searchmine, bing, and mycouponsmart have cropped up on my mac. please help me get rid of them.

Uninstall anything and everything you downloaded installed in an effort to get rid of whatever it was you downloaded and installed. Follow all their respective instructions.

Never use Google for assistance. All that will accomplish is provide a limitless supply of even more junk.

For example:

User Login Items:

Mac Cleanup Pro

That needs to go. Rule 1 of Macs is don't install junk.

Then and only then: Find out what you did and fix it. To get started read below.

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Navigate to the following folder, and post its contents in a screenshot:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

To open that folder, copy the entire line above and paste it in the Finder's Go menu > Go to Folder... field. Make it look like this:

... and click the Go button.

A Finder window will open. Take a screenshot showing all that folder's contents, and post it in a reply. To learn how to do that please read the Appendix in the following User Tip: Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question.

Usually, there is nothing in that folder so don't be surprised to find it empty. The reason for starting with that folder is to eliminate other potential causes before proceeding with steps that will identify and eradicate whatever is affecting that Mac.

There will be additional instructions to follow and this is just the first step.

apple discussions gave me the processing indicator but never posted it.

therefore, i am adding the amendment to the end of the current comments.

That's been happening a lot lately. I know it makes using this site difficult.

Here are the next few steps to follow. Once that's done I should have enough information to provide further instructions.

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In the same manner as you just did, open the following folder:

/Library/LaunchDaemons

To open that folder, copy and paste it in the Finder's Go menu > Go to Folder... field. It should look like this:

Once again ensure all its files and their names are readable, take a screenshot, and post it.

Then, repeat that exercise with the following folder:

/Library/LaunchAgents

Notice its pathname is different than the other two.

In the end, you will have captured and posted the contents of the following three separate folders:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

/Library/LaunchDaemons

/Library/LaunchAgents

Please be sure to include or otherwise indicate the name of the folder that corresponds to each screenshot, so that you and I can keep track of which ones they are.

• the apple menu, system preferences, view does show profiles in its list.

Assuming your Mac is not owned or otherwise under managerial control of an institution such as a school or corporation, no Profiles should appear.

Delete the rogue Profile from System Preferences. After doing that, you might need to restart your Mac so it couldn't hurt to do that also.

After restarting your Mac make sure that Profile does not spontaneously reappear.

• i closed google and launched safari. safari opened with a searchmine address in the address window.

Just reset your chosen search engine in Safari's Preferences, and confirm that it stays that way. While you're there, uninstall any suspicious Extensions. No Extensions are required for Safari, so if you decide to use any you should be absolutely certain of their purpose, meaning you were not deceived into installing them. "Coupon" and similarly categorized shopping-related Extensions are a popular vector for malware.

Try a safe boot.

    Shutdown your machine.  Hold down the shift

key.  Poweron.  The boot up will take longer than normal

because the filesystem on the startup drive is being checked and

repaired as needed.   All about safe mode including what

features and apps safe boot leaves out. 

Safe boot uses a software driver instead

of using your machines video hardware.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455

R

Great! Thanks for the update.

You can thank me by telling your friends not to fall for those scams. A typical scheme is illustrated in How to install adware.

And, now that you're an expert too, you can tell them how to fix it should they become affected. They don't have to enrich anyone by falling for equally popular fixes either.

does my mac log activities in any way that would help me determine what i did?

Sort of, but it might not help. Try looking in  (Apple menu) > About This Mac > System Report...

Under Software, click Installations. You will find a long list of software that has ever been installed on that Mac. All it will show is when it was installed though, not how.

You might also find information under Logs. The Installer Log will reveal what was installed and when.

I actually keep a logbook of various abuses I inflict upon my Mac. Deciphering what I wrote long after I wrote it is another story.

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There is at least one other ASC participant who appears to be experiencing a similar if not identical problem. It seems to affect Google but not Safari, or at least it was easily eradicated in Safari while Google is proving more difficult. I don't know if it has been resolved or not, but read it and see what you think: How do I permanently get rid of TotalResultsSearch from Google Chrome.

I don't (and won't) use Google, so my ability to assist is limited. Perhaps you could help?

A long list of reasons, primarily that I do not consider myself a product for Google to sell. Then there are privacy concerns, and theirs are the polar opposite of Apple's.

I could go on but it just tends to bring out all the Goolag acolytes.