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MacKeeper/Zerobit Pop Up ad Problem

Can someone PLEASE tell me how to stop these MacKeeper/Zerobit pops from happening on my computer?

I've never used MacKeeper nor do I plan to ever use it now that this ad keeps popping up unwanted. What happens is I get this Mac "recommends" box that I have to click "Ok" for or completely quit Safari in order to get rid of it. Then there is this stupid ad for MacKeeper sitting there. I can seem to find anyway to get rid of it. Anyone else have this problem? Thanks.

17 inch MBP 2.66 ghz, 15 inch MBP, 21 inch iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 17, 2011 3:57 PM

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Posted on Mar 17, 2011 4:15 PM

It's a horrible little application without an uninstall utility ...

Make sure you remove all items on this list:

Applications/MacKeeper.app

In the System Library:
- /Library/Application Support/MacKeeper
- /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plugin.AntiTheft.daemon
- /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.zeobit.MacKeeper.AntiVirus

In your User Library:
- /Users/yourname/Library/Preference/com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper.plist
- /Users/yourname/Library/LaunchAgents/com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper
- /Users/yourname/Library/Caches/com.zeobit.MacKeeper
- /Users/yourname/Library/LaunchAgents/com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plugin.Backup.agent
- /Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plist

If you get an error message that an item is in use and can't be moved/deleted open Activity Monitor and find the process and Force Quit then delete it.

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248 replies

Dec 24, 2011 9:57 PM in response to DirtyStrange

Wow, he wrote me back! Kudos to him for taking the time to respond. But everything he mentions I did. And the popups continued until I removed particular preference files. But he does go on to say that some files are left behind. This special unstaller that he talked about I've never seen or heard of. Has anybody seen this? Anyway, it's a step in the right direction I guess!


Dear Nick,


I am more then grateful for your feedback and for your time especially since our product for some reasons has caused you problems.

Please note that it was not our intention at all to give these "alerts" or popups that ask you to buy our application after you have deleted it. I must say that the only time you should be seeing them is while using the trial mode of the app. Once you move the application to trash the special uninstaller should have been launched and all MacKeeper files should have been removed if you so chose(if you choose to reinstall the applicaiton instead of removing it, that's when we leave these files behind). However due to the speciality of out launch daemons that we install a restart is needed after the installation to permantently delete the daemons and remove any MacKeeper processes left behind.

My guess is that either you haven't restarted the Mac afterwards or haven't checked to delete all the files when the popup came up while moving the app to trash. If this is not the case then something must have gone wrong with the uninstallation process and I am personally terribly sorry for this inconvenience.

Please understand that we are trying our best to satisfy all our customers needs and requests, we have a lot of positive feedback and grateful customers who were able to either find their stolen Macs, free up some space and get rid of some harmful applciations. But it is impossible to satisfy everyone and we do mistakes of our own as well. But we do strive to improve and make our service better, and that is why I appreciate your feedback even more.It helps us understand if we are moving in the right direction and trust me we have made quite a lot of improvements lately.

Please feel free to email me if you have any other remarks concerning our product or service.


Best regards,

Slava KolomiychukCEO
ZeoBIT LLC
Phone: +1 (415) 671-6236 2128, 2-nd floor
440 N. Wolfe Rd.
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
User uploaded file

Dec 25, 2011 1:25 AM in response to kiplingh

kiplingh wrote:


Don't know if you still need an answer but I was able to get rid of the pop-ups by quickly hitting the stop button on the right side of the address bar as soon as I opened Safari. It stopped the website from loading before the pop-up opened. I next clicked on one of the websites I have in my bookmark bar, I stopped that website before it downloaded as well. Once I was succesfully off the spam sites and onto a website I recognized, I opened my safari preferences and deleted all my cookies, cleared my cache, etc.

Safari 5.1 with Lion introduced a new "feature" to reopen all windows and tabs from the previous session. That can be turned off in the preferences, but to prevent it from it from happening on a one time basis all you need to do is hold the shift key down when you launch Safari. To prevent Safari from opening automatically when you reboot just make sure you quit it before rebooting.

Dec 25, 2011 1:28 AM in response to DirtyStrange

DirtyStrange wrote:


This special unstaller that he talked about I've never seen or heard of. Has anybody seen this?

Yes, it's built into the application and launches automatically when you drag the application to the trash. It asks you why you are deleting it and if you answer it is supposed to remove all the files it installed. Then you reboot and all is well. Several folks have reported still finding a file or two after the uninstall completed and others have said that it didn't work at all.

Mar 8, 2012 11:15 AM in response to Browknee

Will the next person, hopefully an Apple Technical support employee or a Safari code development employee at Apple PLEASE FINALLY ANSWER the original question.


I really don't care what it is, how it got there, how secure anything is, what a CEO responds to ... I want to know how to prevent it from happening ... period! I'd also like future support in Safari to prevent it.


DO NOT RESPOND WITH ANYTHING ELSE!

Mar 8, 2012 11:34 AM in response to FIXYOURTHINKING

Sorry, but you don't get to dictate what anyone responds with in these forums.


Apple employees almost never post in these user-to-user forums — on any subject.


Zeobit's plague of popup ads appears in all browsers. Some third-party popup blocker add-ons are more effective than others at intercepting them, but in the end they aren't an Apple or Safari problem. Zeobit itself is the problem. If you can find a browser and popup-blocker combination that doesn't present Zeobit popups when you go to a site that has foolishly agreed to host Zeobit ads or been infected with Zeobit malware that causes them to appear on it, use that browser-and-blocker combination instead of Safari.


I use Safari, and I've encountered fewer than half a dozen Zeobit popups in the last four months. When I do encounter one, I avoid that web site completely from then on. Regrettably, that means a few web sites that I used to consider useful and trustworthy are now on my personal blacklist, and are unlikely to get off it any time soon.

Mar 8, 2012 12:04 PM in response to eww

Not sure how or why my comments were removed and why eww's comments that are quite combative and nasty get to remain.


I just want a straightforward answer instead of all this origin talk.


The answer eww gave is not correct, not complete, and not respectful to the original question.


The issue is a pop- under. It isn't a pop up. It is an exploit of advertising cookies. The website Macsurfer occasionally triggers it. Is this a website not to visit? I would argue no.


For most people, that don't use tabs ... they never notice that it popped under open windows until they go to close or minimize Safari. So ... how do you know what websites are serving it to you (again, if you don't use tabs)?


This can be cured in Safari. It's cured on the mobile versions of it.


If you want to do anyone a service here, delete this whole discussion and answer with the technical statement you made above ~ even though it isn't correct.

MacKeeper/Zerobit Pop Up ad Problem

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