive would be next on my troubleshooting agenda.

"Thankfully, all is well now without Virex. Just to be clear: I'm quite certain that Virex was the culprit, as I did no further troubleshooting after uninstalling Virex from the Terminal."

More on resolving installation problems As noted last week, the presence of other virus scanning applications or there remnants can cause problems for installation of Virex 7.5.

Now MacFixIt reader Jared Frazin reports that a compressed file component of a previous Virex release also causes impedes installation:

"I also got an error message that I was unable to install virex 7.5 because of another virus program. I did a search and found the Norton missed tasks, but had to reboot into os 9 to delete it because I continually got an error message that the file was "in use" under os 10. After deleting I still could not install virex 7.5 and had to delete the compressed file (not a running application) for the old virex 7.2 installer I kept in my documents folder. Seems strange that virex would not install with even a compressed file of another version. You have to delete all old norton files by doing a find under both norton and Symantec."

Possible resolution for HotSync conflict We previously noted a conflict between Palm HotSync operation and Virex 7.5.

MacFixIt reader Paul notes that the conflict may only occur if Palm Desktop is running while the user attempts a HotSync:

"The error only occurs if Palm Desktop is running when I start my HotSync. If Palm Desktop is not running when I start the HotSync, or if Palm Desktop is running and Virex Active Virus Detection is disabled, HotSync completes without error."

Alternatives David Oshel has a recommendation for an open-source virus scanning replacement:

"Check out ClamXav! It's a very well done GUI front end to the open source Clam AV antivirus engine that now runs on Mac OS X as well as Linux, FreeBSD, etc., courtesy of Mr. Allen.

"Virex (and /usr/local/vscanx) came off my system in microseconds after I saw ClamXav."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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