Menu Bar Question

S

steiney

Registered
Hi All,

I just installed Symantec Anti-Virus and it automatically puts an ugly icon in the menu bar. I already have a few things up there that i like/need and don't want the symantec button, but symantec doesn't give me the option to not display the button in the menu bar.

I would like to know if there is a way to override this? I would really appreciate being able to get rid of that little button.

Thank you,

Zach
 
The best and smartest way to get rid of that "ugly" icon is to remove Symantec Antivirus, plus while you are at it, uninstall any other Symantec products from your Mac computer.
You do not need Symantec Antivirus or any other Antivirus software on your OS X system.
 
To clarify, my question is: how do I make it so that the software is installed and working as normal, but there is no icon displayed in the menu bar?

Thanks

jbarley, sometimes windows viruses can get onto your hard disk or removable disks, and even though they don't affect you, they affect your friends with PCs. I currently have ClamXav, but I am not sure that it's database contain the windows virus definitions as well as the Mac ones. I know that Symantec has all known virus definitions. Also, the copy of the software was free from my school, so I don't see why I shouldn't have it on there.
 
I'm well aware of all the very rare possibilities, if on the very slim chance what you suggest does maybe occur, it is your friends who should be worried about AntiVirus software.
And just because something is "free", does not make it a wise choice.
 
Hi,

I'm still looking for an answer to my question:

How do I make it so that the software is installed and working as normal, but there is no icon displayed in the menu bar?

---------

jbarley, I would sure hate to be one of your friends.

jbarleys friend: hey, i think something on that flash drive you gave me had a virus that infected my computer.

jbarley: hey, that's your problem.

jbarley's friend: oh jbarley, you're such a good friend, always concerned with the welfare of others, especially those close to you.

---------

Also, I don't remember ever saying that because something is free, it is a good choice. You just put those words in my mouth.
 
Hold down the command button on your keyboard, and click-drag the icon out of the menubar.

I'm with jbarley, though -- get rid of any and all Symantec-branded products on your Mac. They're useless. Besides, it's impossible to give someone a Mac virus, because they do not exist. At all. Period.

Sure, you can pass on a Windows virus, but that would be the Windows user's responsibility to protect themselves... kind of like driving a car: I'm too busy driving my own car to worry about how you're driving, or, conversely, worry about your own driving instead of telling me how to drive my own car.

It's not my responsibility to protect your computer, but I'd be glad to tell you how to protect your computer.
 
ElDiableConCaca, the command key trick did not work. Thank you for attempting to help me though. I appreciate it.

So, besides Symantec being "useless" and not caring about your friends, are there any detrimental effects that Symantec could cause?
 
Symantec has a long track record of incompatibilities with Mac OS X. The brand-name has suffered since then. While their current AntiVirus software may be all well and good, I won't put my trust in them with any of their Mac OS X software.

I care about my friends... deeply, but sometimes tough love is the way to go, though. Besides, what files would I be working with that would be infected with a virus that I could possibly pass on to a friend?

I'm not sure why command-dragging the icon out of the menubar won't work... it typically works for the icons up there. Can you try doing it with an Apple icon, perhaps the Time Machine, iSync, Spaces, VPN, Clock, or Battery menubar to ensure that you're doing it correctly? If it works with those icons, then perhaps Symantec's icon is just being stubborn... there may not be a way to remove it, although I'll keep digging.
 
ElDiabloConCaca, thanks again for your reply. I certainly didn't mean to imply that you personally don't care about your friends. I was just trying to make a point. :)

As for the command-drag thing, it sounds like you're on Leopard and I'm on Tiger. In my copy of Tiger, the apple icon is not movable via that method, nor are any of the 3rd party items, but all of the Apple stuff is movable. Thanks for that tip.

The reason I decided to install Symantec in the first place was that I was at school, using a windows PC, and when I inserted my flash drive (windows formatted), the schools anti-virus popped saying I couldn't use that flash drive because it was infected with a worm called "W32.SillyFDC". Upon researching, I found that the worm does not affect/harm my Mac, but it can copy itself from that flash drive to other removable media, and if it got onto a windows computer, it would copy itself a bunch and possibly download malicious applications.

