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Remove Mac Adware Cleaner "recommended download" popups from Mac OS X

Stop annoying Recommended Download popups that promote a program named Mac Adware Cleaner on a machine hit by an affiliated rogue application.

In case Internet browsing or other activities on your Mac get interrupted by “Recommended Download” popups once in a while, there is a good reason to check the system for malware. Aside from critical updates, the Mac OS X native modules do not push software in such an intrusive way. If it’s an application called “Mac Adware Cleaner” being mentioned in these messages, you are clearly facing a hoax that aims at promoting potentially harmful software. These tricky popup warnings say “Install Mac Adware Cleaner now to protect your Mac device from malware, adware and other security threats.” A little bit of security analysis reveals that an infamous scareware dubbed Advanced Mac Cleaner is to blame for these frustrating ads.

Recommended Download popups related to Mac Adware Cleaner plague

As it has been pointed out, the obtrusive “Recommended Download” popups typically appear during one’s web surfing sessions. This fact indicates that the configuration of browsers running on the target Mac OS X undergoes the toughest blow. Whether it’s Safari, Firefox or Chrome, every one of these will be set to display the alerts at random. It goes without saying that clicking the Install Now button isn’t an option in this case, because this may result in the intrusion of a virus whose impact is difficult to foresee.

The aforementioned Advanced Mac Cleaner fake optimization utility, which is believed to cause the popup issue, affects the Mac computer in several more ways. In particular, it can call forth problems with peripherals such as the keyboard, and of course it displays yet more reminders to upgrade to the premium version and thus resolve the errors, which are all falsified in the first place. A complete fix in this situation implies uninstalling the actual culprit from the contaminated box and reverting browser settings to their original state.

Mac Adware Cleaner popups manual removal for Mac

The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the order specified.

• Open up the Utilities folder as shown below

Open up the Utilities

• Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the screen and double-click on it

Locate the Activity Monitor

• Under Activity Monitor, find the entry for Advanced Mac Cleaner, select it and click Quit Process

Quit MacDefender process

• A dialog should pop up, asking if you are sure you would like to quit the Advanced Mac Cleaner executable. Select the Force Quit option

• Click the Go button again, but this time select Applications on the list. Find the Advanced Mac Cleaner entry on the interface, right-click on it and select Move to Trash. If user password is required, enter it

• Now go to Apple Menu and pick the System Preferences option

Pick the System Preferences

• Select Accounts and click the Login Items button. Mac OS will come up with the list of the items that launch when the box is started up. Locate Advanced Mac Cleaner there and click on the "-" button

Remove MacDefender from Login Items

 

Settings for the web browser that got hit by this infection should be restored to their default values. The overview of steps for this procedure is as follows:

1. Reset Safari

• Open the browser and go to Safari menu. Select Reset Safari in the drop-down list

• Make sure all the boxes are ticked on the interface and hit Reset

Resrt Safari

2. Reset Google Chrome

• Open Chrome and click the Customize and Control Google Chrome menu icon

• Select Options for a new window to appear

• Select Under the Hood tab, then click Reset to defaults button

Reset Chrome

3. Reset Mozilla Firefox

• Open Firefox and select HelpTroubleshooting Information

• On the page that opened, click the Reset Firefox button

Reset Firefox

 

Use automatic tool to completely uninstall Mac Adware Cleaner from your Mac

Unless you are a power user, you run the risk of failing to find and delete some components of this infection on your own. Overlooking dodgy LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons, and malicious configuration profiles means that the threat will continue to cause problems. A more efficient alternative to manual cleanup is to use MacBooster 8, an application that will scan your Mac for issues and fix them automatically.

The app comes with a competitive toolkit that includes Virus & Malware Scan as well as a decent range of optimization features. Therefore, not only does it identify and vanquish mainstream Mac viruses but it also releases disk space and memory so that your computer gets a performance tune-up. Here’s how to go the route of Mac Adware Cleaner "recommended download" popups removal with MacBooster:

  1. Download and install MacBooster 8.

    Download MacBooster

    By downloading any applications recommended on this website you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. The free scanner checks whether your Mac is infected. To get rid of malware, you need to purchase the Pro version of MacBooster.

  2. Open the app. When on the System Status screen, click the Scan button to check your Mac for viruses, junk files, and memory hogs.

    MacBooster System Status screen

  3. Once the scan is completed, inspect the report to see what security threats and performance issues have been found. To get rid of the detected items, click the Fix button at the bottom.

    MacBooster scan report

  4. As an extra step, you might want to make sure that the Mac Adware Cleaner "recommended download" popups infection leftovers are no longer riddling your web browser. This can be the case in an adware scenario. Proceed to the Privacy Protection feature in the left-hand sidebar, select the default browser in the list, and click the Clean button.

    MacBooster Privacy Protection

  5. In case your web browser is still acting up, follow the steps provided in the previous section of this guide to get rid of the adverse web surfing interference for good.
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