Free mac spyware/virus removal?
- Thread starter FuzzyRay
- Start date
none needed.- Joined
- Mar 11, 2004
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Funny seeing this thread. There's an small, independent PC store a couple of blocks away. It has a huge sign I noticed this morning that reads, "Virus, Spyware Removal — Still Free!"
Imagine having to schlep in a desktop to remove a freight car's worth of viruses and spyware. Oh, the humanity.
Imagine having to schlep in a desktop to remove a freight car's worth of viruses and spyware. Oh, the humanity.
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2005
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- DFW
- Your Mac's Specs
- MacBook Pro 13" | MacBook Pro 13" | Mac Mini 2GHz C2D
i know someone who does that. anyway, anytime i cruise through the software aisle at target, i cant help but laugh when i see all of the spyware and virus removal programs.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2008
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- 2
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- Location
- Chicago
- Your Mac's Specs
- imac5.1 Intel Core 2 Duo
I had a popup ad after installing a gadget
I have always believed my imac impervious to ugly ads jumping up and down, but I got one this morning after installing a google gadget. I finally called mac support and was advised to purchase a Norton spyware removal tool, unless I could find a free downloadable one.
I had used Disk Utility to run a Disk Permission Verify, and saw that "Owner" had been on "0, should be [my ownerid number]. Also, when I looked in web history and through my logs, the information for that exact time period was missing - as if I had never downloaded the gadget, or even been online at that time. It gave me the creeps and now I feel vulnerable. Perhaps I have been a little too comfortable?
When looking around for info regarding the Owner Permission Repair, I found that it is quite a hot topic. I don't know whether the Repair changing incorrect owner back to me meant that the incorrect owner was an attacker, but it seemed odd; in another log somewhere (processes, I think), I saw my username on all processes except one - that one had a username of "nobody."
Incidentally, the Google Gadget was a hotkey to do multiple searches on a phrase; I can't find it listed on Google now, I don't know how I came upon it before...according to my history and finder, it never existed!
I would love to hear if anyone else has had this experience...I sure will feel dumb if I'm the only one!
I have always believed my imac impervious to ugly ads jumping up and down, but I got one this morning after installing a google gadget. I finally called mac support and was advised to purchase a Norton spyware removal tool, unless I could find a free downloadable one.
I had used Disk Utility to run a Disk Permission Verify, and saw that "Owner" had been on "0, should be [my ownerid number]. Also, when I looked in web history and through my logs, the information for that exact time period was missing - as if I had never downloaded the gadget, or even been online at that time. It gave me the creeps and now I feel vulnerable. Perhaps I have been a little too comfortable?
When looking around for info regarding the Owner Permission Repair, I found that it is quite a hot topic. I don't know whether the Repair changing incorrect owner back to me meant that the incorrect owner was an attacker, but it seemed odd; in another log somewhere (processes, I think), I saw my username on all processes except one - that one had a username of "nobody."
Incidentally, the Google Gadget was a hotkey to do multiple searches on a phrase; I can't find it listed on Google now, I don't know how I came upon it before...according to my history and finder, it never existed!
I would love to hear if anyone else has had this experience...I sure will feel dumb if I'm the only one!
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