Uninstalling Virex 7.5 beta

We've previously covered a number of issues with the beta version of Virex 7.5. Yesterday we noted reports from users who have had trouble uninstalling the beta. We've since received a number of helpful responses from MacFixIt readers. Ivan Ivancin provided the most thorough instructions:

Restart your Mac, holding down the shift key, then remove the following files:

• /Library/StartupItems/Virex
• /Library/Application Support/Virex
• /Library/Documentation/Help/VirexHelp.help
• /Library/Frameworks/MacScanner.framework
• /Library/Receipts/Virex 7.5.pkg
• /usr/local/vscanx
• /Library/Preferences/com.nai.virex75.eupdate.plist
• /Library/Preferences/com.nai.virex75.prefs.plist
• /Library/CFMSupport/StuffItEngineShell.cfm (modified by Virex)
• /Library/Frameworks/StuffIt.framework (modified by Virex)

Afterwards, you should reinstall StuffIt.

Restarting with the shift key pressed ensures that the Virex background processes are not running and therefore allows you to delete all of the above files. It is necessary to then reinstall StuffIt since you removed the StuffIt components modified by Virex 7.5b1. You should then restart your Mac normally.

Alternatively, Daniel Staal recommends the utility DesInstaller; like Ivan, Daniel notes that you should then re-install StuffIt:

"DesInstaller can uninstall the Virex beta using the package list created at install. Works great. One note: Virex apparently updates some Stuffit components (presumably to allow better scanning of compressed files) and they are also deleted by DesInstaller. A re-install of Stuffit quickly fixes this."

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