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I apparently downloaded a virus with Adobe Flashplayer Update, since the harddrive cannot be repaired. Does this virus affect my external Passport backup, also? I now need to reformat my hard drive and restore files from Passport ... help!
OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)
What makes you think a "virus" caused your problem? There are no documented viruses that affect a Mac running OS X.
In answer to your question, Time Machine has, as you probably know, hourly backups. If you decide to restore, I would select one prior to your problem.
Incidentally, I installed the Flash Player update without incident.
Barry
If the hard drive is corrupt and cannot be repaired by Disk Utility, that really doesn't have anything to do with a virus, or any other kind of malware. That's a serious problem, and it is very likely, in fact, be an early sign that your hard drive is dying.
Regarding the malware issue, what makes you believe that you downloaded malware with a Flash update? Were you alerted to an "update" on a suspicious site, and did you install the resulting file? If so, you could have some kind of adware, or even potentially some kind of malware. In this case, you would probably want to revert to a backup prior to doing that. You don't need to worry about malware infecting the earlier backups... no Mac malware has ever been known to do that.
Let's take one thing at a time, starting with this:
the harddrive cannot be repaired
How do you know that?
When the update to Adobe Flashplayer that I installed caused Flashplayer to not work on usual websites using it, I tried all the suggesed procedures on the Adobe website, but could not restore flashplayer function. (I have subsequently learned Adobe is aware of this problem and is working on an update to solve it.)
I decided to try good old "restart" as a last resort and that is when the significant problems began. I eventually started my computer fom Recovery and ran ran Disk Utility. After running Verify Disk on the HD and then Disk Repair, as instructed, I received the following message:
Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
I suspect a virus because when looking for a reason for the malfunctioning of the computer following installation of Adobe Flashplayer, I googled "adobe flashplayer virus mac 2014." The most recent report was April 4, 2014.
Since I was distracted when the update notice came on my screen, I did not do as I always have always carefully done and did not go directly to the Adobe website. I just clicked the notice and downloaded the software. My error. A virus seems a potential cause of the problems.
I also installed a Flashplayer update on a laptop with no problem. However, I was annoyed and distracted when a notice popped up on my desktop screen that I needed to update my Flashplayer and foolishly clicked on the notice, downloaded the software, and when I began to have serious problems googled" adobe flashplayer virus mac 2014." The most recent entry was Apr 2014 and there appears to be a malware affecting Macs. It seems a potential possibility.
You very well may have downloaded something bad - more likely adware than actual malware - but that's fairly moot at this point. Whatever was downloaded didn't cause the hard drive problem. Just restore your machine to a time prior to installing whatever that was. And make sure your backups are maintained scrupulously, since your hard drive may be dying.
Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
That means the drive has malfunctioned. The association with a Flash update is a coincidence. In your place, I would have the machine tested at an Apple Store for a hardware fault, and even if the test was negative I would consider replacing the drive. If you want to continue using it, do what the message says.
Thank you for the advice. Fortunately, there is an Apple store 20 minutes from my home; I will take you advice.
I had the exact same issue with an Adobe Flash Player update I accidentally clicked on. My MBP has never been the same. What I am trying to understand is if I back up my MBP to a time machine, wipe the computer clean (as if it is a new computer and then restore the computer from the Time Maching back up, AM I SIMPLY PUTTING THE SAME INFECTED INFORMATION BACK ONTO MY COMPUTER?
I had the identical situation and now nothing works
Yes
Restore from a backup that predates the "virus" infection.
Does virus infect backup Time Machine?
