Complete uninstall of Chrome?

I am trying to do a complete uninstall, including all personal data, of Chrome on my MacBook Air with Mavericks. I have deleted everything in these folders:

/Library/Application Support/Google

/Library/Google


No matter what I do, I can't seem to find or completely uninstall Chrome. What I am really trying to do is remove Malware that has totally infected Chrome. I get the following problems:

1. Random advertisement pop ups when clicking (doesn't happen every time). Lost of ads for MacKeeper, iYogi. Pop Up Blocker is on and functioning, but is no use.

2. Google search results have been completely infiltrated: the first 10 ads look like Google ads, but they have no relevance to what I am searching on. Video and graphic ads appear to the right and below search results.

3. Many web pages have random words with a double green underline and when you hover over you get some completely unrelated ad.


This happened the moment I installed uTorrent.


I have done everything, including a re-install of Mavericks. Any help is much appreciated.

MacBook Air, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Jul 29, 2014 5:08 PM

Reply
3 replies

Jul 29, 2014 5:17 PM in response to Steve T2

Using torrents to download software is dangerously unsafe.

Uninstalling Software: The Basics


Most OS X applications are completely self-contained "packages" that can be uninstalled by simply dragging the application to the Trash. Applications may create preference files that are stored in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder. Although they do nothing once you delete the associated application, they do take up some disk space. If you want you can look for them in the above location and delete them, too.


Some applications may install an uninstaller program that can be used to remove the application. In some cases the uninstaller may be part of the application's installer, and is invoked by clicking on a Customize button that will appear during the install process.


Some applications may install components in the /Home/Library/Applications Support/ folder. You can also check there to see if the application has created a folder. You can also delete the folder that's in the Applications Support folder. Again, they don't do anything but take up disk space once the application is trashed.


Some applications may install a startupitem or a Log In item. Startupitems are usually installed in the /Library/StartupItems/ folder and less often in the /Home/Library/StartupItems/ folder. Log In Items are set in the Accounts preferences. Open System Preferences, click on the Accounts icon, then click on the LogIn Items tab. Locate the item in the list for the application you want to remove and click on the "-" button to delete it from the list.


Some software use startup daemons or agents that are a new feature of the OS. Look for them in /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Library/LaunchDaemons/ or in /Home/Library/LaunchAgents/.


If an application installs any other files the best way to track them down is to do a Finder search using the application name or the developer name as the search term. Unfortunately Spotlight will not look in certain folders by default. You can modify Spotlight's behavior or use a third-party search utility, EasyFind, instead.


Some applications install a receipt in the /Library/Receipts/ folder. Usually with the same name as the program or the developer. The item generally has a ".pkg" extension. Be sure you also delete this item as some programs use it to determine if it's already installed.


There are many utilities that can uninstall applications. Here is a selection:


1. AppZapper

2. AppDelete

3. Automaton

4. Hazel

5. AppCleaner

6. CleanApp

7. iTrash

8. Amnesia

9. Uninstaller

10. Spring Cleaning


For more information visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on removing software.

Jul 29, 2014 5:50 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy, you Rock! Thank you so much. I did most everything that you suggested. I think I finally pinpointed the offending application as "Searchme" by Spigot. Both Safari and Chrome were infected, but FireFox (which I rarely use) asked me to disable this app when I launched it. I looked in the Library folders and found some items named "vSearch" and deleted those.


But here is the irony: I downloaded both AppZapper and iTrash and used them to delete Chrome. When I reinstalled Chrome, ALL my settings were restored. So, Google must have done something strange with the most recent version. I guess it doesn't matter, because now I have it fixed. Thanks again for the quick response.

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Complete uninstall of Chrome?

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