How do I uninstall Play Search Now ?

1. Remove any Profile you have not installed knowingly.

Profiles

System Preferences > Profiles

Launch System Preferences. Do you see any profiles added to the pane at the bottom?

If you see Profiles listed, click on it.

When the Profiles pane opens, select the profile and click the “-“ button at the bottom left corner to remove it.

How to remove a configuration profile? https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25680?locale=en_US

2. Safari > Preferences > Extensions

Select and uninstall all extensions you have not installed knowingly.

Section: Manage extensions: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-safari-extensions-sfri32508/mac

3. Choose a search engine.

Delete all text in the Smart Search field, click the magnifying glass , then choose a search engine from the list.

https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/customize-your-search-ibrwe75c2a3c/mac

4. Set your Home Page. https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/set-your-homepage-ibrw1020/mac

If this doesn’t help, please run EtreCheck and post the report here if you can .

https://etrecheck.com

Click “Free Download” button, open Downloads folder, click on it to open, and then select ”Open”.

Click on the bouncing EtreCheck icon in the Dock.

“Choose a problem” from the popup menu box, and then “Start EtreCheck” in the dialog.

Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” .

Paste it into the reply.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you are responding to my comments, but I have tried everything that you have suggested and nothing has worked (well - they did work on Chrome and Firefox, just not Safari). The last link you provided - my Library doesn't even have those folders or those files. I am having no problem on Chrome and Firefox - just Safari.

I tried opening Safari with the Shift key held down. Nothing changes as if that doesn't even do anything. It's not listed as the page that should come up. My homepage is set to Google. I don't have any extensions.

I keep deleting the "Website Data" (see image below), and it keeps populating with PlaySearchNow and homesweeklies.com (the website that redirects to PlaySearchNow). Even though it says to block cookies, it still populates with those websites using my data.

Who do I take my computer to to have this remedied? Is it worth it? Do I just stop using Safari and not worry about it? It's so frustrating!

If steps posted above don't work, try it in Safe Mode.

You will have t do this after starting up in Safe Mode to prevent adware

from interfering with the removal of adware .

1. Shut down the computer.

Press the power button. Immediately after you hear the startup sound,

press and hold the Shift key.

The Shift key should be pressed as soon as possible after startup,

but not before the startup sound.

Release the Shift key when you see the Apple logo on the screen.

Startup will take longer than usual.

Screen flickering is normal in Safe Mode.

Login to your account. Launch Safari.

Enter this address https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

on the Safari address bar.

Download, Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan” button to remove adware, if present.

Once done, quit MalwareBytes.

2. Reselect your search engine, reset homepage and disable all extensions and test.

Reset search engine: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/customize-your-search-ibrwe75c2a3c/mac

Set your Home Page. https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/set-your-homepage-ibrw1020/mac

Section: Manage extensions: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-safari-extensions-sfri32508/mac

Restart your Mac.

I have same problem! :(

Here is my EtreCheck Report...

EtreCheck version: 4.3.4 (4D037)

Report generated: 2018-07-08 10:55:38

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 11:27

Performance: Poor

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Play Search Now can not be removed using Malwarebytes and other solutions!

Major Issues:

Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.

Time Machine backup out-of-date - The last Time Machine backup is over 10 days old.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned software installed that could be adware and should be reviewed.

Poor performance - EtreCheck report took over 10 minutes to run. This is very unusual.

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.

Time Machine auto backup disabled - Time Machine auto backups are disabled.

Low disk space - This machine is running low on free hard drive space.

Upgradeable hard drive - This machine’s hard drive could be replaced with an SSD. This would dramatically improve your machine’s performance.

Apps crashing - There have been numerous app crashes.

Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

Small backup drive - Time Machine backup drive is too small.

Vintage hardware - This machine may be considered vintage.

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) - Vintage!

MacBook Pro Model: MacBookPro7,1

1 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Duo) CPU: 2-core

4 RAM - Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0 - 2 GB DDR3 1067 ok

BANK 1/DIMM0 - 2 GB DDR3 1067 ok

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 391

Video Information:

NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

Drives:

disk0 - Hitachi HTS545032B9SA02 320.07 GB (Mechanical)

Internal SATA 1.5 Gigabit Serial ATA

disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD (Journaled HFS+) 298.48 GB

disk0s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB

disk0s4 - T******************s (Case-Sensitive Journaled HFS+) 20.59 GB

Mounted Volumes:

disk0s2 - Macintosh HD 298.48 GB (15.96 GB free)

Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /

disk0s4 - T******************s 20.59 GB (11.40 GB free)

Case-Sensitive Journaled HFS+

Mount point: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups

Network:

Interface en0: Ethernet

Interface en6: TomTom GO 510

Interface en1: Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

One IPv4 address

3 IPv6 addresses

Interface en2: iPhone

System Software:

macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 (17F77)

