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safari changes my default web search to bing

I have no idea how this happened, but all of a sudden my web home page became something called ecolife.com and my search engine changed to Bing. I have it set to Google, but it keeps going back to Bing. I closed the program and restarted holding down the shift key, but it didn't help. I also rebooted my iMac. I'm running Mavericks and Safari 7.1.6. The only glitch is that I downloaded a font from Fonts101.com, but it validated just fine. Any suggestions?

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on May 31, 2015 10:13 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on May 31, 2015 10:48 AM

This can happen if adware is installed without your knowledge.


1. Use free AdwareMedic to remove adware


http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php


Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button to remove adware.

Once done, quit AdwareMedic.


or


Remove the adware manually by following the “HowTo” from Apple.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987



2. Safari > Preferences > Extensions

Turn those off and relaunch Safari.

Turn those on one by one and test.


3. Safari > Preferences > Search > Search Engine :

Select your preferred search engine.


4. Safari > Preferences > General > Homepage:

Set your Homepage.

8 replies
Question marked as Best reply

May 31, 2015 10:48 AM in response to katierose

This can happen if adware is installed without your knowledge.


1. Use free AdwareMedic to remove adware


http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php


Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button to remove adware.

Once done, quit AdwareMedic.


or


Remove the adware manually by following the “HowTo” from Apple.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987



2. Safari > Preferences > Extensions

Turn those off and relaunch Safari.

Turn those on one by one and test.


3. Safari > Preferences > Search > Search Engine :

Select your preferred search engine.


4. Safari > Preferences > General > Homepage:

Set your Homepage.

May 31, 2015 11:12 AM in response to katierose

There is no need to download anything to solve this problem.

If Safari crashes on launch and you don't have another web browser, you should be able to launch Safari by starting up in safe mode.

You may have installed the "Genieo" or "InstallMac" ad-injection malware. Follow the instructions on this Apple Support page to remove it.

Back up all data before proceeding.

Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. In addition to the files listed in the support article, you may also have some of the following:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.Installer.completer.download.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.Installer.completer.ltvbit.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.Installer.completer.update.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/Texiday.download.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/Texiday.ltvbit.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/Texiday.update.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.spigot.SearchProtection.plist

~/Library/Application Support/IM.Installer

Removing these files, if they exist, is optional if you've already followed Apple's instructions.

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.

After removing the malware, remember to reset your home page in all the web browsers affected, if it was changed.

If you don't find any of the files or extensions listed, or if removing them doesn't stop the ad injection, then you may have one of the other kinds of adware covered by the support article. Follow the rest of the instructions in the article.

If you find Apple's instructions too hard to follow, ask for an alternative that doesn't require you to trust a black-box application without knowing what it does.

Make sure you don't repeat the mistake that led you to install the malware. Chances are you got it from an Internet cesspit such as "Softonic," "CNET Download," or "SourceForge." Never visit any 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.

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.

May 31, 2015 12:26 PM in response to dominic23

Thanks for this. The AdwareMedic removed what turned out to be a Genieo virus. However, I had to talk to Apple Tech Support for help to get to files buried deep within other directories. There were files marked epolife as well that had to be removed. I should have know better than to download something from the Internet, even from sites that have been OK before.

May 31, 2015 3:53 PM in response to Linc Davis

I did that -- and had to do it with Safari, Chrome and Firefox as well. Each had the epolife.com home page. What I ended up doing was a good clean out of files and a couple of apps I wasn't using. I uninstalled the extensions on each browser, and then deleted the browsers. I haven't reinstalled Firefox, but when I reinstalled Chrome and Safari they were finally working well. Home pages reset as well. Thanks for your help.

Jan 2, 2016 1:48 PM in response to Linc Davis

Mine seems to have come from Adobe Flashplayer download which tried to install a bunch of other things that I kept rejecting but now I seem to have the epolife and MacKeeper giving me fits. Fortunately, it keeps asking for my permission to change things so I am hoping I'm safe but my browser homepage did change to Yahoo and I reset it to the Apple page. Hopefully I can get everything back in order. I am going to email Adobe.

safari changes my default web search to bing

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