Q: How do I get rid of a virus that redirects my homepage?
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Sep 8, 2015 12:23 AMby D.Cohen,Hi! Go to Safari menu (At the very top right side of your screen next to Apple icon), choose "Quit Safari"
press "Shift" button and while holding this button on your keyboard single click on the Safari icon on your Dock.
Open Safari - Preferences - Privacy - Remove All Website Data.
Open the Go menu with Option (Alt) key pressed - Library - locate Safari folder and move it to your desktop. Restart your Mac, open Safari and delete the folder from your desktop.
Also, you may try these steps:
Restart your Mac.
Try Safe Boot:
- Shut down your Mac
- Wait until your computer turns off and after that press the Power button
- Right after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key
- Release the Shift key when you see a grey Apple sign and the progress bar below this sign
- After your Mac boots up, restart it as you usually do.
If this doesn't help, follow the instructions below:
- Shut down your Mac
- Wait until your computer turns off and after that press the Power button
- Right after you hear the startup tone, press and hold the Shift key
- Release the Shift key when you see a grey Apple sign and the progress bar below this sign
- Once you see Desktop, start a Disk Utility scan to detect and repair file system errors (don't forget to choose your main hard drive)
- Click on Verify Disk and then, if asked to fix problems, on Repair Disk
- After this, click on Verify Disk Permissions and then on Repair Disk Permissions
- After the process is finished, shut down your Mac and turn it back on after about 30 seconds
Use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware: http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php
You can also remove the adware manually using the steps provided by Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987
After that, make sure your default search engine is set to the one you always use. To do so, Open Safari - Preferences - Search.
Hope this helps!
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Sep 8, 2015 9:53 AMby Linc Davis,You may have installed ad-injection malware ("adware").
Don't use any kind of "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" product on a Mac. There is never a need for it, and relying on it for protection makes you more vulnerable to attack, not less.
Some of the most common types of adware can be removed by following Apple's instructions. If those instructions don't work for you, or if you have trouble following them, see below.
This easy procedure will detect any kind of adware that I know of. Deactivating it is a separate, and even easier, procedure that doesn't involve downloading anything.
Some legitimate software is ad-supported and may display ads in its own windows or in a web browser while it's running. That's not malware and it may not show up. Also, some websites carry intrusive popup ads that may be mistaken for adware.
If none of your web browsers is working well enough to carry out these instructions, restart the computer in safe mode. That will disable the malware temporarily.
Step 1
Please 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/LaunchAgents
In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. Press return. Either a folder named "LaunchAgents" will open, or you'll get a notice that the folder can't be found. If the folder isn't found, go to the next step.
If the folder does open, press the key combination command-2 to select list view, if it's not already selected. Please don't skip this step.
There should be a column in the Finder window headed Date Modified. Click that heading twice to sort the contents by date with the newest at the top. If necessary, enlarge the window so that all of the contents are showing.
Follow the instructions in this support article under the heading "Take a screenshot of a window." An image file with a name beginning in "Screen Shot" should be saved to the Desktop. Open the screenshot and make sure it's readable. If not, capture a smaller part of the screen showing only what needs to be shown.
Start a reply to this message. Drag the image file into the editing window to upload it. You can also include text in the reply.
Leave the folder open for now.
Step 2
Do as in Step 1 with this line:
/Library/LaunchAgents
The folder that may open will have the same name, but is not the same, as the one in Step 1. As in that step, the folder may not exist.
Step 3
Repeat with this line:
/Library/LaunchDaemons
This time the folder will be named "LaunchDaemons."
Step 4
Open the Safari preferences window and select the Extensions tab. If any extensions are listed, post a screenshot. If there are no extensions, or if you can't launch Safari, skip this step.
Step 5
If you use the Firefox or Chrome browser, open its extension list and do as in Step 4.
