Q: Is MacKeeper a real program that works?

Yes MacKeeper is a real program. No it doesn't work. Seriously. Search the forum for the hundreds (and hundreds) of posts about this vile junk. To put it in context, the makers are now the subject of two class action lawsuits.

There is no need for any program to "clean your mac". They are all some variant of junk ware. For best help with your issues give a full description of what's going on.

Do not install MacKeeper (and how to uninstall it if you have):

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6221

(Please note that references to the original developers, Zeobit, also now refer to Kromtech Alliance Corp, who acquired MacKeeper and PCKeeper from ZeoBit LLC in early 2013.)

Mackeeper is very real, just as the ebola virus is.  If you enjoy degrading the performance of your MBP, by all means install Mackeeper or any other so called 'performance' or 'cleaning ' application.  All of them should be avoided.

Ciao.

You may have inadvertently installed adware. Eradicating it is simple. For an explanation or how this may have occurred, how to avoid it in the future, and for one possible solution read How to install adware.

If that does not describe your problem please post a representative screenshot of the anomaly:

Screenshots (Mac):

To take a screenshot hold ⌘ Shift 4 to create a selection crosshair. Click and hold while you drag the crosshair over the area you wish to capture and then release the mouse or trackpad. You will hear a "camera shutter" sound. This will deposit a screenshot named "Screen Shot...." followed by a date and time on your Desktop.

When you post your response, click the "camera" icon above the text field:

This will display a dialog box which enables you to choose the screenshot file (remember it's on your Desktop) and click the Insert Image button. If you are not using full screen mode you can simply drag the image into the text entry field.

⌘ Shift 4 and then pressing the space bar captures the frontmost window.

⌘ Shift 3 captures the entire screen.

Don't capture or upload any information you consider personal. To edit an existing screenshot, read How to edit a screenshot.

Drag the screenshot to the Trash after you post your reply.

Is there a program that will clean up your mac to improve speed?

No. The only programs that claim that ability will do the opposite, while "cleaning" $40 from your wallet. They are very successful at that task. As applied to maintaining your Mac, please purge the terminology "clean" from your lexicon. Macs do not require, and will not benefit from, the plethora of aggressively marketed "cleaning" apps available.

• Never install any product that claims to "clean up", "speed up",  "optimize", "boost" or "accelerate" your Mac; to "wash" it, "tune" it, or to make it "shiny". Those claims are absurd.
  
  • Such products are very aggressively marketed. They are all scams.

You may have installed the "VSearch" 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 before proceeding.

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 "com.vsearch.agent.plist" 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
~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ConduitNPAPIPlugin.plugin

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," "Trovi," or "Conduit" in the description. If in doubt, uninstall all extensions. Do the equivalent for the Firefox and Chrome browsers, if you use either of those.

Reset the home page and default search engine in all the browsers, if it was changed.

This trojan is distributed on illegal websites that traffic in pirated content. 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 this Internet criminal 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 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.

Please post a screenshot. For instructions refer to my earlier reply. Remember to omit any information you may consider personal.