I'll clarify that it’s been months since I’ve downloaded a file from Sendspace, and I never use third party downloaders if they’re requested. I’m not saying that they are all bad or that Mark’s adware infection definitely came from Sendspace. It may well have come from somewhere else entirely. I just like to be cautious since in general I see no reason for installing or executing a third-party download client. Websites can often be sneaky and cause you to unknowingly install something else by mistake. But again, I have no experience with the downloader offered on Sendspace so I make no claims that it was the source of Mark’s adware.
However, he’s clearly infected with adware and so I tried to offer the best advice I could for getting rid of it. Grant Sent from mobile On Oct 17, 2014, at 12:01 PM, Joshua Tubbs <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: The SendSpace wizard is still the SS downloader. It is not the “Sendspace downloader” that appears at random times when attempting to download a file. Refresh the page to get the normal “Click here to start download from Sendspace” link. > On Oct 17, 2014, at 2:53 PM, Grant Hardy <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Hi Mark, > > You’re infected with adware I’m afraid. One third-party site that seems to be > quite authoritative with respect to Mac security including adware and malware > is www.thesafemac.com <http://www.thesafemac.com/>. I am not affiliated with > the author in any way, nor have I ever tried the site’s adware removal > instructions as I’ve never knowingly had an adware infection. However, I’ve > heard good feedback about the site’s content which appears to be quite > authoritative. > > Here is where to find the manual adware removal instructions for several > pieces of adware, including MacSmart: > http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-identification/ > <http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-identification/> > The author also maintains an automated adware removal tool if you’d rather > not follow any manual instructions: http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php > <http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php> > > That said, according to the site, MacSmart appears to be a Safari extension, > so you should be able to remove it by going to the extensions tab in Safari’s > preferences. However, you might want to look for other adware on your system > as well, just in case. > > A good rule of thumb in my opinion is to avoid downloader apps, cleaning > apps, third-party uninstaller that claim to remove all traces of other apps, > and anything having to do with flash or video unless you’ve thoroughly > researched the app in question. I’d also avoid anything that asks for your > administrator password unless you know exactly why the app needs it. Dropbox, > for example, needs your admin password because it hooks into Finder and I > believe uses certain other APIs to monitor changes in your Dropbox folder. > But a third party downloader or video player shouldn’t need your admin > password. > > Grant > > Sent from mobile > > On Oct 17, 2014, at 8:04 AM, Mark Baxter <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > I was downloading a file from SendSpace the other day; they have a new > downloader app for Mac that you have to install to download the file. Now, > I've got something called "Macsmart," that I can't get rid of and which pops > up ad pages in Safari every time I open a page, despite my having blocked > pop-ups. What the heck is this and how do I kill it dead? > Thanks > > > • Mark BurningHawk Baxter > http://MarkBurningHawk.net/ <http://markburninghawk.net/> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries > <http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries > <http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries <http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries>. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
