What is Mac Adware Cleaner?

Malwarebytes | Free Anti-Malware Detection & Removal Software for Apple Macintosh Computers

SNIPped Allan's post

===

thomas_r. Dec 17, 2015 4:13 PM
Re: mac adware cleaner in response to Tarananda

Mac Adware Cleaner is made by the folks who make Advanced Mac Cleaner, which is a junk app that is frequently distributed with adware. (Hmm, ironic, huh... they sneak in with adware, then show you pop-ups to help you get rid of the adware they rode in with.) The pop-up you're seeing is caused by Advanced Mac Cleaner, which probably means you've also got some other kind of adware on your system.

Allan's suggestion will help you remove both Advanced Mac Cleaner and whatever adware was installed alongside it.

Thomas Reed

Director of Mac Offerings, Malwarebytes

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.

You may have installed ad-injection malware ("adware").

Back up all data first.

Some of the most common types of adware can be removed by following Apple's instructions. But before you follow those instructions, you can attempt an automatic removal.

If you're not already running the latest version of OS X ("El Capitan"), updating or upgrading in the App Store may cause the adware to be removed automatically. If you're already running the latest version of El Capitan, you can nevertheless download the current updater from the Apple Support Downloads page and run it. Again, some kinds of malware will be removed—not all. There is no such thing as automatic removal of all possible malware, either by OS X or by third-party software. That's why you can't rely on software to protect you.

If the malware is removed in your case, you'll still need to make changes to the way you use the computer to protect yourself from further attacks. Ask if you need guidance.

If the malware is not removed automatically, and you can't remove it yourself by following Apple's instructions, see below.

This easy procedure will detect any kind of adware that I know of. Deactivating it is a separate, and even easier, procedure.

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.

Sorry, I accidentally sent an email without text. This is in reply to your explanation for Bob e. Williams. I was hoping you could help me get rid of adware. Here are the Launch files. Thanks!

Please start your own thread.

now what happens next? Do I need to do anything else today or wait for a reply?

Thanks

Hello Caroline,

There will be no reply. This thread is nine months old. You should create your own thread.

I suggest you use EtreCheck to remove your adware. Download EtreCheck from http://www.etrecheck.com, run it, and paste the results in a new thread that you create. EtreCheck is perfectly safe to run, does not ask for your password to install, and is signed with my Apple Developer ID.

If adware is installed, EtreCheck will help you remove it, although you may have to supply a password. If you aren’t comfortable with that, just post the EtreCheck report here and other helpers can tell you exactly what files need to be deleted and how to do so.

And by the way. You currently have 3 different "clean up" tools installed, and lots of adware. I guess 3 different products were unsuccessful at preventing your adware infection. I'm pretty sure EtreCheck will fix that.

Disclaimer: Although EtreCheck is free, there are other links on my site that could give me some form of compensation, financial or otherwise.

see post above yours.

EtreCheck version: 3.0.3 (307)

Report generated 2016-09-16 13:19:21

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 1:42

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Unwanted pop-ups

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir7,1

1 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 93

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 6000

Color LCD 1366 x 768

System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1004) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE SSD AP0128H disk0 : (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 315 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 120.01 GB (43.71 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk0s2 120.37 GB Online

USB Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. iPhone

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 6 Apple tasks

[loaded] 152 Apple tasks

[running] 46 Apple tasks

[killed] 34 Apple tasks

34 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 47 Apple tasks

[loaded] 155 Apple tasks

[running] 65 Apple tasks

[killed] 23 Apple tasks

23 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-06-28) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helpertool.plist (2016-08-03) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2016-07-09) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] com.adwarecleaner.hlprawc.plist (2016-08-18) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-11) [Support]

[running] com.pcv.hlpramcn.plist (2016-07-27) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Google Drive Application (/Applications/Google Drive.app)

Mac Adware Cleaner Application (/Applications/Mac Adware Cleaner.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 22.0.0.209 - SDK 10.9 (2016-07-27) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-07-29)

Flash Player: 22.0.0.209 - SDK 10.9 (2016-07-27) Outdated! Update

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-07-29)

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

Search Genius - Search Genius (2016-07-27)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-06-28) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

6% WindowServer

3% Google Chrome Helper(18)

2% fontd

2% kernel_task

0% Google Chrome

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.39 GB Google Chrome Helper(18)

685 MB kernel_task

229 MB mdworker(11)

135 MB Google Chrome

61 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(2)

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

36 MB Free RAM

3.96 GB Used RAM (620 MB Cached)

127 MB Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Sep 16, 2016, 12:46:37 PM Self test - passed

Sep 16, 2016, 12:44:44 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Google Drive_2016-09-16-124444_[redacted].crash

com.google.GoogleDrive - /Applications/Google Drive.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Drive

Hello,

There are my screenshots made as you asked for. Can U help me please? I often have different windows opening from this "Mac Adware Cleaner"... Thanks!

Hello,

There are my screenshots made as you asked for. Can U help me please? I often have different windows opening from this "Mac Adware Cleaner"... Thanks!

Hi Linc. I've got the same problem you're addressing here. I've followed your instructions as far as they go and have the four screen shots (below), but it looks like the final steps have been left out? Is there any way we can pick up the thread and complete the process?

please start a new thread.