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StuffIt 12 conflicts with Norton AntiVirus
Update: We've now received the following note from Smith Micro regarding this issue:
"This problem was brought to our attention this morning and our engineers are already working on fixing the problem. As soon as we have a fix for the problem, it will be made available to customers, but there is currently no information on when it will be available.
"If you have an earlier version of StuffIt, I might recommend that you uninstall StuffIt Deluxe 12 and revert back to the older version, for the time-being. I don't recall any issue like this occuring when StuffIt 11 was released."
As mentioned below, you might want to consider leaving StuffIt Deluxe 12 uninstalled altogether and leaving only StuffIt Expander intact.
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Following the recent release of StuffIt 12, we've received several notes from readers observing that installing StuffIt affects Norton AntiVirus.
William writes:
I just installed Stuffit 12.0 and on restart I get the following re NAV - "Norton AV auto-protect could not load the scan engine - run live update (code 6)". I tried the update but it says I'm up to date.
I have had no problems with NAV prior to the installation of Stuffit 12.0. I re-installed NAV 10.0 and let it get the updates (18 megs) and on restart I still have the same problem.
I also disabled the Antivirus check in Stuffit and still same problem.
John says (in almost identical terms):
I just installed the full Stuffit 12.0 and now after rebooting Norton Antivirus Auto-Protect will not start with a Code 6. No workaround so far.
It's deja vu all over again. Something quite similar happened about a year and a half ago, following the release of StuffIt Expander 10.0.2. We reported at that time that Allume Systems, who were the developers of StuffIt in those days, explained this as due to a faulty installer. Apparently the installer for this version of StuffIt was deleting the contents of /Library/Frameworks/Stuffit.framework and /Library/Frameworks/StuffitSupport.framework, and other applications that rely on these frameworks to do their work were therefore stymied. And evidently Norton AntiVirus is such an application, possibly because it looks inside StuffIt archives to search for virus-infected files.
If that's the cause of the problem in this case as well, then possibly it could be solved simply by deleting those frameworks. If there are no StuffIt framework folders at all, Norton AntiVirus should presumably just shrug its shoulders and say to itself, "Okay, this user doesn't have StuffIt, so I won't be able to look inside StuffIt archives, and that's that." Whereas, if the StuffIt framework folders are present but empty, this would confuse Norton AntiVirus, which would try to load the frameworks and would fail. That's just a theory, but it's worth a go, until more information from Smith Micro (current StuffIt developers) is forthcoming.
Of course, at the same time we here at MacFixIt are left scratching our heads over the continued relevance of both these utilities in light of the troubleshooting issues they've caused. Having StuffIt 12 disable Norton AntiVirus seems a little like you can't get to work because your mammoth killed your mastodon. Dude, take the car! Mac OS X includes great compression methods, including File > Create Archive available directly in the Finder, and the StuffIt contextual menu has been repeatedly linked to Finder crashes. To check files for viruses (unlikely in the first place), you can use the free and non-intrusive ClamXav; Norton AntiVirus, on the other hand, has been a notorious cause of application crashes and conflicts over the years. Of these two outmoded utilities, the most you could possibly need would be the freeware StuffIt Expander, just in case some email attachment or download turns out to be stuffed with it; and in that case you should also be writing to the sender or developer asking them to stop using StuffIt. We all remember with nostalgia and gratitude the System 6 days when disk storage was tiny, downloading was slow, and StuffIt was the standard utility; and surely StuffIt should get some sort of Zombie award for managing to outlive by several years the reports of its death. But this is 2007, not 1987.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Resources
There's Intego VirusBarrier X4.
As the original article said there is ClamXav which I use in conjunction with Norton. Norton is not fast but reliable. ClamXav Sentry which is the realtime file scanner for ClamXav crashes about once a week for me for some strange reason. I sent Mark Allan, which is the developer for ClamXav, some information about this and this issue is known by him but it will take awhile to fix. Here is ClamXav page about Known issues & FAQ in the ClamXav forum:
http://www.markallan.co.uk/BB/viewtopic.php?t=779
Intego Virus Barrier, McAfee VirusScan and Sophos Anti-Virus are other options for scanning viruses but I personally haven't tried them. Here is a good website showing the currently available Mac OS X anti-virus applications:
http://www.pure-mac.com/virus.html
On the original topic about Stuffit 12 and Norton AV conflict which is strange. I used to QA software and I remember we needed to test for conflicts with all retail software. This took some time since we tested this in a certain matrices In this case Smith Micro QA people never tested or cared to test for conflict with other software which leads me to worry about the QA process at Smith Micro. IMHO they want to get software out of the door without fully testing it so they get a quick the return on their development expenses.
Most users will probably never need Stuffit Deluxe but there are some who cannot live without it. The only reason to have Nortons around is to catch infected Word Macro files. OpenOffice fixes that need quickly! No Microsoft, no need for Nortons!
