TheRainWanderer
Level 1
(0 points)
Q: Theres something wrong with my mac! Help! It said that it had a virus and then the browser wouldn't open! I tried to restart my computer but it wouldn't work, so I held down the power buttron. The startup screen is there but nothing else happens'!
So yesterday I went to do some work on my laptop.
My laptop is from about 2005-2006 so it's pretty knackered. Everything was going just fine but then my Avast! Security software notified me saying "VIRUS DETECTED" so I tried to go on the avast application but it wouldn't open. I tried to open my browser but the icon just bounced and stopped and them nothing happened after! So i clicked on the apple sign and clicked shut down. Then the system wouldn't shut down. So i held down the power button causing it to shut itself off. The next day I opened the laptop and turned it on. It made the healthy turning on noise and I can hear the fan working perfectly fine. The startup screen is showing. This is an all grey screen with the Apple logo in the middle and a spinning circle in the middle, the circle has been spinning for over 10 minutes now and I do not know what to do. I use this laptop for literally everything and I cannot possibly afford to replace this . I am hearbroken as I know that there is a possibility that I will no longer be able to use this laptop.
I would be extremely grateful if someone helped me as I am truly devastated. :(
HELP PLEASE
Mac Pro, iOS 6
thomas_r.
Level 7
(30,944 points)
First, note that Avast has a serious problem with false positives, often even identifying legitimate (and important) system files as malicious. If Avast did this, and if it also tried to remove the "infected" files, it could have damaged your system. For this reason, I strongly recommend against Avast!
As for the problem, if Avast damaged the system, you'll need to reinstall it, and that should get you up and running. However, there's also a chance that this is really not related to Avast, and that something else has gone wrong with your system... for example, the hard drive could have died.
For more information, and more troubleshooting steps to try, see:
