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How to Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus

I have just noticed on My Macbook Air that window pop up on my Macbook Air apps Advanced Mac Cleaner and inform me that its start to scan my Mac and save my Macbook from errors.


Last night my younger brother was used my Macbook Air and i suppose accidentally he was installed this utility. Is it good for my Mac or should i uninstalled it right now. Because scan is complete already and its shows me 1389 Errors on my Macbook Air. Should i purchase this tool full version or remove it. because on other discussion thread on apple website here i just noticed that everyone share their bad experience and recommended to uninstall. Advanced Mac Cleaner is fake virus utility. What to do now. Should i remove these 1389 errors or uninstall it

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 28, 2015 1:13 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 28, 2015 1:20 AM

Remove it as soon as you can. Do not respond to the site in any way.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2435 Here is some excellent advice from a senior member that gives a link to removing Mackeeper.

128 replies

Sep 28, 2015 10:15 AM in response to markh7482

You installed a fake "utility" called "Advanced Mac Cleaner." Like any software that purports to automatically "clean up" or "speed up" a Mac, it's a scam. To remove it, take the steps below. Some of the files listed may be absent. Back up all data before proceeding.

If you paid for the software with a credit card, consider reporting the charge to the bank as fraudulent.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.pcv.hlpramc.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Move the selected item to the Trash. Log out or restart the computer.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

Move the following item to the Trash as in Step 1:

/Library/Application Support/amc

This time you may be prompted for your administrator login password. There's no need to log out after taking this step.

Step 3

Move this item to the Trash:

~/Library/AdvancedMacCleaner

Step 4

Open the Applications folder and move an item named "Advanced Mac Cleaner" (if it's present) to the Trash. Empty the Trash.

Jan 15, 2016 3:47 PM in response to Linc Davis

The instructions that I posted in this discussion a few months ago are now outdated. Since people are still finding the discussion, I'll post an update.

First, never use any kind of "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" software on a Mac. That's how you cause problems, not how you solve them. Don't follow the instructions of the scam developer, either.

It's likely that you will have installed other malware along with "Advanced Mac Cleaner." If you still have problems after removing it, I strongly suggest that you start your own discussion to address those problems.

To remove "Advanced Mac Cleaner," please take the steps below. Some of the files listed may be absent in your case. Back up all data before proceeding.

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.

If you paid for the software with a credit card, consider reporting the charge to the bank as fraudulent.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services Open

from the contextual menu.* A folder named "LaunchAgents" may open. If it does, look inside it for files with a name that begins like this:

com.pcv.

Move any such file to the Trash.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

The malware is now permanently inactivated, provided that you don't reinstall it. This step is optional.

Delete the following items, if they exist, as in Step 1:

/Library/Application Support/amc

~/Library/AdvancedMacCleaner

There's no need to log out or restart after taking this step.

The problem may have started when you downloaded something, such as the application "FileZilla," from the "Sourceforge" website or some other Internet cesspit. Never visit that site again. All software should be downloaded only from the developer's website or from the Mac App Store, if applicable.

May 16, 2017 4:04 AM in response to markh7482

Advanced Mac Cleaner just happened to me this morning [a].

It came with a few other sneaky folders in my Applications area.


I was able to solve it with my bare hands - without downloading any other programs

( been burned once on that today ... ).


Solution :

1) In my Applications folder, I found and deleted the following using the Finder [b] :

* Advanced Mac Cleaner

* CoreUpdates

* OptiBuy


2) I also had to go to Chrome preferences and fix my default search search engine and default home page which had been changed. While I was there, I deleted the caches for the last few hours.


3) Then I went to System Preferences -> user accounts -> login items, and removed the unwanted apps from there.


4) Next, I rebooted, and made sure everything worked : with no pop-ups, no programs being started.


------


[a] I think this happened when a website asked me to install an update to Flash Player ...

I guess it was not the FlashPlayer ... doh !


[b] Here were the new things in my applications folder.

"CoreUpdates" sounds important but I checked and it did not exist on my computer yesterday.

User uploaded file

Jul 28, 2016 9:47 PM in response to markh7482

  1. Firstly, you will need to turn off the program and disable its process from the Activity Monitor.
  2. Secondly, you will have to remove the program from your login items. That way it will no longer start when you turn on your Mac or simply login.
  3. The previous two steps will stop the program from operating but we still advise you to outright remove it, even if it is no longer active in any way. This is probably the most annoying and time consuming part. Removing the app from your Applications folder and dragging AMC to Trash most likely won’t be enough (though you should still do that). You will probably also need to access several other folders and delete some of their contents. Here’s a list of those folders and their files and sub-folders that you’ll need to move to delete.

~/Library Folder – Advanced Mac Cleaner; hlpramc

~/Library/Logs – Advanced Mac Cleaner.log; helperamc.log

~/Library/Application Support – Advanced Mac Cleaner; amc

~/Library/Caches – com.pcv.hlpramc; com.PCvark.Advanced-Mac-Cleaner

~/Library/Saved Application State – com.PCvark.Advanced-Mac-Cleaner.savedState

~/Library/Preferences – com.pcv.hlpramc.plist; com.PCvark.Advanced-Mac-Cleaner.plist

~/Library/LaunchAgents – com.pcv.hlpramc.plist; com.PCvark.Advanced-Mac-Cleaner.plist

from https://howtoremove.guide/remove-advanced-mac-cleaner-virus/

Jan 15, 2016 2:13 PM in response to pina-legnica

Follow my advice earlier on. You need to remove it. You may not have ruined your computer, these things can be resolved but they are a nuisance.


In future check out any download that does not come from Apple or the App Store itself. I am not saying there are not good apps available elsewhere, but you can always ask here what the community thinks about something you have found. Await a reasoned reaction and you will be much safer.

Feb 1, 2016 2:00 PM in response to oneadam211

I did the same thing, I dragged the app to the trash. Then I followed the steps that Linc Davis wrote in the post on top of this page to remove the rest of the files. Now, everything is gone.


I think you just need to follow his steps and you will be good to go.


On a side note, I have been installing and using Filezilla for years, never once have I downloaded any spyware or anything else from them. Perhaps because I always do "Custom Install" on everything I install to make sure that I don't download unwanted extras. I believe I got this because of a game I play (War of Beach) let me download a few apps to earn free gems, and that same day I ended up with this Adv. mac cleaner app.

How to Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus

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