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safeinOhio

(32,729 posts)
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 12:35 PM Jul 2018

Long time apple user, but now I'm getting all kinds of crap on it.

Just had it cleaned up at a local shop and starting to get beach balls again and locked up screen with fake Apple Warnings about having a bunch of viruses.

So, thinking about a virus blocking program. I did that years ago and all it did was slow everything down. My question is, has anyone had and luck with a virus program and if so which one?

I'm an old fart with no grand kids to help out.

13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Long time apple user, but now I'm getting all kinds of crap on it. (Original Post) safeinOhio Jul 2018 OP
If you had it cleaned and are seeing this again, then Dr Hobbitstein Jul 2018 #1
It may just seem like it to me. safeinOhio Jul 2018 #6
Macafee is supposed to be pretty good PJMcK Jul 2018 #2
If you must waste your money on AV software for the Mac, Dr Hobbitstein Jul 2018 #3
Thanks for the advice! PJMcK Jul 2018 #4
You as well! nt Dr Hobbitstein Jul 2018 #5
Avast for Mac is free. eppur_se_muova Jul 2018 #7
I have been using Sophos for years now RocRizzo55 Aug 2018 #8
ive used avast on my 2 macs and avast before on my pcs and have had no slo down issues at all AllaN01Bear Jan 2019 #9
ClamAV CloudWatcher Jan 2019 #10
general comments on Javascript pertaining to Tetrachloride Feb 2019 #11
Thank you Tetra safeinOhio Feb 2019 #12
ty ty Tetrachloride Feb 2019 #13
 

Dr Hobbitstein

(6,568 posts)
1. If you had it cleaned and are seeing this again, then
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 12:47 PM
Jul 2018

either A, you’re going to a LOT of questionable sites (or opening questionable emails) or B, your router could be compromised.

I’ve been a Mac user for many years, and have never once experienced these issues. Virus scanners for the Mac are pointless. There are no viruses for Macs. There are trojans and malware, but all of that requires end user intervention.

I would definately look into the router, but also try to browse safely, disable Flash, and install an adblocker to Safari.

safeinOhio

(32,729 posts)
6. It may just seem like it to me.
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 01:11 PM
Jul 2018

Trouble seems to be tied to Yahoo. Or when I’m looking at news on Yahoo. Sucks because I use that for mail. Have two IMacs and the one I use for “dangerous” sites runs great. Same router for both.

PJMcK

(22,056 posts)
2. Macafee is supposed to be pretty good
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 12:48 PM
Jul 2018

Which model Mac do you have? How old is your machine?

Something happened to my one-year old MacBook Air so that the Safari Homepage is set to something called "chumsearch" and it cannot be reset. I'm planning on trying the Macafee product when we get home next week.

Good luck and Happy Fourth!

 

Dr Hobbitstein

(6,568 posts)
3. If you must waste your money on AV software for the Mac,
Wed Jul 4, 2018, 12:52 PM
Jul 2018

use Bitdefender. McAffee is terrible on every system.

 

RocRizzo55

(980 posts)
8. I have been using Sophos for years now
Mon Aug 20, 2018, 05:59 PM
Aug 2018

Sophos is big in Europe. I have been using it for years, and it is good as the others. The home edition is free.

AllaN01Bear

(18,502 posts)
9. ive used avast on my 2 macs and avast before on my pcs and have had no slo down issues at all
Wed Jan 9, 2019, 03:44 PM
Jan 2019

in fact i cliked on a few stories in the ads on du and the scanner poped up with a "infection blocked" message before i could do any thing.

CloudWatcher

(1,851 posts)
10. ClamAV
Wed Jan 9, 2019, 04:14 PM
Jan 2019

I like ClamAV. Open source, and has been around for a while. I don't have any blocking software installed, but ClamAV does a good job scanning for junk.

https://www.clamav.net

Btw, if the bogus popups are happening from inside your browser, they could just be from horrible web sites. If they are popping up when you don't have a browser running .. then you need to look for (and remove) the malware that's running on your machine.

Tetrachloride

(7,877 posts)
11. general comments on Javascript pertaining to
Thu Feb 14, 2019, 08:16 PM
Feb 2019

Last edited Thu Feb 14, 2019, 09:48 PM - Edit history (1)

This is an overview, not direct advice.

1. In every basic link we click, the HTTP is part of the "language" called HTML.
2. HTML usually contains the language of JAVASCRIPT.
3. JAVASCRIPT and cookies :
3a. are used when we login here.
3b. are part of how advertisers place ads and track us
3c. and a host of other things.

-----------------

4. if you get these fake virus warnings, make a note on paper what you just did.
4a. Example: you clicked on a website link in email.
4b. Example: you clicked on a website link in a website.
5. If you are unable to escape the fake warning by closing the window, I suggest rebooting the computer.

------------------

6. I myself use more than 1 browser. In one of these browsers, in the past, I would have JAVASCRIPT turned off. This will break a lot of stuff. For example, you could not login to many websites in all probability.
7. Beachballs are possibly caused:
7a. by websites trying to switch to obscure websites.
7b. by websites trying to load obscore advertising (same as 7a overall but a different underlying technique)
7c. by websites in some type of circular loop or multiple website fast jumping. ( same as 7a and b, in effect)
7d. by a failing hard disk (less likely)
8. if you are still plagued by beachballs, post back here.

Tetrachloride

(7,877 posts)
13. ty ty
Thu Feb 14, 2019, 08:51 PM
Feb 2019

I'm sitting here with a broken ankle, so I have time to catch up in the online world. Once upon a time, I did a few years of online posting in Mac forums.

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