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Downloaded EtreCheck but I can't open it

I tried downloading EtreCheck several times because I kept getting this message.



Then I changed my Apple security settings to allow non-apple-approved developers and remained in Normal Mode and got the following message.


Please let me know if you have had experience with this issue and found a remedy.


MacBook Air 13″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Jan 9, 2024 5:38 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 9, 2024 9:50 AM

DebStock wrote:

When I download EtreCheck - I could not open the app.

It's just an app like any other. Nothing special about it. If you can't run apps, maybe erase the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. When you restore from backup, restore only your user files and user documents. Do not restore any apps, software, system settings, or "other apps". You can manually reinstall only the apps that you really need.


As a side benefit, doing this will definitively resolve whatever problem you had downloaded EtreCheck to try to help solve. You would then be able to ignore everything else below.

Next, I went to System Settings and in Security I selected "allow" for the app.

You would only need to do this if you had changed your default setting to only run apps from the Mac App Store. Judging from your previous question, it's a little late to lock the doors of your software barn after you've filled it up with malware. Now you're just blocking the legitimate, helpful apps.


The default settings are very safe and secure. You had to manually bypass multiple layers of Apple security protections to have downloaded and installed all of that malware to begin with.

After downloading the excutable files I receive the following two messages.

I did not go into Terminal mode. I remained in the Normal mode.

You're literally running the Terminal there. I don't know why you are running the Terminal at all. I definitely don't know why you are trying to run EtreCheck in the Terminal. Trying to run EtreCheck's StorageHelper in the Terminal is definitely not going to work out for you in any way.


It looks like maybe you are digging into the app bundle and manually double-clicking on files? I strongly recommend that you don't do that.

12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 9, 2024 9:50 AM in response to DebStock

DebStock wrote:

When I download EtreCheck - I could not open the app.

It's just an app like any other. Nothing special about it. If you can't run apps, maybe erase the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. When you restore from backup, restore only your user files and user documents. Do not restore any apps, software, system settings, or "other apps". You can manually reinstall only the apps that you really need.


As a side benefit, doing this will definitively resolve whatever problem you had downloaded EtreCheck to try to help solve. You would then be able to ignore everything else below.

Next, I went to System Settings and in Security I selected "allow" for the app.

You would only need to do this if you had changed your default setting to only run apps from the Mac App Store. Judging from your previous question, it's a little late to lock the doors of your software barn after you've filled it up with malware. Now you're just blocking the legitimate, helpful apps.


The default settings are very safe and secure. You had to manually bypass multiple layers of Apple security protections to have downloaded and installed all of that malware to begin with.

After downloading the excutable files I receive the following two messages.

I did not go into Terminal mode. I remained in the Normal mode.

You're literally running the Terminal there. I don't know why you are running the Terminal at all. I definitely don't know why you are trying to run EtreCheck in the Terminal. Trying to run EtreCheck's StorageHelper in the Terminal is definitely not going to work out for you in any way.


It looks like maybe you are digging into the app bundle and manually double-clicking on files? I strongly recommend that you don't do that.

Jan 9, 2024 9:43 AM in response to DebStock

Hi Deb, what should happen after downloading from the link described in How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report - Apple Community or the link in IdrisSeabright's reply is that an EtreCheckPro.zip file should appear on your Mac's Desktop, or (depending on your browser) in its Downloads folder.


It looks like this:



Double-clicking it should result in a launchable EtreCheckPro app, which looks like this



Launching it launches the app. It should not open Terminal.


If that is not what you are experiencing, and repeated attempts at downloading it again after deleting what you used before don't work, and you get the same results even when attempting to download it in "Safe Mode" then I really don't know where to go from there. I suppose reinstalling macOS would be justified, but I don't know if even that will help. It usually doesn't.

Jan 9, 2024 11:58 AM in response to DebStock

Yes, he is Etrecheck! :)


Might try rebuilding the Launch DB...


Open Terminal and run each of these one at a time


/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user


sudo /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -lint -r -f -v -dump -domain local -domain system -domain user -domain network


killall Dock


sudo mdutil -E /


sudo mdutil -i on /


Rebuilding a drive index can take a long time, so be prepared to wait.

Downloaded EtreCheck but I can't open it

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