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chickashnaz Author

Level 1

36 points

ANNOYING MACKEEPER TABS AND POPUP ADS

Hi there,

I bought a new macbook air 2 weeks ago, all has been well and good (new to mac products, always for android, still am).

Safari has also been good, as well as chrome, but as of recently, this whole "MacKeeper", "Zeobit.com" **** is completely taking over my search engines etc, problems including:

- Clean up mac ads everywhere, as well as the typical "Get a new iPhone 5' rubbish

- When clicking on links, my top sites tab shows up as well as the typical "MacKeeper" download page in another. I can only open links by pressing command to open in new tabs, however my top sites tab opens as well as the Mackeeper download page, along with it's fling annoying ads

- Ads as well before relevant google search links, like "Pages related to...." With zeobit.com on every inch of my ******* screen

Note that:

- I HAVE NOT downloaded anything to do with mackeeper, so uninstalling programs etc is unnecessary information - purely mackeeper tab and popup annoyances

- I have TRIED to 'restart' safari and remove cache, nothing works

- I have done the whole system preferences, privacy, remove all website data (which this zeobit.com **** is listed), and I remove zeobit.com but it just goes back on the list when I go through this process again

- Yes I have 'block popup ads' ticked

Can someone give me a solution to removing these popups with anything to do with zeobit.com and fling mackeeper which doesn't require me to read a long page of information? I'm about to smash my screen in here.

Posted on Jul 10, 2014 4:48 AM

341 replies

Nov 11, 2014 5:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

I don't understand how to do all that, can anyone help me please?? I'm a just a computer user who doesn't understand any of this!

Nov 11, 2014 5:06 PM in response to phillipfromconroe

I am the same, I don't understand exactly what I have to do!!

thomas_r.

Level 7

32,001 points

Nov 11, 2014 5:11 PM in response to irischase43

irischase43 wrote:

I don't understand how to do all that, can anyone help me please?? I'm a just a computer user who doesn't understand any of this!

If Linc's directions are too difficult to follow, try my AdwareMedic app instead. It will remove the adware Linc gave instructions for as well as more than 20 others.

Be aware that if you are actually infected with the Downlite (aka VSearch) adware, it will probably try to prevent you from loading the AdwareMedic site. If you are unable to load the site, see:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7792

(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com, in the form of buttons allowing for donations. Donations are not required to use my site or software.)

Nov 11, 2014 5:21 PM in response to Linc Davis

Finally managed to get rid of it (well I think!!). Thanks a lot for that, as the whole thing was just driving me crazy!!

Nov 11, 2014 5:49 PM in response to thomas_r.

I've tried Linc's method, ran Adware and it found nothing, and tried manual removal, but STILL cannot figure this out--can anyone help with other ideas or resources? Like others, this is driving me absolutely crazy. Please help!

Nov 11, 2014 5:56 PM in response to shuybrecht

Please describe exactly what you're seeing.

Nov 11, 2014 6:28 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123

When using Linc's method, I copy and paste the Vsearch item lines he provided and it says file cannot be found. Then I tried using the AdwareMedic, as recommended on this board, by downloading and running the program. I scanned for Adware and it says that no Adware has been found. I tried then manually doing the reveal in finder using thesafemac.com's informational item lines, to no avail. I'm not sure what else to do...and to be honest, the ads seemingly are a little less (maybe I'm going nuts though), but they still occur and it's pretty annoying. Maybe I'm just dense, but I've generally been a pretty tech savvy person (or at least not tech illiterate) when it comes to troubleshooting. Thanks in advance.

thomas_r.

Level 7

32,001 points

Nov 11, 2014 6:33 PM in response to shuybrecht

shuybrecht wrote:

Then I tried using the AdwareMedic, as recommended on this board, by downloading and running the program. I scanned for Adware and it says that no Adware has been found.

In that case, either your problem isn't due to adware or it's caused by adware that I've never seen before. Start here:

http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/unsolved.php

If nothing there helps, follow the final instruction on that page to submit a system snapshot to me at The Safe Mac.

Nov 11, 2014 6:46 PM in response to shuybrecht

When I say describe what you're seeing, I'm asking you to describe the problem, not what you tried to solve it.

Nov 11, 2014 7:07 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123

My bad, I didn't know what you meant. I see the ads (that I screenshot) below and also mackeeper ads. Thanks for the help.

Nov 11, 2014 7:19 PM in response to shuybrecht

Do you see these all the time, or are you just unable to get rid of it?

See this article: https://sites.google.com/sites/appleclubfhs/support/advice-and-articles/browser- popup-hijack-safari.

(Note that I am affiliated with that site, and some pages contain ads).

Nov 11, 2014 7:42 PM in response to stevejobsfan0123

They just pop up randomly, ever so often, when clicking on links. It's like every 20-30 clicks, maybe. I can close them out, but the fact they pop up is really annoying.

Nov 11, 2014 7:56 PM in response to shuybrecht

Are you on the same website when they appear?

louis002

Level 1

0 points

Nov 11, 2014 9:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

Very nice! Easy solution to a problem that I finally had it with... enough to google around for a fix. Thanks!

Nov 12, 2014 6:36 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

No, I'm on websites like ESPN.com or just browsing on Facebook, news sites, etc. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

ANNOYING MACKEEPER TABS AND POPUP ADS