When ever I search on address bar, search.quick and then thesmartsearch.net become active.
I have used preference option many times, and changes the preference but nit getting the desired results. i always select New windows and new tab open with: top sites but it become hoke page again and again. I have used reset safari option also. But problem remains the same.
Provide me solution please.
MacBook Air, iOS 8
You may have installed a variant of the "VSearch" ad-injection malware.
Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. These instructions are valid as of today, 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 a more recent discussion, or start a new one.
The VSearch malware tries to hide itself by varying the names of the files it installs. To remove it, you must first identify the naming pattern.
Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
/Library/LaunchDaemons
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.
A folder named "LaunchDaemons" may open. Look inside it for two files with names of the form
com.something.daemon.plist
and
com.something.helper.plist
Here something is a variable word, which can be different in each case. So far it has always been a string of letters without punctuation, such as "cloud," "dot," "highway," "submarine," or "trusteddownloads." Sometimes the word is "apple," and then you must be especially careful not to delete the wrong files, because many built-in OS X files have similar names.
If you find these files, leave the LaunchDaemons folder open, and open the following folder in the same way:
/Library/LaunchAgents
In this folder, there may be a file named
com.something.agent.plist
where the word something is the same as before.
If you feel confident that you've identified the above files, back up all data, then drag just those three files—nothing else—to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password. Close the Finder windows and restart the computer.
Don't delete the "LaunchAgents" or "LaunchDaemons" folder or anything else inside either one.
The malware is now permanently inactivated, as long as you never reinstall it. You can stop here if you like, or you can remove two remaining components for the sake of completeness.
Open this folder:
/Library/Application Support
If it has a subfolder named just
something
where something is the same word you saw before, drag that subfolder to the Trash and close the window.
Don't delete the "Application Support" folder or anything else inside it.
Finally, in this folder:
/System/Library/Frameworks
there may an item named exactly
v.framework
It's actually a folder, though it has a different icon than usual. This item always has the above name. Drag it to the Trash and close the window.
Don't delete the "Frameworks" folder or anything else inside it.
If you didn't find the files or you're not sure about the identification, post what you found.
If in doubt, or if you have no backups, change nothing at all.
The trouble may have started when you downloaded and ran an application called "MPlayerX." That's the name of a legitimate free movie player, but the name is also used fraudulently to distribute VSearch. If there is an item with that name in the Applications folder, delete it, and if you wish, replace it with the genuine article from mplayerx.org.
This trojan is often found on illegal websites that traffic in pirated content such as movies. If you, or anyone else who uses the computer, visit such sites and follow prompts to install software, you can expect more of the same, and worse, to follow. Never install any software that you downloaded from a bittorrent, or that was downloaded by someone else from an unknown source.
In the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences, select the General tab. The radio button marked Anywhere should not be selected. If it is, click the lock icon to unlock the settings, then select one of the other buttons. After that, don't ignore a warning that you are about to run or install an application from an unknown developer.
Then, still in System Preferences, open the App Store or Software Update pane and check the box marked
Install system data files and security updates (OS X 10.10 or later)
or
Download updates automatically (OS X 10.9 or earlier)
if it's not already checked.
You may have installed a variant of the "VSearch" ad-injection malware.
Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. These instructions are valid as of today, 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 a more recent discussion, or start a new one.
The VSearch malware tries to hide itself by varying the names of the files it installs. To remove it, you must first identify the naming pattern.
Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
/Library/LaunchDaemons
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.
A folder named "LaunchDaemons" may open. Look inside it for two files with names of the form
com.something.daemon.plist
and
com.something.helper.plist
Here something is a variable word, which can be different in each case. So far it has always been a string of letters without punctuation, such as "cloud," "dot," "highway," "submarine," or "trusteddownloads." Sometimes the word is "apple," and then you must be especially careful not to delete the wrong files, because many built-in OS X files have similar names.
If you find these files, leave the LaunchDaemons folder open, and open the following folder in the same way:
/Library/LaunchAgents
In this folder, there may be a file named
com.something.agent.plist
where the word something is the same as before.
If you feel confident that you've identified the above files, back up all data, then drag just those three files—nothing else—to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password. Close the Finder windows and restart the computer.
Don't delete the "LaunchAgents" or "LaunchDaemons" folder or anything else inside either one.
The malware is now permanently inactivated, as long as you never reinstall it. You can stop here if you like, or you can remove two remaining components for the sake of completeness.
Open this folder:
/Library/Application Support
If it has a subfolder named just
something
where something is the same word you saw before, drag that subfolder to the Trash and close the window.
Don't delete the "Application Support" folder or anything else inside it.
Finally, in this folder:
/System/Library/Frameworks
there may an item named exactly
v.framework
It's actually a folder, though it has a different icon than usual. This item always has the above name. Drag it to the Trash and close the window.
Don't delete the "Frameworks" folder or anything else inside it.
If you didn't find the files or you're not sure about the identification, post what you found.
If in doubt, or if you have no backups, change nothing at all.
The trouble may have started when you downloaded and ran an application called "MPlayerX." That's the name of a legitimate free movie player, but the name is also used fraudulently to distribute VSearch. If there is an item with that name in the Applications folder, delete it, and if you wish, replace it with the genuine article from mplayerx.org.
