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ericakk

Q: My computer is infected with malware. What is the best way to get rid of it?

My Laptop has been infected with Malware. what is the best (free) way to remove it?

MacBook Air, iOS 9

Posted on Nov 7, 2015 7:43 PM

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Q: My computer is infected with malware. What is the best way to get rid of it?

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  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Nov 7, 2015 7:59 PM in response to ericakk
    Level 8 (49,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 7, 2015 7:59 PM in response to ericakk

    ericakk wrote:

     

    My Laptop has been infected with Malware.

     

    How do you know that?

     

    It's best to describe the symptoms of a problem and your observations than to prematurely assume the underlying cause.

     

    Whatever you do, do not download or install something in an effort to address the problem. Describe what's going on first.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Nov 8, 2015 7:28 AM in response to ericakk
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Nov 8, 2015 7:28 AM in response to ericakk

    In most cases, when people ask a question like yours, there is no malware. They've run across a Web scam that only affects the browser, and only temporarily. There are several ways to recover.

    1. The easiest thing to do is to force quit the browser. Relaunch it by holding down the shift key and clicking its icon in the Dock, the LaunchPad, or the Applications folder.

    You will lose the state of other open tabs and windows. Either Step 2 or Step 3 may enable you to keep that state information. If those steps don't work, fall back to Step 1.

    2. Press the key combination command-W to close the tab or window. A huge box will pop up. Press the return key and both the box and the page may close. If that doesn't happen, press and hold command-W. You may hear repeating alert sounds. While holding the keys, click the OK button in the popup. A different popup may appear, which you can cancel out of as usual.

    3. From the Safari menu bar, select

              Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Security

    and uncheck the box marked Enable JavaScript.

    After closing the malicious page, select from the menu bar

              Safari Preferences... Privacy Remove All Website Data

    to get rid of any cookies or other data left by the server. Open the Downloads folder and delete anything you don't recognize.