Low memory due to VShieldScanner. What is this?

[Mark F]

I'm running Mojave on my iMac and have started getting popup messages that I'm low on memory and should close some programs. Only Safari, Firefox, Parallels and Mail are open. And only a few windows in Safari and Firefox. Parallels uses less than 2GB of RAM. When I ran the Activity Monitor it showed that 18 or my 24 GB of memory is being used by VShieldScanner.

Does anyone know what this is or if I need it? I think it"s part of McAfee but I've been running McAfee for a few months and have not had this issue until the last few days. I'm attaching a screen shot of Activity Monitor. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[chscag]

Yes, it's part of McAfee and runs resident. Remove McAfee as you don't need it since there are no viruses that will infect your Mac. The only thing that McAfee will find are Windows viruses. Besides that, it's a resource hog.

All you really need is to run a malware detection program that can remove malware which there are some for the Mac. We recommend "DetectX".

DetectX

kicking out badware on macOS since 2014

sqwarq.com

Make sure you use the uninstaller provided by McAfee or you will not be able to remove all of it.

 

[Mark F]

Yes, it's part of McAfee and runs resident. Remove McAfee as you don't need it since there are no viruses that will infect your Mac. The only thing that McAfee will find are Windows viruses. Besides that, it's a resource hog.

All you really need is to run a malware detection program that can remove malware which there are some for the Mac. We recommend "DetectX".

DetectX

kicking out badware on macOS since 2014

sqwarq.com

Make sure you use the uninstaller provided by McAfee or you will not be able to remove all of it.

Thanks. I called McAfee tech support, not a pleasant experience, and they think they solved the problem Time will tell.

 

[IWT]

@Mark

Does that mean that you removed McAfee completely? Or did they persuade you to keep it after they "solved the problem"?

Ian

 

[NSMacGuru]

As noted above, there is *no reason* to run an anti-virus app on a Mac.

There are trojans, there are phishing attempts that will try to trick you into clicking nefarious links or opening unsafe attachments. If you and only you are using the computer, can exercise self-control and practice safe computing, the security that you think you're getting from MacAffee is easily outweighed by the improved performance that will come from not having its resident programs constantly active.

Looking at your Activity Monitor screenshot, that Virus Shield Scanner thing has at least six different root-permission apps taking up resources!

As noted above, DetectXswift combined with Malwarebytes (the latter in its free, non-resident, run-it-when-you-feel-like-it mode) are all you currently need.

I see that you're running Windows 10 in Parallels, which is perhaps why you feel the need for security - but if you must run an anti-virus, just install it on the Windows side where it might catch something once in awhile.

 

[Mark F]

I am also running McAfee in Windows through Parallels, you are right.

So far I have not removed McAfee as the tweaks the support rep did appears to have solved the problem.

I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop extensively and so far I really have not seen a degradation in processing speed. And I do take your point about phisihing and understand that I am the most likely weak link in my Mac's security. So the McAfee is there to protect me against making a stupid mistake. Also, I am very concerned with ransomware and key recording software. So I guess my bottom line is that unless McAfee is causing me headaches, which it was, I'll trade some processing speed for peace of mind.

I expect that you guys will disagree, but unless there is a downside that I do not see, I do not see the harm.

I do thank you and appreciate your replies.

 

[NSMacGuru]

Mark, everyone on the internet has an opinion, and you're right to stand your ground - it's your system, and you decide what you're comfortable with. I have to remember to preface my comments with "IMHO"

If you're getting acceptable performance from your setup, who are we to judge? I take your point re: ransomware, etc., which I prefer to address with a good backup strategy and "smart" computing. Hopefully we both make out alright.

Cheers!

 

[Mark F]

Mark, everyone on the internet has an opinion, and you're right to stand your ground - it's your system, and you decide what you're comfortable with. I have to remember to preface my comments with "IMHO"

If you're getting acceptable performance from your setup, who are we to judge? I take your point re: ransomware, etc., which I prefer to address with a good backup strategy and "smart" computing. Hopefully we both make out alright.

Cheers!

and thanks again.

 

[IWT]

So far I have not removed McAfee as the tweaks the support rep did appears to have solved the problem.

Mark, I think that is a grave mistake; but I openly acknowledge that you have an absolute right to do what you think is best.

The McAfee rep would do anything to have you keep it as it's in their interest that you do. As that AV penetrates right down to Root Level, it is pernicious and I suspect that in time, more problems will arise.

