removing the flash player virus on leopard 10.5.8

Question

removing the flash player virus on leopard 10.5.8

hi, we are in a bit of a pickle with what to do about this one, my friend belives that this is due to the flashplayer virus that has been going round... he says he was on a torrent site when a flash player update poped up. in another fourm somebody mentioned somthing about entering this command into the terminal and this is the responce that i got.

we also what to get this computer reformated and running lion. and i dont know how to go about getting that. i know i need to get more ram, but unfortunatly i dont know what kind of ram that this computer needs(and it cant now conect to the internet to find out). i was thinking if i could reformat the computer while i was updating it, it should remover the viruse and any odd little problems. unfortunatly i dont have the Lepord OSX install disk to do so.

Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on May 24, 2012 8:34 AM

Reply

Answer 1

WZZZ

Level 6

13,226 points

May 24, 2012 8:50 AM in response to richardsonjake

Install the latest updates from Software update. One will disable the unsecure version of Flash you must be running in 10.5. The other will check for the Flashback (not Flash Player -- it got its name because of popups to install fake Flash, which had nothing to do with Flash) malware and remove it if necessary. It will also disable the 10.5 version of Java, which is also not secure.

Reply

Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

141,332 points

May 24, 2012 8:53 AM in response to richardsonjake

You have some challenges.

Given the state of that computer I recommend you completely erase the hard disk and install an operating system. Challenge number one is obtaining the original system installation DVD which you say you do not have. Call AppleCare and request a copy of that computer's original system installation DVD - you will have to pay a one time technical support fee plus a nominal cost for the disk plus shipping. Be prepared to supply the Mac's serial number. If you click the "version" in the "About this Mac" window, it will cycle through the OS X build number and then the system serial number. That is what you will need. If you're fortunate that experience will set you back less than $100 US or so.

You could try to simply install Snow Leopard - the OS itself is only $29 US but you are going to need the original system installation DVD anyway. Good luck.

As a footnote, whatever malware you picked up by downloading a torrent is not a virus and has nothing to do with Flash. To eradicate it requires recent updates from Apple. Without an Internet connection you will have a difficult time accomplishing that.

Once you install Snow Leopard you can upgrade to Lion. You don't have a lot of information regarding your system but the general requirements are a Core 2 Duo and a minimum of 2 GB memory.

Reply