Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Ctrl-Alt-Del => Topic started by: Jurek on 01 March, 2021, 11:42:54 am
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My home page in Safari is Google.co.uk
For some reason, as of this morning, when I hit return on a search, the results are presented on a Yahoo UK page, as opposed to Google's page.
I've been through all the preferences, bookmarks, favourite etc and I cannot find a way of ridding myself of the Yahoo UK results.
This doesn't happen when I use Firefox.
Any suggestions as to how I might get rid of this Yahoo UK default?
TIA
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First thought is give it a scan with the free version of Malwarebytes.
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Usually, this is because something has installed a Safari extension. Delete it (preferences>extensions) and, as Jaded, says you might want to run Malwarebytes to see what else got installed.
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Indeed. I've just run Malwarebytes and it did find Adware.OperatorMac but it'll only purge me of it if I sign up to their premium service - which I have done, And it has sorted out the Yahoo issue. :thumbsup: Ta JD.
I've removed everything (Adblocker) from the extensions folder.(That was put there by me).
The only thing now is that I cannot load LFGSS pages, but I think that may be an anomaly of the software they use on that forum which, I believe, was written by the guy who runs the forum, and differers significantly from the software used by most other fora.
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Well, unfortunately the problem hasn't gone away.
While I've got rid of the Yahoo issue, other things continue to plague Safari.
So far the following has happened when I've opened a thread in Cyclechat or LFGSS or a grauniad link.
It displays the page in (almost) plain text with no images.
Firefox appears to be unaffected.
Since this morning, I have also installed Big Sur (Oh my! Those colours!)
It has bought the plain text issue with it.
I looked at the scan report from Malware bytes and deletd the six files which had been quarentined.
I've since run Malwarebytes again and the scan isn't coming up with anything.
This is what displays when I click on a thread on LFGSS
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50993247868_4b324c4573_b.jpg)
I welcome any suggestions for potential solutions.
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Have you tried enabling developer menu in Safari and then clearing caches? (Safari > prefs > advanced > enable develop menu. Develop menu will then appear alongside Bookmarks, Window, Help etc at the top.
Close all windows and then go to Develop menu and Empty Caches.
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Have you tried enabling developer menu in Safari and then clearing caches? (Safari > prefs > advanced > enable develop menu. Develop menu will then appear alongside Bookmarks, Window, Help etc at the top.
Close all windows and then go to Develop menu and Empty Caches.
Thanks.
Yep.
Just done that - it hasn't made any difference :(
What's odd is that the Adblock extension which I deleted earlier today, is back again ???
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Safari - Preferences - Search - Search Engine - Google
?
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Safari - Preferences - Search - Search Engine - Google
?
It is so.
As I've mentioned - I've (Thanks to Jaded) got rid of the defaulting to Yahoo UK issue.
My problem now is that Safari won't properly display posts from other forums and links to the Guardian.
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A long shot and probably not the issue
Safari : Preferences : Websites
The first icon in the LH pane should be 'Reader' - make sure this isn't switched on for any sites.
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Have you restarted your Mac since attempting to remove the malware?
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A long shot and probably not the issue
Safari : Preferences : Websites
The first icon in the LH pane should be 'Reader' - make sure this isn't switched on for any sites.
That's as it should be.
Actually, it wasn't. But it is now, and still no different.
ETA - BOOM! CORRECTION!!!!!! That appears to have sorted it.
It would appear that I owe you a small glass of sweet sherry, if we ever get to cross paths irl ;D
Thx muchly.
Nope.
Still not sorted.
Still showing text only from website links :(
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Have you restarted your Mac since attempting to remove the malware?
Yep. It got a restart after I installed Bug Sur.
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^
^
:thumbsup:
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There's more.... >:(
It appears to have bolloxed stuff in my Mail for Mac.
If I send myself an email, it returns from a random person in my phone book.
It has also done something similar with Messanger.
Meh!
Is this the first virus written for a Mac?
