How to uninstall genieo fro iMac?

I can't remember finding more useful and uncomplicated instructions to dispense a mooch program like Genieo.

They certainly are uncomplicated, but they're far from useful. They're just about the most worthless instructions I've ever seen, and will not solve the problem. Those instructions remove the Genieo application only, leaving all manner of other Genieo-related processes running in the background.

This was already pointed out quite some time ago by MadMacs0.

Hi Paul, your advice solved my problem ! Thanks !

And...to Genio Support: I clasify your support above as criminal because they helps in the oposite direction and you know it.

Regards to you all.

Hi,

i just need some step by step instructions on how to delete Genieo which has done me no good. I am not that familiar with Macs, so please make them easy to understand! thanks!

-Jenny

itsmejenny19 wrote:

i just need some step by step instructions on how to delete Genieo

Sure:

1. Click on Adware Removal Tool.
2. Follow the instructions to download, unzip and run the tool.

Hey there.

You can try this tool: http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/adware-removal-tool.html.

It quickly scans a user’s system for adware and its elements and, if detected asks for permission to remove it. It then removes all traces of the software and resets browser settings that were changed by the adware, eliminating unwanted ads and modified default search results.

Have a good day!

Mirabela, Social Media Manager at Bitdefender

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

<Edited by Host>

Genieo support wrote:

We are sorry to hear that you want to uninstall Genieo.

Genieo is a personalized newspaper - style home page. It has the power of bringing you the news you want, from your favorite sources and offers many unique features that can enrich your browsing experience and keep you up to date with interesting articles and item in your topics of interest.

Genieo is 100% free, it’s totally private and requires zero managements.

Should you decide to remove, please visit our FAQ page http://www.genieo.com/faq#uninstall

And simply follow the instructions.

Once you are done, you can go to your browser settings and change the default homepage and search to match your decision.

Chrome: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95421&topic=1735105& ctx=topic

IE: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/252464

FF: http://www.wikihow.com/Change-your-Start-Page-on-Mozilla-Firefox

Safari: http://browsers.about.com/od/safar1/ss/safarihomepage_3.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Change-your-Start-Page-on-Mozilla-Firefox

what it actually is, is a pile of crap that hijacks your web browser and directs your searches to preferred (by genio) sites. In my book any app that diverts you away from your original/preferred search engine without express permission, is at best adware and at worst malware/a trojan. The link supplied by BDAqua does work but it took me not an inconsiderable amount of time and effort to remove it from my son's MBP. He had been duped into downloading it as it masqueraded as a download link to a minecraft mod that he was really trying to download; a typically surreptitious, insidious method employed by most adware/malware/trojans of getting installed on computers, as I very much doubt anyone would download this by choice.

To pretend that it is anything other than adware/malware is farcical.

Hi,

as Winja.Lutz has not replied to this forum and not much light has been shed on it, I would like to add that I am experiencing the exact same problems. I have a file calledcom.genieoinnovation.mac.extension.client with NO .plist extension at the end in my LaunchServices. It cannot be removed (when right clicked there is no Move to Trash option at all) and was found by Sophos as well. Sophos is also unable to cleanup the file.

When revealed in finder this comes up:

I have gone through the http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-genieo/ guide step by step and did not find any files under /private/etc/launchd.conf either. I did however find these three files:

~/Library/Application Support/com.genieoinnovation.Installer/

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieo.completer.download.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieo.completer.update.plist

I managed to delete these three files without any problems. However I am afraid of rebooting or emptying the trash with the com.genieoinnovation.mac.extension.client still on LaunchServices. Also, I believe Genieo did not fully install on my Mac as I had responded no when it asked me if I wanted to change my homepage.

Would really appreciate if someone could respond immediately as I am not comfortable using my Mac before being able to delete the file in my LaunchServices. Thank you in advance.

Chloe C

Go back tohttp://www.thesafemac.com/arg-genieo/, find, download and run the Adware Removal Tool that thomas has written to save you the trouble of following all those steps. It's pretty much foolproof at this point and will also check for all other forms of adware that we are currently aware of while it's at it. Just follow any instructions that pop-up in his dialog boxes and everything should turn out perfectly.

It sounds like Sophos might be preventing you from doing anything with that LaunchServices item, including deleting it. Disable Sophos' on-access scanning, then try deleting that file again.

Thanks for the replies. I have tried both options but am still unable to remove it. How should I proceed? Any ideas? The TSM removal tool managed to remove Spigot from my browsers. But other than that the com.genieoinnovation.mac.extension.client file in LaunchServices remains undeletable. Should I try clearing my trash?

Thanks a bunch.

Chloe.C wrote:

But other than that the com.genieoinnovation.mac.extension.client file in LaunchServices remains undeletable. Should I try clearing my trash?

I would have thought the Adware Removal Tool would have already instructed you to empty the trash, so yes.

But where exactly is this LaunchServices folder? It's not a normal part of any Library folder and is usually found inside an application. Are you sure it's not already in the trash?

Actually, taking a more careful look at your screenshots, it looks like Sophos is triggering on an item deeply imbedded inside the installer that is on a disk image file. As such, that file will not be able to be deleted individually, but neither is it actually installed.

If you have already deleted the disk image containing the installer, you can clear this entry in Sophos. If not, you should do so now.

MadMacs0:

This is what it says when I right clicked Get Info on the LaunchServices folder. I have emptied the trash and the file is still there and still undeletable. Very odd.

Thomas:

So if it really stays undeletable you reckon it will be okay sitting on my mac without causing any harm? I have deleted the .dmg file that brought along this stupid Genieo and have emptied my trash as I said above but the file remains there. I cleared it from the Sophos quarantine list and when I ran a scan of my mac Sophos did not find it again. Does this mean my mac should be fine now?

And thanks a lot for all the help guys! I really really appreciate it 🙂

PS: I have left this Finder window (with LaunchServices) open ever since I pressed Reveal in Finder from Sophos when I first found it. I did not want to close it as I could not find it again in the search on mac tab. So yeah, it's been open from the start till now, even after I've gone through all the steps of removing the other items.

Chloe.C wrote:

MadMacs0:

That tells me a couple of things. The file is buried inside an application named "Application" which itself is inside and application named "Installer 1" that is part of a disk image volume still mounted on your desktop called "tmpinstallmc".

It also tells me the disk image file itself is in an invisible directory (folder) /private/tmp/

The reason you can't remove the com.genieoinnovation.mac.extension.client file is because you aren't allowed to change the contents of a disk image, just as Thomas indicated.

You won't be able to completely remove the "tmpinstallmc.dmg" file completely either, even if you are able to locate it and move it to the trash, because it's still mounted.

The easiest way to take care of everything at this point is to reboot. That will dismount the disk image file, empty the contents of the /tmp/ directory and it should be totally gone when you log back in.