- Feb 4, 2019
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Before I describe my situation, I want to preface by noting that it will likely come across as very strange to experts, or really to anyone for that matter. But I am really feeling disconsolate and highly bothered without an answer.
I recently bought a 2018 13-inch Macbook Pro (quad-core 8th-generation i7 processor) from eBay. The computer arrived in excellent condition, with only about 30 charge cycles. Since the computer arrived with some software installed on it (even though it was not linked to any account), I booted into recovery mode, erased the "Macintosh HD" volume using Disk Utility, and reinstalled macOS Mojave. All fine until this point (or so I presume -- please let me know if you think otherwise).
However, shortly thereafter, I installed a program called "TuneMyMac," thinking it to be a useful utility for proactive identification of threats. I belatedly realized it was actually a disguised malware. I downloaded a free version of Avast Security, initiated a deep scan, retrieved the locations of 5 malicious files associated with "TuneMyMac" from the scan, and deleted said files.
This is the part when I likely did something totally inadvisable. Still perturbed by the possibility of malware lurking somewhere in the system (even though another scan from Avast and one from MalwareBytes Anti-malware reported both no threats), I went back into Recovery mode, erased "Macintosh HD" using Disk Utility twice in a row (!!), and then reinstalled macOS Mojave again. Only later did I realize that repeated re-formatting of SSDs (which constitutes intense disk-writing) is detrimental to the performance and lifespan of the SSD. So, now I am highly fretful that I've -- in some perhaps currently inobvious but nontrivial way -- impaired the function of the SSD.
The big takeaway for me from this has been to be vigilant about potential malware masquerading as legitimate apps, to not overreact at the thought of a couple of stray files damaging the system, and to refrain from reformatting in premature panic. Nevertheless, I would like an informed opinion on how having thrice-formatted and twice-reinstalled macOS Mojave in the span of a couple of days may impact the computer, its performance, and/or its longevity. Needless to say, I will not be doing this again in the near future.
I suppose a corollary discussion relevant to this post could be the robustness of the SSDs in the newest Macbook Pros. How much can they handle in terms of disk erasing and reinstalling of OS (which is very writing-intense)? Also, perhaps someone with knowledge on the matter could comment (preferably in a layman-accessible fashion) about the technical details of how Disk Utility performs erasures of a disk. Is it a full formatting? Does it leave possibility of data retrieval?
TL;DR In the span of two days, I formatted the SSD (using Disk Utility in Recovery mode) three times and reinstalled macOS Mojave two times. What (if any) impact will this have on observable performance, longevity of the SSD, and any other aspects of the computer you may know.
Edit:
A couple grammatical fixes and TL;DR.
I recently bought a 2018 13-inch Macbook Pro (quad-core 8th-generation i7 processor) from eBay. The computer arrived in excellent condition, with only about 30 charge cycles. Since the computer arrived with some software installed on it (even though it was not linked to any account), I booted into recovery mode, erased the "Macintosh HD" volume using Disk Utility, and reinstalled macOS Mojave. All fine until this point (or so I presume -- please let me know if you think otherwise).
However, shortly thereafter, I installed a program called "TuneMyMac," thinking it to be a useful utility for proactive identification of threats. I belatedly realized it was actually a disguised malware. I downloaded a free version of Avast Security, initiated a deep scan, retrieved the locations of 5 malicious files associated with "TuneMyMac" from the scan, and deleted said files.
This is the part when I likely did something totally inadvisable. Still perturbed by the possibility of malware lurking somewhere in the system (even though another scan from Avast and one from MalwareBytes Anti-malware reported both no threats), I went back into Recovery mode, erased "Macintosh HD" using Disk Utility twice in a row (!!), and then reinstalled macOS Mojave again. Only later did I realize that repeated re-formatting of SSDs (which constitutes intense disk-writing) is detrimental to the performance and lifespan of the SSD. So, now I am highly fretful that I've -- in some perhaps currently inobvious but nontrivial way -- impaired the function of the SSD.
The big takeaway for me from this has been to be vigilant about potential malware masquerading as legitimate apps, to not overreact at the thought of a couple of stray files damaging the system, and to refrain from reformatting in premature panic. Nevertheless, I would like an informed opinion on how having thrice-formatted and twice-reinstalled macOS Mojave in the span of a couple of days may impact the computer, its performance, and/or its longevity. Needless to say, I will not be doing this again in the near future.
I suppose a corollary discussion relevant to this post could be the robustness of the SSDs in the newest Macbook Pros. How much can they handle in terms of disk erasing and reinstalling of OS (which is very writing-intense)? Also, perhaps someone with knowledge on the matter could comment (preferably in a layman-accessible fashion) about the technical details of how Disk Utility performs erasures of a disk. Is it a full formatting? Does it leave possibility of data retrieval?
TL;DR In the span of two days, I formatted the SSD (using Disk Utility in Recovery mode) three times and reinstalled macOS Mojave two times. What (if any) impact will this have on observable performance, longevity of the SSD, and any other aspects of the computer you may know.
Edit:
A couple grammatical fixes and TL;DR.
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