Question About Safely Removing Completer App & Genieo

PGB1 · Oct 1, 2014

Hi All!
Today, I was using Easy Find to look for a file with the word 'completer' in it. Some items I did not recognize showed up. (The file I was seeking didn't have anything to do with the files in my question below. It was a Word document that was used the word 'completer' in a totally non computer situation.)

Easy Find showed a folder called "Com.Genieo.Innovation.Installer". Inside was Completer.app. My next search was for Genieo. More files showed up. The Easy Find results are in first attached photo. They are dated September 5th, except for the webhistory showing this evening's search on line.

I learned that Genieo is adware. I was prompted to download & downloaded Adobe Flash update recently, but I went directly to Adobe's site, or so I thought. Maybe that's where it came from.

Searching here, a post gave a link to an article on The Safe Mac about removing Genieo, but my files are not where the ones in the article are. Also, the article kind of scared me into thinking I may mess my computer up totally.

I also found a folder in Applications called "Install Mac" with ResetSearch.app inside. (The Finder page in Applications is the second photo that is attached)

I found another article saying they are related to Genieo. A quick check of Activity Monitor shows that nothing called "Genieo" or "Reset Search" are running.

The Million Dollar Question Is- Can I dump these files in the trash safely?

Thanks for helping! I appreciate your time!
Paul

cradom · Oct 2, 2014

I would say yes but others might have different opinions.

PGB1 · Oct 2, 2014

Thanks Cradom!
I'll do a fresh system backup and give it a try.
What The Heck!

Paul

PS: Love your Schwinn logo. Schwinns are awesome cool bikes.
I'm a bicycle nerd- but not a bike snob. All the cool kid preppies sneer at my 73 CCM Concorde, street clothes & dork helmet. (But I probably have way more fun riding than they do.- And I'm an old guy.)
This winter's projects are restorations of my early 60's Typhoon & my brother's even older Skipper.
Thanks Again for your help with the adware files. Happy Riding!

harryb2448 · Oct 2, 2014

An old guy? Really? Don't embarrass us really old guys please lol.

And try Adwarde Medic if you are having malware problems, which is what Genieo is often described as:-

http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php

PGB1 · Oct 3, 2014

Thanks for the link to Adware Medic, HarryB2448.

That version is for 10.7 & up. I'm still in the stone age with 10.6.8, but The Safe Mac also has a version for my 10.6.8 He's not updating it, but it worked great for now. It found one I missed.

Perhaps it is time to join the rest of the world with 10.???
I think my computer can go all the way to Mavericks. My wife's is 2 months older than mine, and hers can only use up to Lion, but not Mountain Lion.

I hesitated to upgrade because I'll lose my CAD program & the drawing files become useless if I upgrade to their new version. (Goofy, huh?) There's probably an inexpensive solution somewhere!

Thanks Again for the link!
Paul

harryb2448 · Oct 3, 2014

Well sorry but everything about Snow Leopard has just about finished. Apple stopped Security Updates September 2013. And it is not time to update ~ that is long passed!! If this is Model Identifier 3.1, fiest upgrade to 6GB of memory before even considered Mavericks.

Some here suggest not moving to Mavericks with less than 8GB. And no old PowerPC apps will run on anything lkater than Snow Leopard alas. No Rosetta.

PGB1 · Oct 3, 2014

Thanks Harryb2448

Yes, this model has identifier 3.1 I did not yet look at my wife's (Mine is Mid- 2007)

I get a bit confused about how much RAM I can add. Apple says one thing & vendors say another limit. Many vendors vary in what they say.
MacSales has 6 Gb on their web site as the max. I trust their opinion, so I'll call & verify when I get ready for Mavericks.

The odd thing about my CAD program is that it is not Rosetta. It's Intel.
But the company says it will not work & the existing files will not be able to be opened on anything past 10.4.11 After some goofing around, it works fine on 10.6.8 Maybe I'll get lucky and it will work on Mavericks. Maybe...

If not, I won't buy an upgrade from that company. I understand having to buy an upgrade version of the program, but not being able to use my zillions of existing CAD drawings is a bit wonky. (There's a really tedious work around: Export every file to Auto CAD format & re-import to the new version of that program, but layers and dimensions get nuked. Not a good plan.)

Oh Well... Such is life in the modern age!

Thanks Again for helping & the tip about RAM needs.
Paul