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Still not sorted.
See above.
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No, there's plenty of malware applications for Macs, where there's a market and all that. Generally you have to install these things, but they're clever at engineering this.
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No, there's plenty of malware applications for Macs, where there's a market and all that. Generally you have to install these things, but they're clever at engineering this.
Any suggestions for sorting this pls?
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I am no expert, but I believe such things usually replace your internet settings, via the proxies (the bit of stuff that points your internet traffic in the right direction, in a similar way to corporate filth filters).
For a starter to > System Preferences > Network > Advanced > Proxies and untick everything.
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#GenericStackOverflowAnswer
Use something else instead of MacOs/Safari/etc.
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I am no expert, but I believe such things usually replace your internet settings, via the proxies (the bit of stuff that points your internet traffic in the right direction, in a similar way to corporate filth filters).
For a starter to > System Preferences > Network > Advanced > Proxies and untick everything.
Alas, all of these are unticked.
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#GenericStackOverflowAnswer
Use something else instead of MacOs/Safari/etc.
Such as?
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I believe he's being facetious.
I'd recommend trying a few other recommended malware removers – such as https://cleanmymac.com – they should find something. They're usually free, at least for the scan.
Otherwise, you could try rolling back to a previous Time Machine backup.
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I believe he's being facetious.
I'd recommend trying a few other recommended malware removers – such as https://cleanmymac.com – they should find something. They're usually free, at least for the scan.
Otherwise, you could try rolling back to a previous Time Machine backup.
The Time machine backup was going to be my next port of call...
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I've never had a Mac virus (but I have spent many hours clearing malware from my father's Windows laptop). You could try looking in at /LaunchAgents and /LaunchDaemons in the /Library and ~/Library for something nefarious (use the goto option in Finder, these folders are hidden by default), this is where cryptic start-up items lurk, and if a virus wants to resurrect itself, it's the obvious place to sleep.
But sometimes restoring from a TM backup is the quickest solution.
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I've never had a Mac virus (but I have spent many hours clearing malware from my father's Windows laptop). You could try looking in at /LaunchAgents and /LaunchDaemons in the /Library and ~/Library for something nefarious (use the goto option in Finder, these folders are hidden by default), this is where cryptic start-up items lurk, and if a virus wants to resurrect itself, it's the obvious place to sleep.
But sometimes restoring from a TM backup is the quickest solution.
Been through those as well.
Cleanmymac hasn't helped.
Going to go for the TM backup, but not tonight.
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Another thing to try...
Download Onyx and use it to clean some caches. etc...
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Another thing to try...
Download Onyx and use it to clean some caches. etc...
Ta. Will do.
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Avast antivirus seems to be the best, according to the mac websites, for free.
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Questions about restoring from Time Machine.....
I don't think that this is something I have ever done.
It would appear that this malware is affecting the following
Safari, Mail for Mac and Messages.
Is it simple a case of opening Time machine, going back to, say, last Friday, locating the application folder for each of these apps, and clicking on 'Restore'?
Or is there more to it than that?
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No, restore everything. Otherwise, you'll find the malware has squirrelled itself away somewhere else and it'll come back.
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Yeah. The now legendary Ellen Ripley solution is the way to go with malware-infested computers. You can fuck around trying to remove the problem, which might be prudent for forensics or recovering data, but there's only one way to be sure that it's gone.
As for Mac vs Windows vs Lunix or whatever, it's really just a matter of how much malware there is to choose from.
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Questions about restoring from Time Machine.....
I don't think that this is something I have ever done.
It would appear that this malware is affecting the following
Safari, Mail for Mac and Messages.
Is it simple a case of opening Time machine, going back to, say, last Friday, locating the application folder for each of these apps, and clicking on 'Restore'?
Or is there more to it than that?
A bit more detail....
It would appear that the issue with Mail for Mac and Messages is that when I send myself an email or a text (which I do surprisingly often) when it appears in my inbox, the sender's name is Rob Batson (one of the entries in my contacts) as opposed to displaying my name.