Regardless of whether you believe NAV is worth running, you should not advise to take actions that may violate rules set in place by system and network administrators (even if this policy is admittedly PC-driven). For example, here is the policy at a major university:
"Do I need Symantec AntiVirus and Firewall software?
Everyone connecting to the campus network must have up-to-date antivirus software and operating system security updates. These free Symantec products will help you meet those requirements.
Symantec AntiVirus software is free, and includes free updates for as long as you are affiliated with the university. You must run up-to-date antivirus software on all computers connecting to the campus network.
The firewalls included with Windows XP and Mac OS X provide sufficient security for most users. However, if your computer is not running Windows XP or Mac OS X, or you would like a more advanced firewall, the Symantec/Norton Firewall is also available for free."
Users should carefully consult their local corporate or university system/network administrators before attempting to remove NAV.
Anyway:
Norton = Useless ( If you want to scan for Mac (haha) & Windows viruses, there's free ClamAV)
Stuffit = Pretty Much Useless (Use OS X's built-in in zip archiver dummy) When I get Stuffit files it's like getting email from someone using AOL... you immediately know that they didn't do some proper research in some years time.
That's what I thought until today. At work we dug out an old zip file of some audio files that we needed. I tried to open them on a PC (what I have on my desk) & it said they were corrupted. But when I tired to open them on the Mac FCP station that created them via OSX's archive command... opened fine!
I was instructed to use Stuffit's zip program so that they would be cross platform in the future.
Anyone know if that holds true for others?
First try making a new zip archive with the Finder, and testing that on the Windows side. Finder (really the underlying command) has gotten better over the versions, and you did say "...an old zip...".
Only issues I've had using the built-in Finder zip is that it includes the hidden dot files that then confuse Windows users. I'm still using Dropstuff to create zips for this reason.
I'll give it a try. Thanks!
I just tried DropZip as I was suggested to do & that didn't work either! & I burned it in toast to try to make sure it would be cross platform (not that finder burning isn't...)
Well I tried to create a new archive on our up to date 10.4.10 machine & it still didn't work. I guess it's just a buggy file. Here's not the place to discuss how to fix it.
At least I was able to unzip the files on the mac & bring them to the PC one by one & do it that way! Better than nothing...
I too had issues could not unzip a Mac zip, then nor could Stuffit... though the only one that could was... 'The Unarchiver' and it is FREE... FREE
People using Stuffit Deluxe are dealing with much bigger and critical archives than OS X built in ZIP can handle.
Stuffit 10, 11, 12 seems to conflict with past users... myself stayed on 9... hardly used at all, will leave off once Leopard is clean installed!... oh yeh bring on the Leopard!
That's what I thought until today. At work we dug out an old zip file of some audio files that we needed. I tried to open them on a PC (what I have on my desk) & it said they were corrupted. But when I tired to open them on the Mac FCP station that created them via OSX's archive command... opened fine!
I was instructed to use Stuffit's zip program so that they would be cross platform in the future.
Anyone know if that holds true for others?
oops! meant to post this in the topic above. Sorry.
I've been a StuffIt user for several decades, having bought my first copy of StuffIt on an 800K disk directly from Ray Lau way back in the 80's. I understand the sentiments of those who feel the value of products such as NAV and StuffIt Deluxe have diminished for them in recent years.
Improvements to the MacOS and the arrival of other contenders on the antivirus front have been a big plus for Mac users. For me, though, StuffIt Deluxe still has value because of its support for many different formats and platforms, including older ones and some we use on Unix servers where I work. I support Macs and maintain some file archives that date back to the days when the Compact Pro format was briefly a popular alternative to StuffIt. Having StuffIt Deluxe on my "utility belt" is like having "Swiss army knife" versatility. I use it daily.
I'm also one of those diehards with thousands of documents created over several decades, so I still find Dataviz's MacLinkPlus worth keeping around, too. (I can hear the gasps now!) I may be in the minority, but I do appreciate these companies for continuing to support their Mac products and am one of those who will continue to buy their version upgrades as long as the products remain useful for my particular support needs.
For those who can get by without them, my hat's off to you, and I aplaud Apple for building the .zip support into the MacOSX. I certainly use it myself, too!
Walter
- by billboswell October 12, 2007 5:58 PM PDT
- I ditched NAV after the last subscription expiration warning popped up on my monitor. I have since switched to Intego's Virus Barrier and am waiting to see how things go with that product.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (23 Comments)As far as StuffIt Deluxe is concerned, I still have version 7.0.3, which I only keep around for those occasional sites that still offer downloads in that format. Truth is... with the really cheap prices of hard drive storage now-a-days, "Who really cares about how big a file is anymore?" Time for StuffIt to say "Good Night."