And BTW, that AV will not protect you against against your being duped by phishing attacks and certainly not against "your making stupid mistakes" (quote from your post #6)

Good luck. We are always here to help, however

Ian

 

[Mark F]

Ian, it seems like I've missed your main point. I thought that based on the earlier replies that having an AV installed was not necessary and would slow my Mac down. A waste of money. You are saying that having it installed is actually harmful and if I understand you correctly will not protect me against Ransomeware or key logging. If that is right, could you tell me why?

Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

 

[MacInWin]

Let me step in here a bit. Ian is correct in that any always resident virus software will harm the performance of you machine because it is constantly running and is interfering with every data transfer (read/write disk, etc) by forcing a check for viruses. Given that there are NO viruses for the Mac, it will never find anything, so it just wastes CPU cycles and time doing nothing useful. Again, right now there is no ransomeware or key loggers for the Mac that can self install and then hijack your machine. Apple has it set up so that every software install requires an administrator password to authorize the activity, so you will get an opportunity to cancel any install of any malware of that kind. DetectX will look for malware for you for free, doesn't need to be always running and should be run maybe once a month or so, or if you think something is squirrelly. There is also a product that is called VirusBarrier Scanner that you can run to do a deep check for any potential issues. I run that also about once a month or so.

Running an A/V suite on a Mac is a bit like driving your car with the handbrake partially set. You'll move, but not nearly as well as you could and the braking from the handbrake won't do anything to really stop the car when you need to.

 

[IWT]

Ian, it seems like I've missed your main point.

No you didn't miss anything , you and I and the rest agree that AVs in general and McAfee in particular can, and did in your case, cause a major slowdown. I thought you might have uninstalled it, but the McAfee guy tweaked settings and the slowdown has gone as far as I understand things. You decided to keep it.

Fair enough, absolutely fair enough. Your Mac, your choice, always will be.

What I was concerned about was your confidence that the AV would prevent, or mitigate, your "making stupid mistakes". And within that context, you and I can fall foul of professional phishing attacks with cleverly copied and highly realistic dupes of a real site - I know I have. Some of them are very sophisticated. AV will not help, or rarely, because the baddies use fake email addresses that look so like the genuine that they get through.

That's all. And thank you very much for the "Happy Thanksgiving". Coming from an American to a Brit, that is very much appreciated

Ian

 

[Mark F]

Thanks all, especially Ian, Jake and NSMacGuru. I'm convinced, McAfee will be uninstalled.

BTW, I found an intersting article that re-enforces and expands on your explanations. I'm guessing it may be too elementary for you guys but here it is, from MacWorld.UK https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/can-macs-get-viruses-3454926/

Mark

 

[chscag]

@Mark:

The worst place to read about viruses and whether or not you need AV software is from a computer magazine. Keep in mind that all computer mags rely heavily on advertisements and almost never go against what their advertisers are selling.

I stopped my subscription to Macworld several years ago after they did away with their paper copy and went all digital.

MacLife magazine is somewhat better when reporting on these things but they too have to go with their advertisers. The good part about MacLife is that they still publish a paper copy of their mag.

 

[Mark F]

chscag, what you say makes sense of course, but in this particular article the author was basically saying that a Mac does not need AV software. The author did however say that if you want AV software anyway, here is the link to their review of what is in their opinion the best nine packages available. I found it interesting that McAfee is not in their top nine. No matter, as I am uninstalling anyway.

 

[pm-r]

MacLife magazine is somewhat better when reporting on these things but they too have to go with their advertisers. The good part about MacLife is that they still publish a paper copy of their mag.

I still have and receive my monthly copies of MacLife, even though I have not made much of an attempt to read them recently, but unlike the MacWorld monthly magazine, I used to receive. I wonder where MacLife gets all its advertising revenue from as there hardly appeared to be any, at least in comparison to the old MacWorld rag. It was about 40 or 50% advertising it seemed to me!!! But I am guessing it is just hidden better.



- Patrick
=======

 

[chscag]

I wonder where MacLife gets all its advertising revenue from as there hardly appeared to be any, at least in comparison to the old MacWorld rag.

MacLife originates from the UK so I suspect most of it comes from there. They do have a sizeable amount of ads but are a lot less conspicuous than Macworld/PCworld mags are. The same company that publishes MacLife also publishes an iPad and iPhone magazine.