Aral Balkan

Coming from 22 years of Windows, I don't feel safe without a Virus scanner. So, after switching to a Mac, I went on the hunt for an anti-virus app for OS X and decided to test Intego VirusBarrier X4. (On my Windows installation under Parallels, I use Trend Micro PC-Cillin and it works like a charm.) While downloading it, I thought I'd give Intego Personal Antispam X4 a shot too but ended up not liking either one.

I've still got VirusBarrier installed for the time being (until I get round to trying ClamXav) but I uninstalled Antispam using its own uninstaller. Unfortunately, it didn't uninstall everything and left the Mail plugin behind. Applications that don't fully uninstall themselves really annoy me. This is why I find AppZapper invaluable (it uninstalls an application and any dependencies it may have created.)

Today, I was installing the Attachment scanner plugin for Mail -- a free plug-in by James Eagen that warns you if you mention that you've attached something in the body of your email message and forget to add an attachment -- when it led me to where Intego Personal Antispam had left its orphaned plug-in. It's in a folder called PersonalAntispamForMail.mailbundle in the ~/Library/Mail/Bundles/ folder. Make sure Mail is off and then delete that folder to remove the plug-in.

By the way, James also has a nice article outlining the Mail plug-in API on his blog.

Comments

• [...] Update: The problem was client-side and of my own making with a little help from my friend (and yours) Intego. Uninstalling the Intego Personal Antispam X4 plugin bundle for Mail.app apparently left behind a corrupted mail rule that was moving all received email to the Spam folder. It should be fixed now and I’ve recovered all the messages that were sent to me in the last day or so. [...]

  by Email issues at Aral Balkan on 2006-09-21 20:51:38

• Hi Aral. Have a question, but it is not really related to your article. I wonder the reason you swithed to a Mac. Is it because of Microsoft's forthcoming operating system, Vista? :)

  by ozgur on 2006-09-23 02:19:56

• Hey Ozgur, There are so many reasons. I wrote about it earlier (search for "mac" on this blog.) The biggest reason, though, is that I was really fed up with Windows -- with constantly fighting with my PC and stressing out whenever I shut its lid (is it going to crash?) I honestly haven't been happier since I got this baby. It's completely changed how I use my computer. Things just work. I love it! :)

  by aral on 2006-09-23 16:54:08

• Thank you for tell me how to remove the antispam x4. It left behind an ophan too. Have you found anything that works on limiting the number of spams I receive? I have set up so many filters but they keep on comming. I receive spam on stocks and medical pills the most. Neither I am interested in. Thanks again, Lee Oh yeah, Had a PC and had nothing but problems with system crashed etc.. since I purchased my mac, I have yet to have a system issue. It has been since OS X came out....I thing 5 or 6 years now. Great machines!

  by Lee on 2006-09-30 21:41:52

• Thanks Aral about the info on the plugin. I have Internet Security Barrier X4 Antispam Edition - Single-user license which includes Antispam, VBX4 and NetBarrier. I haven't installed Antispam for one reason or another, now that I have read your blog, I am going to trash it. To date, VBX4 hasn't detected anything in all the scans that it has performed and am wondering why I payed good money for a product that I don't need. Once my 1 year subscription for virus definitions is up, I will uninstall VBX4 and download ClamXav. One product that I like is EasyFind. Whenever I trash an application, I use EasyFind to see if the app has left anything behind and usually they do. It shows where you can find the left over file and even has an option to send the file to trash or destroy it. What's even better is it's free.

  by Bud on 2006-10-08 05:09:42

• Hi Bud. Same experience here with VBX4. I've started using AppZapper to zap apps. Will look into EasyFind too. I keep discovering bits that Antispam has left behind. Just removed some bit the other day (forget where I found it.)

  by aral on 2006-10-08 20:54:12

• Just found this by googling for how to remove anti-spam. Tried AppZapper, it did not remove the mail plugin nor the service that is enabled at login. Anyone removing anti-spam should also remove the anti-spam bundle from /Library/Mail/Bundles and also delete the login item for it under System Preferences - Accounts.

  by Martin on 2007-02-08 16:55:37

• Thanks for the info! I've been getting an annoying pop up every time I open up mac mail saying the antispam plugin had been disabled. Used your trick of trashing the bundle and it worked like a charm! Thanks again! Beefy

  by beefythecaricaturist on 2011-09-17 06:38:42