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Macintosh users: antivirus software alert
Filed under Technology Alerts
Posted by Technology, September 07, 2005
View all posts for September 2005
This is an alert from Technology at Simmons College.
This information affects
- Mac owners who installed Sophos Anti-Virus from the Disinfect & Protect CD distributed by Technology to all undergraduates, or from the Simmons web site between July 7 and September 6, 2005.
- Macintosh users running the latest Macintosh operating system, called Tiger, or OS X.4, on their own computers. If you purchased a new computer this summer, it is likely you are running OS X.4. To check your version of the Mac OS, go to the Apple menu, and choose About this Mac.
The issue
Computers running OS X.4, with Sophos installed from the old Simmons installers, become disabled if detached from the Internet. The only way to successfully log into such a computer is to either reattach to the Internet, or boot in "safe mode." This is a problem caused by the operating itself. Apple has acknowledged the issue and will address it in the next update, OS X.4.3.
The solution
All Macintosh owners who have installed Sophos should uninstall it and reinstall using the new installer. Instructions and the download are posted after you agree to the Terms of Use on http://my.simmons.edu/antivirus/step1.shtml
To uninstall Sophos
To uninstall, you may first need to boot the computer while holding the shift key down in order to boot into "safe mode." Log in as an administrative user, and uninstall Sophos. To find the uninstaller, navigate through the following folders, starting at the root of your hard drive: Library/Application Support/Sophos Anti-Virus/Remove Sophos Anti-Virus.pkg. Double click on Remove Sophos Anti-Virus.pkg, and restart your computer after the application has finished. If you experience problems, please call the Simmons Help Desk at 617-521-2222.
Keep your machine running clean!
Simmons provides free antivirus software to all faculty, staff, and students, for use on one personally-owned computer. In addition to antivirus software, Technology has just released a Disinfect & Protect web site with free tools to scan your computer and directions for keeping it running clean: http://my.simmons.edu/disinfect-protect