do i have a virus? pages not loading

Hi,

my macbook keeps having these moments every once in a while in which pages just stop loading. sometimes it only happens to videos, sometimes nothing will load at all-they usually redirect me to a "no data received" page. my internet connection is fine, and nobody else in my family is having these problems on their laptops. i usually use chrome, but when this happens the same pages don't load in safari either. when i restart my computer, the problem is fixed for an hour at most and then it happens again. i used to stream movies off of a kind of sketchy website with a lot of pop-ups, so i think i may have gotten a virus from it. if it is a virus, can somebody tell me how to get rid of it? by the way, my macbook also overheats really quickly, if that helps/is related. thank you so much!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Aug 31, 2013 9:36 PM

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5 replies

Aug 31, 2013 9:45 PM in response to misaonoodles

Mac at this time don't get viruses. But that doesn't mean something else hasn't wormed it way onto your Mac like some Malware.


Or for the simple fact Mac OS X is not immune to glitches and hickups.


Sounds more like a internet connection problem and or WiFi problem. Connect your Mac to your internet router with a Ethernet cable and see if the same things happen. If they don't then it is a WiFi problem. If it does then it is more than likely an Internet connection problem and you should contact your ISP.

Sep 1, 2013 7:03 AM in response to misaonoodles

It's very unlikely that this is a malware issue, though if you downloaded and installed anything from a site providing illegal access to commercial movies, that possibility cannot be ruled out. You should download and run a scan with Sophos due to this risky behavior, though I think it would have nothing to do with solving your internet problems. If you don't want to keep anti-virus software installed (see my Mac Malware Guide for help making that decision), you can easily uninstall it after the scan.


As for the internet difficulties, what kind of wireless router are you using? Not all routers are created equal, and some can work fine with Windows machines but will be problems from Macs, due to not properly obeying wireless standards. If this is the source of the problem, you'll probably have to buy a new wireless router, though it's also possible that someone with a good knowledge of wireless networking could change the settings on your current router and fix the issue.


There could also be something wrong with your Mac that is causing the network to fail. Does this ever happen with other networks, or only with this particular one?

Sep 2, 2013 6:27 AM in response to misaonoodles

well, other members of my family using the same network have never had the same problem as me, so it shouldn't be a network problem.


That is not necessarily the case, especially if they are all using Windows and you are the only one using a Mac. There are definitely routers out there that may work very well with certain hardware and/or systems and not really at all with others. However, if you're all using similar systems, that becomes a less likely possibility.


You didn't answer the question of whether your Mac has trouble with other networks as well...?

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do i have a virus? pages not loading

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