This worries me specifically, because I have been thinking about getting either VMWare Fusion or Parallels so I can run Microsoft Access as well as have a better chance at getting a PS2 emulator working on my Mac.

What anti-virus would you recommend for a regular Mac, though? I also have ClamXav, and it seems to have worked fine. I just don't think that it contains windows virus definitions, which is what I was looking for.

Thanks again, ElDiabloConCaca!
 
steiney,
let's see if I've got this right,

You post here looking for help with a problem,
You get the best possible solution to your problem from others who have been dealing with Mac computers and associated problems for more years then you are old, which you choose to argue about because it is not want you wanted to hear.
Does that pretty much sum it up?

If you are not willing to follow good advice, then why did you ask?
 
steiney said:
What anti-virus would you recommend for a regular Mac, though? I also have ClamXav, and it seems to have worked fine. I just don't think that it contains windows virus definitions, which is what I was looking for.
Click to expand...

ClamXav works fine, but it has a couple of drawbacks (or advantages, however you choose to look at it) vs. Symantec:

1) It does not contain any virus definitions for Mac OS X -- it only contains virus definitions for Windows viruses/trojans/etc.
2) It does not do "real-time" scanning -- meaning, if you want to catch a virus on your system, you must run a manual virus scan (or schedule a scan).

These were both true the last time I checked it out. It's been updated since I've last looked at it, but I believe both of these to be factual.
 
Oh, ok. Thanks. I'm surprised to learn that about ClamXav. I always thought it was the other way around. I find the real-time scanning annoying when it slows things down. Anyway, thanks for your help.
 
yeah, after reviewing the posts, it sure seems like you're making every effort to be polite. (intense sarcasm).
 
Reviewing the posts = good idea.

Notice the polite advice given in the beginning, that which still stands and is supported by others, and at about post #5 the thread starts to go off the rails...
Also note the author of post #5, the one doing the de-railing.
 
steiney said:
I find the real-time scanning annoying when it slows things down.
Click to expand...

Let me clarify exactly what I meant here:

ClamXav will not protect you the instant you get a Windows virus. It will not detect any viruses until a scan is run.

Typically, anti-virus software runs constantly in the background, scanning every file you download, use and touch. It does all this transparently, by having low-level "hooks" into the operating system.

As I understand it, ClamXav does not do this, at least under OS X. With Symantec Antivirus, if you happen to download a file with a Windows virus in it, Symantec Antivirus will let you know immediately.

With ClamXav under the same situation, you would not be notified until you launched ClamXav, then specifically scanned the file for viruses.

It's kind of like Symantec will warn you what files have viruses immediately, without you asking, but with ClamXav, you have to specifically ask, "Does this file contain a virus? Howabout this one? Does this one? And this one over here?"
 
steiney said:
Hi,

I'm still looking for an answer to my question:

How do I make it so that the software is installed and working as normal, but there is no icon displayed in the menu bar?

---------

jbarley, I would sure hate to be one of your friends.

jbarleys friend: hey, i think something on that flash drive you gave me had a virus that infected my computer.

jbarley: hey, that's your problem.

jbarley's friend: oh jbarley, you're such a good friend, always concerned with the welfare of others, especially those close to you.

---------

Also, I don't remember ever saying that because something is free, it is a good choice. You just put those words in my mouth.
Click to expand...

Why come on and slam people who are a thousand times more knowledgeable and are really just trying to help by suggesting you just not bother with it? No one here is trying to be a smart a#* by suggesting no to bother with it and uninstall it. And this is just a FREE help forum for you to benefit from so an attitude towards members making suggestions to you will get you no where.
 
Hmm, it sounds like there might be a good purpose for having it then. I like the idea of having everything scanned when it comes in or gets modified. I just turned it off because I was afraid it would slow things down.
 
It will slow things down. Any running process, however small, will slow things down.

How much it slows things down could be minimal -- even imperceptible. I have heard about people successfully and happily running Symantec AV... other stories are horror stories about Symantec AV sucking up CPU cycles and bringing the system to its knees.

At this point, I'm ready to say that if it's working for you, and you keep the virus definitions up-to-date, and you want to protect other, non-Mac users from viruses possibly passed through you, to simply keep using it. It gives you peace of mind, it seems to be working well, and it seems to not be causing any problems.
 
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