Running latest Big Sur OS on my 2019 27" iMac.
My default browser is Dissenter..
I closed the browser and when I reopened, Facebook login page was in French.
Yahoo was in Arabic.
I opened Sophos app and it was in German.
I was able to change my Facebook language back to English.
I am lost in the Yahoo Arabic jumble.
I don't know how this happened, nor what to do.
AVG anti virus is currently scanning..
Would appreciate any thoughts...
iMac 27″, macOS 11.4
Hello, Hanuman Hoffman.
Uninstall and reinstall the Dissenter browser.
Also, consider uninstalling AVG. Most anti-virus and cleaning apps are less than helpful on the Mac and often cause more problems and headache than they prevent because they conflict with the Mac’s built in securities.
Please see these Apple Support Community documents:
click> Effective Defenses Against Malware - Apple Community
click> How to install adware - Apple Community
If the problem is still not resolved, try resetting the NVRAM. The NVRAM is a special memory section on your Mac that stores data that persists even when the Mac is shut off, such as volume settings and screen resolution - it's the information the computer uses to maintain settings after a reboot. You may have to do this several times because sometimes that's what it takes to stick.
Reset the NVRAM
How to Reset NVRAM / PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
Finally, see if the problem still happens in Safe mode (hold the shift key down at startup). It can take much longer (10 min) to safe boot so be patient.
How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support
Safe mode forces the OS to clear certain caches and logs and do other miscellaneous housekeeping. It's non-destructive to user data so is safe to do. Very often certain weird software behavior is corrected by simply logging in this way as a troubleshooting method. When you're in safe boot, the machine will not be at its best performance, especially with graphics, but that's normal.
Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?
Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again.
Hello, Hanuman Hoffman.
Uninstall and reinstall the Dissenter browser.
Also, consider uninstalling AVG. Most anti-virus and cleaning apps are less than helpful on the Mac and often cause more problems and headache than they prevent because they conflict with the Mac’s built in securities.
Please see these Apple Support Community documents:
click> Effective Defenses Against Malware - Apple Community
click> How to install adware - Apple Community
If the problem is still not resolved, try resetting the NVRAM. The NVRAM is a special memory section on your Mac that stores data that persists even when the Mac is shut off, such as volume settings and screen resolution - it's the information the computer uses to maintain settings after a reboot. You may have to do this several times because sometimes that's what it takes to stick.
Reset the NVRAM
How to Reset NVRAM / PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
Finally, see if the problem still happens in Safe mode (hold the shift key down at startup). It can take much longer (10 min) to safe boot so be patient.
How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support
Safe mode forces the OS to clear certain caches and logs and do other miscellaneous housekeeping. It's non-destructive to user data so is safe to do. Very often certain weird software behavior is corrected by simply logging in this way as a troubleshooting method. When you're in safe boot, the machine will not be at its best performance, especially with graphics, but that's normal.
Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?
Exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally and re-evaluate the issue again.
Turns out it was my VPN that evidently directed to an old database they said.
My facebook and yahoo showed logins from Morocco when I had it set to another location. I logged out of those.
I changed the VPN and it was fine.
I changed my passwords immediately on those accounts.
I deleted the virus detecting app.
I also reset my VRAM.
Breathing more easily now...Thanks D.I.
This is what my VPN support said...
<IP addresses are linked to a database that map to locations. Unfortunately, some websites are using very outdated databases, so it may still be showing IP location from many years ago. IPs get transferred from host to host all the time, so the IP of that particular server must have been in the detected country in the past.
Our servers are physically in locations that they are claimed to be in, you can verify this empirically by performing a traceroute to the server itself.
For example, I checked the IP provided in the screen shot here: https://www.iplocation.net, which returns a few different US locations.
If you are running into issues on specific websites, I would suggest you disconnect and re-connect to receive a new IP, which is hopefully correctly classified.>
That's troubling. It sounds like you may have accidentally picked up some sort of malware despite using AVG.
In addition to the steps I noted above, I'd also advise you to download and run Malwarebytes.
It's from a trusted developer and respected ASC contributor and is one of very few apps generally recommended here in Communities, The application scans for adware and malware and is a popular tool among veteran users here. See if it can identify any malware you may have accidentally installed. The free version is probably all you need at this point.
I opened Yahoo in Safari and it is in Arabic as well!
Thanks D.I.,
I will do this..
Thank you for the update, my friend.
I'm glad to know you were able to get it sorted out. 🙂
Language changed
