A nasty thing called "install.mac" has hijacked my Safari address bar search...

I mistakenly installed "Installmac" thinking it was a Java update.

I have used Safe Mac's Adware Removal Tool

I am still seeing the Installmac page when I launch Chrome. I have tried changing the homepage, to no avail ... I ran the Adware Removal Tool again and it found nothing.

What is going on? Is this malware off my Mac or not?

Thanks in advance.

Jennifer

That happened to me too and I was able to remove it by going into the prefereces of Chrome and deleting it from the settings and checking all the other tabs to make sure it was not hanging out.. In clearing it from Preferences it is gone. Good luck!

My script is not able to change your Chrome home page or other Chrome settings. Make sure that the "On startup" settings aren't set to continue where you left off, and that the malicious page isn't on the list of pages to open at startup (if the last option is chosen). Also, make sure to check the "Search" settings... use the "Manage search engines" button to remove any that shouldn't be there, and set the default.

I see! I changed it and all seems good now.

Thanks for the help, and for the tool!

Jennifer

EVERYONE THAT HAS THIS PROBLEM FOLLOW THE LINK I POSTED I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND WAS ABLE TO FIX IT. DO NOT INSTALL THE UNINSTALL MAC OR GENEIO PACKAGES THEY DAMAGE YOUR COMPUTER EVEN MORE AND SLOW DOWN THE PROCESS, IT IS A MALWARE SOFTWARE THAT IS DAMAGING AND USING THE UNINSTALL PACKAGE IS WORSE THAN KEEPING IT THERE. FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS AND YOU CAN ACTUALLY FIX YOUR COMPUTER WITHOUT DAMAGING IT AND ITS SOFTWARE. Download AdMedic now

DOWNLOAD AdMedic from the link i just put in. From there go to your downloads and click on the AdMedic.dmg. I know it may seem hard to trust after the problem you are having right now with your internet. When you open the .dmg it will tell you to put it into your applications, do this it is the easiest way to fix this and it really works. Run the program and make sure you read what it is saying because if you do not it can seriously damage your computer. If you do this process carefully it will restart your computer and when you sign back in and open up your internet browser and use it, it should be back to normal, it worked on mine so I would be shocked if it did not work on yours. I recommend that after you fix your internet browser to go to your trash and empty it so that the malware software and all the bad junk that has been taken away to fix your computer has no chance of messing with it anymore or you accidentally allowing it back on. I hope this helps many of you I know it caused me a great amount of frustration and it was such a relief to solve this problem. Also, if you had installed the uninstall packages before you saw this post I also recommend that you put that in the trash and empty it as well because it will damage your computer as long as it is on there. My computer is a huge part of my life and fixing it lifted a weight off my shoulders. Trust what I am saying I am just a good samaritan that wants to spread the word of how to fix this.

If you look at my most recent comment it describes how to fix this problem. I hope I am able to help you. I know it was very frustrating to pay so much for your mac and then have a problem with it.

The newest and more useful tool that they use now is called AdMedic.

PrepEagles wrote:

The newest and more useful tool that they use now is called AdMedic.

I know, I beta tested version 1.0b1. Since it only went public this week it obviously wasn't available on July 5 when I wrote that.

Hi,

I had the problem too. And also despite having Google set as a default search engine my Safari was as if hijacked by Bing. The problem was sorted when I went to the Safari Preferences>Extensions and there was an option to uninstall 'install.mac' and below it a drop-down list with two options - 'Default' and 'Genieo'. I chose 'Default' and then uninstalled 'install.mac'. Everything went to normal again.

martin t. wrote:

The problem was sorted when I went to the Safari Preferences>Extensions and there was an option to uninstall 'install.mac' and below it a drop-down list with two options - 'Default' and 'Genieo'. I chose 'Default' and then uninstalled 'install.mac'. Everything went to normal again.

Glad that worked for you, but a I need to caution you about a couple of things.

install.mac usually comes along with additional Genieo related adware and the uninstaller is well known for not removing everything as well as actually installing other files that aren't as obvious (See InstallMac uninstaller antics).

I recommend you run AdwareMedic to list all currently known adware and optionally delete it for you, as a precaution against both of these possibilities. Please let us know if it identifies anything else.

when i try to uninstall Genieo it comes up with need Java SE 6 but i can't find it

please help

Do not use the Genieo Uninstaller as it will leave active files behind. The fastest, most effective way to identify and optionally remove all currently known adware is by using AdwareMedic, developed by thomas_r. this Forum's malware guru, owner of TheSafeMac and a colleague of mine.

To understand why this happened and how to avoid such things in the future read John Galt's How to install adware.

Thank you Dr Mac. This information was easy to follow and worked for me.

Unless something has changed recently, you only think it worked. The Genieo uninstaller has been known for some time to leave invisible bits behind, still actively running on your system without revealing their presence. See some of the other comments on this topic for more appropriate removal instructions.

I ran the Genieo uninstaller, and it did uninstall one element, but left MANY. A thing called "Completer" was asking for my password to "make changes". I did a search for this and found that it was part of the Genieo installation that modified both Safari and Firefox. Luckily I found out about Adware Medic, which is a free tool (donationware) that will scan, identify and eradicate all the Genieo (and other adware) garbage. It is available here: http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php When I ran this, it identified over eight items that were associated with Genieo, and it got rid of them all. I wish I would have taken a screenshot of all the stuff it identified, but I was too eager to get it off my computer and clicked to have it removed before I thought about taking a screenshot. Once you've done this, you may still have to go into Safari and Firefox to change your default page and search engine. In Safari it is pretty easy, but in Firefox you have to go into about:config and fix it (which is described by someone else here in this forum). Hope this helps.