removing adware/malware from iMac El Capitan

Question

removing adware/malware from iMac El Capitan

I think I have adware/malware installed on my computer. Full page Ads keep popping more than usual as I am going from site to site. Also, computer seems slow and beach balls are prevalent. Restarting computer does not help. Ran First Aid on hard drive. Hard Drive is okay. Have early 2009 20 inch 2GB i Mac running El Capitan 10.11.6. I am using very little of available Ram/Memory. Ads pop up on both Safari and Google. This is a recent occurrence. Maybe relating to a Flash update? How can I remove the adware/malware? There are many A/M removable sites on line Are they safe to install? Any and all advise will be appreciated. Thanks

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), early 2009 model imac 20 inch

Posted on Jun 27, 2017 2:33 PM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Jun 27, 2017 2:34 PM in response to loisfrompalo alto

Force Quit Safari ( command + option + esc keys).Then restart Safari holding the Shift key. If you still have problems Empty Caches (Safari menu > Preferences > Privacy > Remove all website data. (This will also remove history if you do not want to remove History open Safari Preferences > Advanced and check mark “Show Develop Menu” then choose “Empty Caches” from Develop Menu ) If the problem persists download and run MalwareBytes. Malwarebytes was developed by one of our own colleagues here in ASC. It gets rave reviews and is about the most proven anti-malware software for Mac.

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Answer 2

Jun 28, 2017 2:00 PM in response to loisfrompalo alto

Thanks for your help. Forced Quit Safari and emptied Caches. Will see if that helps. Ran Etre for spinning ball, shows not enough Ram. I am aware I need more Ram, however, I feel I have enough for my limited usage. A new i Mac is in the near future...

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Answer 3

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,455 points

Jun 27, 2017 2:34 PM in response to loisfrompalo alto

The following is well respected by many users here: Malwarebytes | Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac

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Answer 4

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Jun 28, 2017 3:28 PM in response to loisfrompalo alto

If you like share the Etrecheck report with us and we can see if we can help further with the spinning ball. It may not be all RAM, especially if this is a recent problem.

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