Possible Virus on MacBook Air?

[Savannah]

Recently, my MacBook Air has been acting pretty strangely. It has been running slower than usual with almost everything. Also, every time I open safari or chrome, pop ups will show up that can be, well, not child friendly. Also, chrome will not let me sign in and pages look slightly different than when they were before my computer began acting up. I've tried deleting and reinstalling chrome but that doesn't help. I've just decided to delete it for good and use fire fox. However, Safari is still messed up. I've gotten pop ups from sites saying I have a virus and I need software to get rid of it. So I guess I have three questions:

1. Do I have a virus on my MacBook?

2. How do I make my MacBook run like normal again?

3. Does the solution cost a lot of money?

Please help, I know very little about this sort of thing. I am currently running OS X Yosemite version 10.10.3

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Here are a few steps to try to eliminate the browser issues you are having:

Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac

The pop-ups about you are getting about needing software are simply adware/malware, not a virus.

As for the slowness, it could be several things. Try running only one software app at a time, preferably not one of the browsers until that issue is fixed.

-How many and what apps are you running simultaneously?
-How much free space is left on your HD?
-Do you have any third-party anti-virus or utilities such as MacKeeper installed?

C

 

[honestone]

Cory makes some good suggestions. Earlier last week, I got "hit" by a Bit Coin-related virus on my mid 2013 13" MacBook Air (never used Bit Coin "services" at all), and I downloaded and used the freeware virus removal program by Sophos to get rid of it. (ClamXav did not detect it). But, the machine still ran somewhat slow, especially using the latest version (at that time) of Google's Chrome browser (I do not have this issue on my MacMini). I subsequently re-booted the machine from my most recent SuperDuper! backup, used Disk Utility there to Erase/Format/Partition (only 1 partition) the internal 256 gig SSD on the machine, did a restore from the backup, and re-booted the Air. I also applied some software updates (including a newer version of Chrome), and "re-built" both TechTool Pro's eDrive and the Recovery Partition. The machine did seem to respond better. But, Chrome is now slower than Safari on the machine. There are some sites that I go to where it is fast, but others where it is slow. That's especially the case where I launch Chrome, and it goes to my home site (this one, ie, Mac Help) It is somewhat slow, especially compared to Safari, and to Chrome on my MacMini.

I'm almost tempted to completely wipe the SSD clean, install Yosemite "piece by piece" (that is, install 10.10.0, and then upgrade to 10.10.3), and then install all my applications. But, that sure would be a headache, especially with re-setting up my Internet services with Comcast. For now, the machine is working good enough.

I even contemplated wiping that SSD clean again (doing it the longest way via Disk Utility), formatting and partitioning it (one partition only), and then doing a SuperDuper! restore from the latest MacMini backup (also subsequently installing any further updates, and re-building both TechTool Pro's eDrive and the Recovery Partition). Is that somewhat "impossible", in that there are/could be some specific files/settings, etc. that are unique to the MacBook Air? In fact, would that be more for the case of Yosemite (OS 10.10.3), with all its' related libraries, system files, settings, etc.?

Regarding Cory's list, I have more than half of each SSD in each machine free, I rarely run more than one application simultaneously, and I do not have MacKeeper on either machine. The only anti-virus software I have is ClamXav.

The perplexing thing is that I am not having any of these issues with my late 2012 MacMini. I use the same disk maintenance/repairs/backup programs (Onyx, TechTool Pro, and SuperDuper!) on both machines, and keep both machines "lean and clean", especially between my weekly backups. Google's Chrome works fine, and is definitely fast (the MacBook Air was the same prior to the Bit Coin-related virus). If anyone knows any more detective work I could do on the Air, I would appreciate any ides, suggestions, etc.

As for the pop-ups, etc., the link Cory provided is definitely worthwhile. And, especially what he stated regarding MacKeeper. If it is on your machine (look inside your Applications folder), you DEFINITELY need to get rid of it. You can also download, install, and run the excellent freeware program AdwareMedic. You can get it from here:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/52105/adwaremedic

I use it every so often. Even after the onslaught of the Bit Coin virus, I used it, and it found no issues (have not been having problems with pop-ups).

 

[Savannah]

Hello and welcome.

Here are a few steps to try to eliminate the browser issues you are having:

Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac

The pop-ups about you are getting about needing software are simply adware/malware, not a virus.

As for the slowness, it could be several things. Try running only one software app at a time, preferably not one of the browsers until that issue is fixed.

-How many and what apps are you running simultaneously?
-How much free space is left on your HD?
-Do you have any third-party anti-virus or utilities such as MacKeeper installed?

C

Thanks for the help. I'm usually running Firefox and Mail simultaneously, but that's usually it. I have 18.9 MB left on my HD, and I don't currently have any anti-virus software installed.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Thanks for the info.

Did you mean 18.9 GB, or is it really 18.9 MB? If the latter, that is the reason for a lot of the issues and slowness you are having. You should really keep at least 10-20% of the HD space free, so the OS and apps have room to operate. If it really is 18.9 MB, then you need to move some files off to an external and delete any unnecessary files ASAP...with that low amount of free space, the Mac will eventually not even boot and will hang at the Apple screen.

Once the free space issue is cleared up, then check out the link for fixes for the pop-ups.

C