Bing taking over

Hi,

If you don't want to use third-party software, you can select the Default search engine in

Safari Preferences > General tab .

Info from this post may help.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5305781

Best.

To remove the "InstallMac" spyware, start by following the instructions on this page. Back up all data before making any changes. The instructions may not remove the spyware completely.

Your answer worked for me as well.

Safari on my Mac was set to search Google as default, but it would always pop up as Bing instead. I followed the first link you gave to :

http://www.installmac.com/faq

and downloaded the uninstall application for Mac (link is at the very bottom of the page). I ran it, and it completely reset Safari. When i opened Safari again, my deafault search engine was set to Google, and it was working. Thank you Sir.

Linc Davis, Thanks very much, it worked!

Thanksssssssss is jut fineeeee.....

Ah, I believe that the problem goes much deeper than that. I'm running OS X Mavericks and I have always had my search engine set to Google in Safari and I've had no problems with it switching to Bing. However, and maybe this is an issuse that some folks may have over-looked. When I'm typing an email using Apple Mail and need to lookup the correct spelling of a word when I right click on the word is used to say "Search with Google" in my former Snow Leopard. Now, however, when performing the same action it says "Search with Bing." OK, so what going on with this? Somehow Bing has also highjacked Apple Mail and is now prompting the user to lookup a word using Bing. This is bloody awful. So, hmmm, how to deal with this! And, of course this has nothing to do with Safari at least as far I can determine only insofar as it does use Bing when I try to lookup a word definition or correct spelling. I write in Welsh at times and of course MAC doesn't have a Welsh dictionary. Now, let's see if some of you mates can get your heads around this nice little conumdrum. 😉

Ieychd da! (Cheers!)

OK, I've found the solution to this nasty "InstallMac" quasi-virus. Actually, the solution is quite simple. Believe it or not "InstallMac" has it own website that tells one how to uninstall this bugger. Here is the link to thier website: http://www.installmac.com/faq Scroll down the page and there is a link to download the uninstaller. (It also provides instructions on using the install for vaious browsers). Download it, then go to your download folder and you'll see it's an actual .dmg uninstaller. Double click the icon and will ask you if you want to re-set Safari or Firefox whichever browser you're using. Once that's done. Close Safari/Firefox then reopen it, it might ask you again if you want to reset you browser. Click Yes. Once that's done, reopend Safari/Firefox and it will have defaulted back to Apple's homepage. Open the preferances pane in your browser, at the top you see a drop-down menu that lists the various search engines, i.e. Google, Bing, Yahoo. Chose the one you want. I use Google. Next, close out that menu and you will see the Apple homepage displayed. Go up to the address bar and type in the name of the search engine of your choice, i.e., http://www.google.com. Hit return. The Google page is displayed. Then reopen your browser preferences panel and select "Set to Current Home Page." Then close the browser. You should be all set. Just to test it I went into my Apple Mail which was really putting my knickers in a twist and typed a jibberish word and then right clicked it just to see what search engine was displayed. Mine now has reverted back to "Search with Google" rather than what it had been saying was "Search with Bing." So, now I know the problem had been solved.

Maybe this seems like a bit much at first but it beats the beejeepers out of searching for "plist" files and all that other mucking around.

Please let me know how it works for you. I'd be interested in your feedback. Let's face it this is one nasty piece of junk.

Cheers! 😉

That is not sufficient to remove InstallMac. The uninstaller is mostly non-functional... it only removes the most visible part of the adware, leaving actively-running components behind.

For proper removal, see:

http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-genieo/

(InstallMac is powered by Genieo.)

With all due respect, the information you supplied (was) insufficient. A careful reading of the document from the link you provided clearly points out that:

"...Genieo has always, to my knowledge, required the user to manually run an installer clearly named "Install Genieo," regardless of the site it was downloaded from called it."

Therefore, since I have not actively, i.e., with full knowledge installed it, it is has never been active to its full extent on my machine. Having said that, some of it's effects did cause some problems which I outlined in previous posts. They probably piggy-backed in some fashion from a third party download (possibly from Softonic which was also named in the link you provided) which might have caused the only two problems I was having.

In addition, I had already run searches on my system for all of the files enumerated in the link you provided from another source and none of them had ever existed or exist now.

Finally, it becomes apparent that one does not to actually have "Installed Genieo" for it to cause problems for Safari and Apple Mail. Why this is so remains a mystery. Lastly, I have shut-down my machine and then did several cold boots to see if it returned. It did not. So, if my efforts were "not sufficient" then why is it that there are no remaining Genieo files still active and causing problems?

Despite the implications of your post I believe the processes I ran solved the problem for at least two of the issues caused by Genieo. And so I believe my post was a valid one for those who have only these problems.

Wrth gwrs fy mod yn unig lefel un, beth ydw i'n ei wybod.

If you're going to quote me, at least get the sentence following the one you quoted, which says exactly the opposite of what you seem to think I'm saying:

Genieo has always, to my knowledge, required the user to manually run an installer clearly named “Install Genieo”, regardless of what the site it was downloaded from called it. This is no longer the case, as I have found an installer that does not behave this way.

(Emphasis added.)

Genieo has been spotted being installed via things that are not clearly identified as Genieo installers at this point. It is also installed via things downloaded from Softonic that contain the InstallMac adware (which is basically just a variant of Genieo).

That said, you still have to actually install it for it to affect you in any way, and in every single case I have seen, there is some kind of message somewhere in the installer, which you have to agree to, that tells you it's installing Genieo or InstallMac. If you have not installed it, you will not be seeing any of the symptoms of a Genieo "infection." If you are seeing symptoms - and being redirected to Bing (through installmac.com) is a definite symptom of the InstallMac variant of Genieo - then you installed it, somehow.

If you installed it, running the uninstaller will not fully remove it. I have verified and re-verified this repeatedly over many months of studying Genieo variants. You may think that it is gone, because the outward symptoms will have been removed, but in fact it leaves behind invisible components that are kept running at all times. Case in point: a deceptively-named "Application" process, kept running non-stop even after installation.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Kimberly!

I was going insane trying to solve this issue.. Finally found your suggestions and got rid of Bing.

All the best to you.