I've just deleted that contact - it appears to have cured the problem. :thumbsup:
That just leaves Safari.
The problem has changed slightly since yesterday in as much as I can access threads and posts on forums. However, if a post contains link, and I click on that link
The page comes up as text only. So a link to a Guardian page ends up looking like this:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50995639588_236d3b6914_b.jpg)
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The problem has changed slightly since yesterday in as much as I can access threads and posts on forums. However, if a post contains link, and I click on that link
The page comes up as text only. So a link to a Guardian page ends up looking like this:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50995639588_236d3b6914_b.jpg)
I know people who'd pay good money for that functionality...
Could it be some sort of accessibility tool that's been enabled? Or something preventing the javascript from loading/running.
(I don't know Safari, what's that bue icon to the left of the address bar?)
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#GenericStackOverflowAnswer
Use something else instead of MacOs/Safari/etc.
Such as?
That's irrelevant, there's always an answer on Stackoverflow that follows the structure of the joke of asking an Irishman directions to somewhere.
I actually thought you'd got it sorted from the answers so was shoving in some teccy humour.
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No, restore everything. Otherwise, you'll find the malware has squirrelled itself away somewhere else and it'll come back.
I had a feeling that would be the case.
A bit more detail on when you say 'everything' - I'm assuming you mean the HD.
If I go back to last Friday I can see Macintosh HD, and i can also see the external SSD which is currently running the Mac - is the SSD the one which I should retstore?
Also, since last Friday I've upgraded to Big Sur - how doea that work with a restoration?
Will it restore it to Catalina?
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The problem has changed slightly since yesterday in as much as I can access threads and posts on forums. However, if a post contains link, and I click on that link
The page comes up as text only. So a link to a Guardian page ends up looking like this:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50995639588_236d3b6914_b.jpg)
I know people who'd pay good money for that functionality...
Could it be some sort of accessibility tool that's been enabled? Or something preventing the javascript from loading/running.
(I don't know Safari, what's that bue icon to the left of the address bar?)
It's the Finder - it is where everything including the HD can be accessed.
The equivalent of the windows icon in the same place on a windows machine.
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It might be applying a default style sheet (Safari > Prefs > Advanced Prefs > Style Sheet should be none selected). Kim is right though, I've never seen that icon, that's where extensions show up. Possibly adblock, looks like a hand.
As somethings has messed with a lot of settings though (and you don't know what you've missed), I'd recommend the nuclear option and restoring everything. That'll give you a completely new build of Big Sur and then put your previously good files and settings back.
There's a couple of ways to do it:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203981 (this uses the migration assistant).
or direct boot into recovery: https://www.howtogeek.com/356063/how-to-fully-restore-macos-from-a-time-machine-backup-in-recovery-mode/
When you select the backup to use, it will be an entire back-up, not by disk (assuming your time machine is set-up to include that external disk, of course, which it sounds like the case).
I'd be tempted install Big Sur from scratch and then use the migration assistant to move over everything. That's what I've done in the past, the only issues I've ever noticed are licence files (older versions of Office etc. needed re-registering).
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I think Kim may have it. :thumbsup:
I've just disabled javascript in System Preferences, and the above-pictured Guardian link now looks like this
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50996516442_b19838e610_b.jpg)
It means that I cannot view Twitter, but I'm still trying to assess how much of a loss that is.
And yes, I was looking in the wrong place, that is an adblocker.
Thanks for you above guidance Ian. I'll see how it behaves over the next couple of days before resorting to nuking it.
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I know people who'd pay good money for that functionality...
That's Reader mode, indicated by the grey square at the left end of the address bar. It is indeed a feature.
There's an "Always use Reader for this website" setting under Safari Preferences > Websites, or by long-clicking the address bar icon.
No idea why turning off Javascript would disable it, or how it would come to be on.