Time since boot: Less than an hour

System Load: 5.57 (1 min ago) 4.89 (5 min ago) 3.48 (15 min ago)

Security:

System Status

Gatekeeper Mac App Store and identified developers

System Integrity Protection Enabled

Unsigned Files:

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh --start

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.foliaged.py.plist

Executable: /Users/***/Library/foliaged.py/foliaged.py.app/Contents/MacOS/foliaged.py

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/tapufind.plist

Executable: /Users/***/Library/Application Support/Agent/tapufind DistributerName=mcwnet ChannelId=004 DeviceId=00ebb36c-4954-5343-8075-6f402275f8be Country=BE BarcodeId=52413004 Date=2018-06-17

Details: Domain name invalid - possibly adware

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/cn.com.zte.PPPMonitor.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/ZTE/PPPMonitord

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/net.openvpn.client.plist

Executable: /Library/Frameworks/PrivateTunnel.framework/Versions/Current/bin/openvpn-servic e -no --pidfile /var/run/openvpn.pid

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist

Executable: /Users/***/Library/Application Support/CleanMyMac/CleanMyMacHelperTool

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.ARM.***.plist

Executable: /Applications/Adobe Reader 9/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Reader Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Reader Updater Helper

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.wandsman.ni.plist

Executable: /Users/***/Library/wandsman.ni/wandsman.ni.app/Contents/MacOS/wandsman.ni

Details: Domain name invalid - possibly adware

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.trashSizeWatcher.plist

Executable: /Users/***/Library/Application Support/CleanMyMac/CleanMyMacHelperTool -watchTrashSize

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cleverfiles.cfbackd.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/CleverFiles/BackService.app/Contents/MacOS/cfbackd

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Helper-Tool

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist

Executable: /Users/***/Library/Application Support/CleanMyMac/CleanMyMacHelperTool -cleanWinJunk -cleanTrashes -cleanMacOSJunk

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

Executable: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/Java Updater.app/Contents/MacOS/Java Updater -bgcheck

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Launchd: /Library/LaunchAgents/com.sony.WirelessAutoImportLauncher.agent.plist

Executable: /Library/Application Support/WirelessAutoImport/WirelessImporterDaemon

Details: Exact match found in the whitelist - probably OK

Kernel Extensions:

/Library/Extensions

[Loaded] MB_MBAM_Protection.kext (3.3 - SDK 10.13)

[Not Loaded] SONYDeviceType04.kext (1.4.0.11070 - SDK 10.9)

/System/Library/Extensions

[Not Loaded] Soundflower.kext (1.6.6 - SDK 10.6)

[Not Loaded] ZTEUSBCDCACMData.kext (ZTEDriver_MacV1.3.33)

[Not Loaded] ZTEUSBMassStorageFilter.kext (ZTEDriver_MacV1.3.33)

[Not Loaded] cdc_ecm_qmi.kext (1.0.30)

[Not Loaded] cdc.kext (1.0.30)

Startup Items:

HWNetMgr Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

MobileBrServ Path: /Library/StartupItems/MobileBrServ

StartOuc Path: /Library/StartupItems/StartOuc

System Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[Loaded] 193 Apple tasks

[Running] 91 Apple tasks

[Other] One Apple task

System Launch Daemons:

[Not Loaded] 32 Apple tasks

[Loaded] 191 Apple tasks

[Running] 110 Apple tasks

[Other] 3 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded] com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-01-28)

[Not Loaded] com.sony.SonyAutoLauncher.agent.plist (Sony Corporation - installed 2017-12-06)

[Not Loaded] com.sony.WirelessAutoImportLauncher.agent.plist (? c33fba7e - installed 2017-12-06)

[Not Loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-02-04)

[Not Loaded] Swapper.plist (? 90dacb52 - installed 2011-02-24)

[Not Loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 9fbb4a2e - installed 2017-12-20)

[Running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.frontend.agent.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2018-05-22)

[Not Loaded] com.splashtop.streamer-for-root.plist (? 58cdad93 - installed 2013-07-18)

[Not Loaded] cn.com.zte.usbswapper.plist (? c452b05b - installed 2009-09-07)

[Not Loaded] com.splashtop.streamer-for-user.plist (? 7158bbfa - installed 2013-07-18)

Launch Daemons:

[Running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.settings.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2018-05-22)

[Not Loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-01-28)

[Loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple - installed 2018-05-30)

[Not Loaded] com.cleverfiles.cfbackd.plist (? 65468217 - installed 2011-04-07)

[Running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.rtprotection.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2018-05-22)

[Not Loaded] PPPMonitord.plist (? a94c92f4 - installed 2011-02-24)

[Not Loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2018-06-02)

[Not Loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (? e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-12-20)

[Not Loaded] cn.com.zte.PPPMonitor.plist (? 23e42f9c - installed 2009-10-31)

