HT206223: If hyperlinks don't open in Safari, Mail, or Messages after updating to iOS 9.3

Learn about If hyperlinks don't open in Safari, Mail, or Messages after updating to iOS 9.3
accentcoach

Q: Many websites will not load in Safari

I have a  3 year old MacBook Air.

Processor 2 Ghz Intel core i7: Memory -8GB 1600 MHz DDR3: Startup disk - Macintosh HD

Problems:

1. Cannot Load multiple websites on Safari with Google or with Bing- Firefox is having similar issues:

2. Also, on my Macbook, cannot even open my Thunderbird Mail now.  (This is the "Door" to my business email as MacMail won't let my Hostgator.com email server back in for some unknown reason. - This was the Apple store solution 9 months ago) .  My iPhone has limited access to my thunderbird email.....

3. Strategies Have tried & Failed:to make any difference  > Clearing all history > Restarting >

 

Not other ideas at this point.

 

Thank you,

AccentCoach

Macbook Pro, tiger OS

Posted on Jun 25, 2016 8:00 AM

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Q: Many websites will not load in Safari

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 25, 2016 11:15 AM in response to accentcoach
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Jun 25, 2016 11:15 AM in response to accentcoach

    You may have installed one or more variants of the "VSearch" ad-injection malware. Please back up all data, then take the steps below to inactivate it.

    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.

    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.

    Step 1

    The VSearch malware tries to hide itself by varying the names of the files it installs. It also regenerates itself if you try to delete it while it's running. To remove it, you must first start up in safe mode to disable the malware temporarily.

    Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for other instructions.

    Step 2

    While running in safe mode, load this web page and then triple-click the line below to select it. Copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination  command-C:

    /Library/LaunchDaemons

    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.

    A folder named "LaunchDaemons" may open. If it does, press the key combination command-2 to select list view, if it's not already selected.

    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. Please don't skip this step. Files that belong to an instance of VSearch will have the same modification time to within a few minutes, so they will be clustered together when you sort the folder this way, making them easy to identify.

    Step 3

    Inside the LaunchDaemons folder, there may be one or more files with a name of this form:

              com.apple.something.plist

    where something is a random, meaningless string of letters, different in every case.

    Note that the name consists of four words separated by periods. Typical examples:

              com.apple.builins.plist

              com.apple.cereng.plist

              com.apple.nysgar.plist

    There may also be one or more items with a name of this form:

              com.something.plist

    Again, something is a random, meaningless string—not necessarily the same one that appears in any of the other file names.

    These names consist of three words separated by periods. Typical examples:

              com.semifasciaUpd.plist

              com.ubuiling.plist

    Sometimes there are items (usually no more than one) with a name of this form:

              com.something.net-preferences.plist

    This name consists of four words (the third one hyphenated) separated by periods. Typical example:

              com.jangly.net-preferences.plist

    Drag all such items to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

    Restart the computer and empty the Trash.

    Here are examples of legitimate files that might be found in the same folder:

              com.apple.FinalCutServer.fcsvr_ldsd.plist

              com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist

              com.apple.qmaster.qmasterd.plist

              com.apple.aelwriter.plist

              com.apple.serverd.plist

              com.tether.plist

    The first three are clearly not VSearch files because the names don't fit any of the above patterns. The last three are not easy to distinguish by the name alone, but the modification date will be earlier than the date on which VSearch was installed, perhaps by several years. None of these files will be present in most installations of OS X.

    Don't delete the "LaunchDaemons" folder or anything else inside it, unless you know you have some other kind of unwanted software besides VSearch. The folder is a normal part of OS X. The term "daemon" refers to a program that starts automatically. That's not inherently bad, but the mechanism is sometimes exploited by malware attackers.

    If you're not sure whether a file is part of the malware, order the folder contents by modification date as I wrote in Step 2, not by name. The malware files will be clustered together. There could be more than one such cluster, if you were attacked more than once. A file dated far in the past is not part of the malware. A file dated right in the middle of an obviously malicious cluster is almost certainly also malicious.

    If the files come back after you have deleted them, or if they're replaced by others with similar names, then either you didn't start up in safe mode or you didn't get all of them. Go back to Step 1 and try again.

    Step 4

    Reset the home page in each of your browsers, if it was changed. In Safari, first load the home page you want, then select

              Safari Preferences... General

    and click

              Set to Current Page

    If you use the Firefox and/or Chrome web browser, remove any extensions or add-ons that you don't know you need. If in doubt, remove all of them.

    The malware is now permanently inactivated, as long as you never reinstall it. A few small files will be left behind, but they have no effect, and trying to find them all is more trouble than it's worth.

    Step 5

    The malware enables web proxy discovery in the network settings. If you know that the setting was already enabled for a good reason, skip this step. Otherwise you should revert the change.

    Open the Network pane in System Preferences. If there is a closed padlock icon in the lower left corner of the window, click it and authenticate to unlock the settings. Click the Advanced button, then select Proxies in the sheet that drops down. Uncheck the box marked Auto Proxy Discovery if it's checked. Click OK, then Apply.

    Step 6

    This step is optional. Open the Users & Groups pane in System Preferences and click the lock icon to unlock the settings. In the list of users, there may be some with random names that were added by the malware. You can delete those users. If you're not sure whether a user is legitimate, don't delete it.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jun 26, 2016 6:17 AM in response to accentcoach
    Level 9 (70,049 points)
    iTunes
    Jun 26, 2016 6:17 AM in response to accentcoach

    Safari - Unsupported third-party add-ons may cause Safari to unexpectedly quit or have performance issues

     

    Safari doesn't load a page or webpage items are missing

     

    Safari/other browsers – Website not loading


    If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account.  Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

                   

    Safe Mode

     

    Safe Mode - Mavericks

    Safe Mode - About

     

    Safe Mode - Yosemite


     

     

    Safe Mode - About El Capitan

     

    Safe Mode Startup – El Capitan.