Unwanted pop-ups in Safari

Question

Unwanted pop-ups in Safari

Recently I discovered that I had some corrupted plist files as pointed out by DiskWarrior. I removed them and reinstalled a fresh copy of OS X 10.9.4 via Recovery. The computer appeared to work a little faster, but I am now encountering a new problem that I’ve never experienced before. Every time I open Safari or add a new tab I get three pop-up screens which constantly change in address. See below:

I can’t begin to know what application they are asking for.

Below is a printout from EtreCheck:

EtreCheck version: 1.9.15 (52)

Report generated September 10, 2014 at 6:42:17 PM EDT

Hardware Information: ?

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (Verified)

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2 cores

16 GB RAM

Video Information: ?

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ?

OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) - Uptime: 1 day 10:46:29

Disk Information: ?

WDC WD10EARX-00PASB0 disk1 : (1 TB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Hard Disk (disk1s2) /Volumes/Hard Disk: 999.86 GB (875.21 GB free)

Samsung SSD 840 Series disk0 : (120.03 GB)

S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

SSD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 106.91 GB (43.89 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

eDrive (disk0s4) <not mounted>: 12.13 GB

USB Information: ?

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Gatekeeper: ?

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ?

[not loaded] com.dymo.usbprinterclassdriver.kext (1.1 - SDK 10.5) Support

Launch Daemons: ?

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[not loaded] com.bombich.ccc.plist Support

[not loaded] com.dymo.pnpd.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist Support

Launch Agents: ?

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist Support

User Launch Agents: ?

[not loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist Support

[not loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

User Login Items: ?

iTunesHelper

SpeechSynthesisServer

Mail

xScan

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

InVisible

Safari

Internet Plug-ins: ?

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.07 - SDK 10.6 Support

DYMO NPAPI Addin: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 15.0.0.152 - SDK 10.6 Support

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

DYMO Safari Addin: Version: (null) - SDK 10.5 Support

Safari Extensions: ?

iTube Studio (Disabled)

AdBlock (Disabled)

Awesome Screenshot (Disabled)

MapTricks (Disabled)

VideoCatcher

Audio Plug-ins: ?

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9

iTunes Plug-ins: ?

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9

3rd Party Preference Panes: ?

Flash Player Support

TechTool Protection Support

Time Machine: ?

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ?

2% WindowServer

1% fontd

1% xScan

0% hidd

0% SystemUIServer

Top Processes by Memory: ?

197 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

164 MB softwareupdated

164 MB com.apple.IconServicesAgent

164 MB Mail

147 MB mds_stores

Virtual Memory Information: ?

11.78 GB Free RAM

2.71 GB Active RAM

297 MB Inactive RAM

1.22 GB Wired RAM

822 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Sep 10, 2014 4:11 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Niel

Community+ 2026

Level 10

742,901 points

Sep 10, 2014 4:14 PM in response to Community User

Click here and run the tool.

(112417)

Reply

Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

Sep 10, 2014 4:16 PM in response to Community User

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems

If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide and The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Tool.

Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.

An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

See these Apple articles:

Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

OS X Mavericks- Protect your Mac from malware

About file quarantine in OS X

If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.)

From user Joe Bailey comes this equally useful advice:

The facts are:

1. There is no anti-malware software that can detect 100% of the malware out there.

2. There is no anti-malware that can detect everything targeting the Mac.

3. The very best way to prevent the most attacks is for you as the user to be aware that

the most successful malware attacks rely on very sophisticated social engineering

techniques preying on human avarice, ****, and fear.

4. Internet popups saying the FBI, NSA, Microsoft, your ISP has detected malware on

your computer is intended to entice you to install their malware thinking it is a

protection against malware.

5. Some of the anti-malware products on the market are worse than the malware

from which they purport to protect you.

6. Be cautious where you go on the internet.

7. Only download anything from sites you know are safe.

8. Avoid links you receive in email, always be suspicious even if you get something

you think is from a friend, but you were not expecting.

9. If there is any question in your mind, then assume it is malware.

Reply

Answer 3

Sep 10, 2014 4:42 PM in response to Niel

Niel,

Thank you for your extremely prompt reply. I did as you suggested and downloaded and ran the tool. And yes, it did find one adware, but the problem did not go away even after rebooting the computer. I did discover that I do NOT have the problem in Firefox and Google Chrome. I'm going to say that the adware software was helpful.

Daniel

Reply

Answer 4

Sep 10, 2014 4:51 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy,

I also thank you for your prompt reply. Your detailed instructions SOLVED MY PROBLEM!

Although I do not yet know which of four extensions caused the problem, it is only a matter of turning on one at a time in order to find out.

If Apple -- with their billions in the bank -- are not compensating people like you, Niel and others, they should be.

Thanks again,

Daniel

Reply

Answer 5

Sep 12, 2014 8:35 AM in response to Community User

I finally discovered that a Safari Extension called VideoCatcher was the culprit. Perhaps it had become corrupted. By simply disabling the extension, my problem of popups was eliminated. In addition, Safari once again was automatically launched via Login Items upon booting up or restarting the computer.

Daniel

Reply