I am using chrome on my mac and on some websites words are underlined in double green lines. When I hover over the words they take me to adds. I don't have any extensions installed and I have tried resetting my browser settings. I can't get rid of them. I also get pop-up ads on websites, mainly wikipedia and I have tried clicking the option to block pop-ups but they are still there. How do I fix this?
You cannot get rid of those double green lines.
Try to move around it, if possible.
Safari has "Reader" feature that can be used to avoid those lines.
I do not use Chrome.May be that Chrome has a similar feature.
Use "Reader" feature, if available.
If an article is "Reader" capable, "Reader" button at the end of the address bar
will be highlighted in blue.
Click it for viewing the article without those pesky lines and other ads.
Sounds like you have some Adware installed. Last I saw what you're reporting it was related to a version of DownLite. If that's the case, we have a few files to pull.
If these files don't exist, don't remove anything else. If it's not exactly where I describe it should be, leave it be.
You can remove it by removing the below files:
The major one to trash is:
/Library/Application Support/VSearch
But, you should also trash:
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.vsearch.agent.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.daemon.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.helper.plist
/System/Library/Frameworks/VSearch.framework
To access these files, open Finder, hold down command+shift+G, and copy/paste this in to remove them (in order). This will take you to 1 file above the file we want to remove.
/library/application support
Find the folder "VSearch" and trash it.
/library/LaunchAgents
Find com.vsearch.agent.plist and trash it.
/library/LaunchDaemons
Find com.vsearch.helper.plist and trash it
Find com.vsearch.helper.plist and trash it.
/System/Library/Frameworks
Find VSearch.framework and trash it.
Empty trash and restart.
Before starting this process, I would recommend having a data backup, just in case.
Regards,
Gnomish8
If these appear on sites where they do not normally appear, you have adware installed. It may be Downlite (aka VSearch), as Gnomish8 has pointed out, but it may also be something else, or you may have other adware in addition to Downlite. See my Adware Removal Guide for help finding and removing it.
(Fair disclosure: The Safe Mac is my site, and contains a Donate button, so I may receive compensation for providing links to The Safe Mac. Donations are not required.)
You installed the "DownLite" trojan, perhaps under a different name. Remove it as follows.
Malware is constantly changing to get around the defenses against it. The instructions in this comment are valid as of now, as far as I know. They won't necessarily be valid in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for more recent discussions or start a new one.
Back up all data.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.vsearch.agent.plist
Right-click or control-click the line and select
Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)
from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item named "VSearch" selected. Drag the selected item to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.
Repeat with each of these lines:
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.daemon.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.helper.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons/Jack.plist
Restart the computer and empty the Trash. Then delete the following items in the same way:
/Library/Application Support/VSearch
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/Jack
/System/Library/Frameworks/VSearch.framework
Some of these items may be absent, in which case you'll get a message that the file can't be found. Skip that item and go on to the next one.
From the Safari menu bar, select
Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Extensions
Uninstall any extensions you don't know you need, including any that have the word "Spigot" in the description. If in doubt, uninstall all extensions. Do the equivalent for the Firefox and Chrome browsers, if you use either of those.
This trojan is distributed on illegal websites that traffic in pirated movies. If you, or anyone else who uses the computer, visit such sites and follow prompts to install software, you can expect much worse to happen in the future.
You may be wondering why you didn't get a warning from Gatekeeper about installing software from an unknown developer, as you should have. The reason is that the DownLite developer has a codesigning certificate issued by Apple, which causes Gatekeeper to give the installer a pass. Apple could revoke the certificate, but as of this writing, has not done so, even though it's aware of the problem. This failure of oversight is inexcusable and has compromised both Gatekeeper and the Developer ID program. You can't rely on Gatekeeper alone to protect you from harmful software.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.
Linc Davis is correct.
This even stopped the pesky pop ups that were popping up when I clicked websites. You explained very easily how to get rid of all the information. Thank you very much.
green underlined words
