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windows frozen due to mackeeper

Safari windows frozen on Mackeeper pages.....is this a virus & what can I do restarting doesn't help.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Mar 5, 2015 2:42 PM

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Posted on Mar 5, 2015 3:24 PM

1. Force Quit .


Press command + option + esc keys together at the same time. Wait.

When Force Quit window appears, select Safari if not already.

Press Force Quit button at the bottom of the window. Wait.

Safari will quit.


2. Relaunch Safari holding the shift key down.


3. Turn off wifi and turn it back on.


Turn off Wifi. Click Wifi icon in the menu bar and select “Turn Wifi off”.

Visit another website.

You won’t have internet connection.

Turn on Wifi. Click Wifi icon in the menu bar and select “Turn Wifi on”.

Select your Network.

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Question marked as Best reply

Mar 5, 2015 3:24 PM in response to Alan Metcalf

1. Force Quit .


Press command + option + esc keys together at the same time. Wait.

When Force Quit window appears, select Safari if not already.

Press Force Quit button at the bottom of the window. Wait.

Safari will quit.


2. Relaunch Safari holding the shift key down.


3. Turn off wifi and turn it back on.


Turn off Wifi. Click Wifi icon in the menu bar and select “Turn Wifi off”.

Visit another website.

You won’t have internet connection.

Turn on Wifi. Click Wifi icon in the menu bar and select “Turn Wifi on”.

Select your Network.

Mar 5, 2015 4:25 PM in response to Alan Metcalf

You may have installed a variant of the "VSearch" ad-injection malware. Follow Apple Support's instructions to remove it.

If you have trouble following those instructions, see below.

Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. This procedure works as of now, as far as I know. It may not work 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 string of characters, 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 it's a meaningless string such as "e8dec5ae7fc75c28" rather than a word. Sometimes the string 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 string 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 string 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; it doesn't vary. 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.

Mar 8, 2015 5:18 PM in response to Alan Metcalf

Right on Alan. Good one!


This latest variant of 'MacKeeper terror' is a new one, and providing support for it over the phone today we assumed it was the older variant where MacKeeper is installed or the user is stuck on the installer. Finally we had the client send a screen snapshot (below).


As you know this latest version uses javascript (we think) to freeze up the browser and you can't get around it without starting a fresh session (holding down the shift key when starting up Safari.)


Another caveat to victims is do not load the website recommended or call the Rx phone number. Also a scam as we have come to believe.


Then clear your Safari history and data and put in a new home page.


Snapshot of the frozen browser load:

User uploaded file

windows frozen due to mackeeper

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