Etrecheck - I Can't Get Rid Of This On My Mac. Any Ideas Please?

[ladybirder]

I've been clearing out rubbish from my Mac this afternoon and came across EtreCheck which I've never seen before. Tried to delete it but get a message saying I need to close it before I can delete. There is no option to close it! Can't even drag it into the Trash - it stops as soon as I get near.

I don't know what it is, where it came from or how it got onto my computer. Can anyone help please? Thank you.

[Milvus]

Etrecheck is a routine to display system configuration details. Its ok to leave it installed

[ladybirder]

Thank you Milvus. Trouble is it's sat in the middle of my blank screen and I can't get rid of it. There is an oblong box headed EtreCheck and inside the box is is say "Please describe your problem. This will help other people find a solution when they read your report. (optional) "

Under this you have a choice of two buttons to press.

1. Don't allow this dialog again.
2. Start EtreCheck.

[Milvus]

It's used to copy your system config details to a clipboard so you can use the info in a cleanup or troubleshooting as it says. It will do no damage so i would start it and then quit it if it still persists

[ladybirder]

Sorry pressed too soon.

I clicked 1. Nothing happened and I sure don't gonna press 2.

Also of the three traffic light buttons at the top of the oblong window, only the middle Amber one is functional so I can't even press the red button to get rid. I can't even close my computer down because EtreCheck is stopping me because it's open and I have to close it and I can't

Sorry this is so long. I hope you understand it.

[Milvus]

Tricky blighter! Could you try this LB. Go to the Apple logo top left of your display, click and go down to Force Quit. Does it appear in that list? If so select it and click the Force Quit button. If not come back

[Fitzer]

If you've downloaded anything from CNET recently then it was probably included in that (plus some adware), as per Milvus Etrecheck is a perfectly good bit of software but if you didn't mean to install it! I would click the start button and once running go to the Force Quit options from the Apple menu, if it isn't there then fire upp Activity Monitor from Utilities and find it and kill it there. Then you need to find the app itself, if it's in Applications then you can drag to trash, if not try looking in your login startup items in Users from System Preferences

[ladybirder]

Yeah! It worked Milvus. Thank you. BA for you. x

[ladybirder]

Fitzer thank you for your answer. I didn't know I had installed it or how long it's been there. Certainly didn't mean to. When I came across it I tried to drag it into Trash but it wouldn't let me. If it's not doing any harm it can sit there in wherever it is. At least it is closed and off my screen now thanks to Milvus. I've got to do some work now but tomorrow I might have another look and follow your instructions. I'm trying to get rid of everything I don't needs as I only have 17.36gb of space left. Apple advice is not to drop below 15kg.

Thank you both. XX

[Milvus]

LB you say you are having a tidy up. What mac have you got? What size of disc have you?

[ladybirder]

I have an 11" Macbook Air now Milvus. Disc? No disc drive (if that's what you mean).

[Milvus]

LB just working on your reason to clean up. I expect you have 128/257 GB of storage. Whats taking up the space? Programmes take up little space. Do you have big music/photo files?

[Milvus]

256 not 257 :(

[ladybirder]

Milvus, I have 17.38gb free of 59.81gb.

Other 20.7gb
Apps 15.34gb
Photos 4.76gb
Audio 924mb
Movies 711.9mb

[Milvus]

I really wouldn't worry about that LB. Loads of room left. Look again if you are getting below 6/7 GB.

[ladybirder]

OK, I'll do that. Thank you again;-))

[Gromit]

Often, these types of program will not move to the trash, or will not delete.

If it is in your applications folder, copy amd paste its name. Next create a new folder on your desktop and paste the name onto that. Drag that folder to your Applications folder, and ypu will get an alert thatthat name is already in use, Do you want to replace it. Replace it, and the unwanted software is gone.