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HELP!! How do I rid my mac of malware?

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  1. #1

    Unhappy HELP!! How do I rid my mac of malware?

    I tried to download something from a couple of unfamiliar sites, and I suspect I downloaded something that has infected my Air Mac. Ads keep popping up, new pages suddenly appear telling me I have won some great prize and asking me to click to accept or decline (and when I do neither and try to close the page, I am unable to close it, and therefore had to forcibly shut down my computer. But the same thing keeps happening.).. Sometimes I am suddenly directed to a site which I did not open (e.g. on investments, or a hotel booking site.)

    I googled how to clear malware and followed some of the instructions, e.g. "reset settings" in Chrome, or going to my finder to open the Applications folder and delete stuff that I thought was malware, going to the Library folder to delete items which I suspect are malware items etc. Each time I emptied trash and restarted my computer. BUT THE PROBLEM IS STILL THERE!!!

    What can I do? Is there any app that I can download to clean up the malware? I am concerned about simply downloading something that turns up on a google search as it might in itself be a malware program. Is there any malware cleanup that I can get for my Mac? Please help! I don't know much about computers :-(


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    55

    I recently called the Apple helpline to deal with this, and they had me install an app which scans for adware and malware. It scans quite quickly.
    https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

    spode likes this.

  3. #3

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    I use MacKeeper. It has its pros and cons but overall it has worked well for me.


  5. #5

    WHEW!! I downloaded Malwarebytes (suggested by anorak) and after using it, the problem seems to have gone! THANK YOU anorak!!!

    And thanks to theflyingbeagle and jmbf as well. Saw your posts after I solved the issue using Malwarebytes. Will read them and see if there is anything I should be doing to prevent future attacks by malware!


  6. #6

    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by jmbf:
    I use MacKeeper. It has its pros and cons but overall it has worked well for me.
    Lololololol!!!! Stay away from Mackeeper, it's one of the worst programs out there for a Mac, brings more harm than good. Just google it and you want to, with great difficult, uninstall it.
    shri and spode like this.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Proplus:
    Lololololol!!!! Stay away from Mackeeper, it's one of the worst programs out there for a Mac, brings more harm than good. Just google it and you want to, with great difficult, uninstall it.
    Yeah I know it's got bad reviews but it's actually worked alright for me. Cleaned up my machine, freed up a lot of space and my machine actually runs better now than before.

  8. #8

    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by jmbf:
    Yeah I know it's got bad reviews but it's actually worked alright for me. Cleaned up my machine, freed up a lot of space and my machine actually runs better now than before.
    What did it cost you?

    Benefit without the mention of the cost is not complete.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Mar 2016
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    You can get malware bytes which is an awesome little app that should clear all possible infections as long as you keep it up to date.


  10. #10

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    I have no malware protection, anti virus or firewall installed on my Mac. I've had it for over 3 years and I've yet to be infected. I've not had to install the OS once yet.


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