This trojan is often found on illegal websites that traffic in pirated content such as movies. If you, or anyone else who uses the computer, visit such sites and follow prompts to install software, you can expect more of the same, and worse, to follow. Never install any software that you downloaded from a bittorrent, or that was downloaded by someone else from an unknown source.
In the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences, select the General tab. The radio button marked Anywhere should not be selected. If it is, click the lock icon to unlock the settings, then select one of the other buttons. After that, don't ignore a warning that you are about to run or install an application from an unknown developer.
Then, still in System Preferences, open the App Store or Software Update pane and check the box marked
Install system data files and security updates (OS X 10.10 or later)
or
Download updates automatically (OS X 10.9 or earlier)
if it's not already checked.
Perfect Solution. Get the desired result and system preference are working well.
I was trying to download some music player app as quicktime not supporting some formats. Will you please suggest some application that can play all type of video formats in mac?
Look into VLC Player: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html.
Just tried this on January 22 and it all still works!!! Brilliant. Life saver. THANK YOU LINC DAVIS.
After looking so long for a solution finally you gave me the right answer. Most of the SOLUTIONS were download more programs and I wasn't comfortable to do that after all this. THANK YOU!!!!!
The problem was not caused by you downloading a program. It was either caused by you visiting a malicious website, or downloading an app from a source other than its developers, which bundles the adware with what would otherwise be a legitimate app.
When you see someone recommending a download, don't dismiss it right away, research it. Downloading AdwareMedic would have probably been a quicker solution. Also, you don't know what exactly the instructions you've followed will do, what effects they might have, or if they're complete. The same goes for AdwareMedic, but I'm just recommending not favoring one over the other.
This site has "reputation points," which users accumulate by having the people who they help (the original posters) award them points when their problem is solved. If someone here with lots of points recommends something, you can usually assume it is safe, but definitely not a scam.
Either way, glad to hear that you were able to switch your search engine back.
Dear Linc Davis
Same problem here... I'm trying to follow the steps you described. (and trying to write in English as good as possible... Dutch is my language)
I looked for the folders LaunchAgents and LaunchDeamons and this is what I found:
In the folder LaunchDeamons:
com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist
com.oracle.javaUpdateHelper.plist
In the folder LaunchAgents:
com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist
com.hp.productresearch.plist
com.oracle.java-Updater.plist
Can you tell me what I have to remove. I don't recognize the files you are referring to.
Thanks a lot!
You don't have VSearch and my comment in this thread doesn't apply to you. Without knowing what your problem is, I can only give a generic answer.
There is no need to download anything to solve this problem.
You may have installed one or more of the common types of ad-injection malware. Follow the instructions on this Apple Support page to remove it. It's been reported that some variants of the "VSearch" malware block access to the page. If that happens, start in safe mode by holding down the shift key at the startup chime, then try again.
Back up all data before making any changes.
One of the steps in the article is to remove malicious Safari extensions. Do the equivalent in the Chrome and Firefox browsers, if you use either of those. If Safari crashes on launch, skip that step and come back to it after you've done everything else.
If you don't find any of the files or extensions listed, or if removing them doesn't stop the ad injection, ask for further instructions.
Make sure you don't repeat the mistake that led you to install the malware. It may have come from an Internet cesspit such as "Softonic" or "CNET Download." Never visit either of those sites again. You might also have downloaded it from an ad in a page on some other site. The ad would probably have included a large green button labeled "Download" or "Download Now" in white letters. The button is designed to confuse people who intend to download something else on the same page. If you ever download a file that isn't obviously what you expected, delete it immediately.
Malware is also found on websites that traffic in pirated content such as video. If you, or anyone else who uses the computer, visit such sites and follow prompts to install software, you can expect more of the same, and worse, to follow. Never install any software that you downloaded from a bittorrent, or that was downloaded by someone else from an unknown source.
In the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences, select the General tab. The radio button marked Anywhere should not be selected. If it is, click the lock icon to unlock the settings, then select one of the other buttons. After that, don't ignore a warning that you are about to run or install an application from an unknown developer.
Still in System Preferences, open the App Store or Software Update pane and check the box marked
Install system data files and security updates (OS X 10.10 or later)
or
Download updates automatically (OS X 10.9 or earlier)
if it's not already checked.
Thank you so much Linc Davis! We followed your directions and you saved us from taking both of our Macs to the Genious Bar! 🙂 Beyond Greatful!!!
Thaaaaaanks so much.Awesome!
Hi,
I followed your instructions and it has solved the issue completely - thank you for posting them in such a clear and understandable way.
I have a 2010 macbook pro.
Thank YOU!!! This has been so, so, so helpful!!!
Hi there!
Your article is super helpful. However, the files in my Launch Daemons folder don't have any words, it's all number/letter variations. Such as:
com.9eaa2175febe4124.daemon.plist
com.9eaa2175febe4124.helper.plist
Should I proceed with moving them to the trash bin? Or do you think this is a different type of malware.
Thanks!
Cara
Hi there!
Your article is super helpful. However, the files in my Launch Daemons folder don't have any words, it's all number/letter variations. Such as:
com.9eaa2175febe4124.daemon.plist
com.9eaa2175febe4124.helper.plist
Should I proceed with moving them to the trash bin? Or do you think this is a different type of malware.
Thanks!
Cara
Thanks for the good explanation.
For me the files were named com.7c7fcf9ef0de65a1.agent.plist and else.
thesmartsearch.net become default search engine inspite of removing from preference