[Not Loaded] com.vmware.launchd.vmware.plist (? 40d1be26 - installed 2010-12-01)

[Not Loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2018-03-07)

[Not Loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-10-10)

[Not Loaded] com.splashtop.streamer-daemon.plist (? ef6ff0c6 - installed 2013-07-18)

[Not Loaded] net.openvpn.client.plist (? 3320f3cd - installed 2012-10-12)

User Launch Agents:

[Not Loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist (? 0 - installed 2012-10-19)

[Not Loaded] com.wandsman.ni.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-06-17)

[Not Loaded] com.facebook.videochat.semsettinkarasu.plist (Apple - installed 2017-11-13)

[Not Loaded] com.foliaged.py.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-06-19)

[Not Loaded] com.adobe.ARM.925793fb327152fd34795896fa1fb9ffa268b2a852256fe56609efa3.plist (? 0 - installed 2016-06-21)

[Not Loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist (? 0 - installed 2012-10-19)

[Not Loaded] com.skype.skype.shareagent.plist (? 0 - installed 2017-07-20)

[Not Loaded] tapufind.plist (? 0 - installed 2018-06-17)

[Not Loaded] com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.trashSizeWatcher.plist (? 0 - installed 2012-10-19)

Internet Plug-ins:

o1dbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-17)

Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.0 (installed 2013-02-27)

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: 2.4.4.2 (installed 2013-05-12)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 10.1.4 (installed 2013-01-05)

FlashPlayer-10.6: 30.0.0.113 (installed 2018-06-10)

Silverlight: 5.1.50901.0 (installed 2017-10-13)

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-06-17)

Flash Player: 30.0.0.113 (installed 2018-06-10)

googletalkbrowserplugin: 5.41.3.0 (installed 2015-12-11)

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (installed 2013-07-08)

AdobePDFViewer: 9.5.5 (installed 2016-06-21)

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 161 build 12 (installed 2018-04-13)

User Internet Plug-ins:

fbplugin_1_0_3: (installed 2010-10-09)

Unity Web Player: UnityPlayer version 2.6.1f3 (installed 2011-03-11)

Safari Extensions:

Translate.safariextz - SideTree.com - Apps for Mac - http://SideTree.com/extensions.html#Translate (installed 2018-07-08)

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player (installed 2018-06-02)

Flip4Mac WMV (installed 2012-05-16)

Java (installed 2018-04-13)

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: Yes

Mobile backups: No

Auto backup: No

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 298.48 GB - Disk used: 282.52 GB

Destinations:

T******************s [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 20.59 GB

Total number of backups: 65

Oldest backup: 2013-07-08 21:29:13

Last backup: 2015-05-29 19:36:16

Top Processes by CPU:

Process (count) Source % of CPU Location

WindowServer Apple 8

AddressBookSourceSync Apple 6

sandboxd Apple 2

kernel_task Apple 1

accountsd Apple 0

Top Processes by Memory:

Process (count) Source RAM usage Location

kernel_task Apple 358 MB

Safari Apple 126 MB

RTProtectionDaemon Malwarebytes Corporation 84 MB

media-indexer Apple 52 MB

Finder Apple 52 MB

Top Processes by Network Use:

Process Source Input Output Location

mDNSResponder Apple 79 KB 62 KB

netbiosd Apple 8 KB 4 KB

apsd Apple 4 KB 3 KB

kernel_task Apple 263 B 283 B

natpmpd Apple 0 B 252 B

Top Processes by Energy Use:

Process (count) Source Energy (0-100) Location

WindowServer Apple 4

AddressBookSourceSync (2) Apple 2

launchd Apple 1

RTProtectionDaemon Malwarebytes Corporation 0

trustd (3) Apple 0

Virtual Memory Information:

Available RAM 1.69 GB

Free RAM 154 MB

Used RAM 2.31 GB

Cached files 1.54 GB

Swap Used 0 B

Software Installs (past 30 days):

Name Version Install Date

Adobe Flash Player 30.0.0.113 2018-06-10

The Unarchiver 4.0.0 2018-06-16

Memory Clean 2 1.7 2018-06-16

MacKeeper 1.0 2018-07-08

Malwarebytes for Mac 1.0 2018-07-08

Clean up:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.skype.skype.shareagent.plist

/Volumes/S***e/S*******p/C******s/L*****y/L************s/c********************** *********e/C******s/M***S/c************************t

Executable not found

Diagnostics Information (past 7 days):

2018-07-08 10:02:06 MacKeeper.app Crash

/Applications/MacKeeper.app

*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '-[NSNull length]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x7fffa5cc7e30'

terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException

abort() called

2018-07-08 10:01:26 VMware Fusion Helper.app Crash

/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/VMware Fusion Helper.app

*** multi-threaded process forked ***

crashed on child side of fork pre-exec

2018-07-06 20:00:53 VLC.app CPU

/Applications/VLC.app

End of report

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