Here we go again.
You might recall that a few months ago I got to spend some time removing MacKeeper from a Mac. Then last week, the call came from downstairs where my spouse was using her Mac. From the sound of her voice, I was sure it wasn't good.
Mac Auto Cleaner Virus
Allow me to paraphrase.... 'Something just popped up on my screen about an automatic update.' It didn't take long to figure out that an app named Mac Auto Fixer was that something and that my spouse didn't install it.
Advanced Mac Cleaner is a rogue system utility that wrongfully purports to look for and fix Mac performance issues and privacy risks. Instead of carrying through with these promises, it reports non-existent problems and tries to pressure the user into buying its licensed version to unlock the repair features. This comprehensive and complete tool for Mac is equipped with an advanced virus, malware, and adware scan engines. 1 Download Combo Cleaner from the link below. 2 Double-click on the file to install the program. As show in the image below, drag the Combo Cleaner.app to Applications folder. 3 Open Launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon to run the tool. Auto Memory Cleaner is a menubar-based app that allows you to track, manage, and clean your memory on the fly. Installation is straightforward and the option will run smoothly in the background.
This all sounded suspiciously like a number of other software products that (1) show up on a Mac, seemingly out of thin air, (2) offer to do one thing, but (3) might do something else.
Mac Auto Fixer advertises itself on its website as a 'Cleanup Utility for Mac'.
So I deleted the app, took a look around in the usual places in the home folder (Application Support, Launch Daemons, LaunchAgents, Preferences) and Safari extensions, deleted what looked suspicious, and waited for the app to reappear.
Sure enough, it did.
So what is Mac Auto Fixer?
Mac Auto Fixer advertises itself on its website as a 'Cleanup Utility for Mac'.
Web search research for Mac Auto Fixer also turned up a link to a product called Mac Tonic. It appears that Mac Auto Fixer is a reincarnation of that former app, since the verbiage on the websites for the two products is in large part the same. A little more searching about Mac Tonic brought up web pages about how to delete it as well as links to third-party software that would also do the trick.
In addition, a search of malwarebytes.com included a forum post from a user who reported 'I had Advanced Mac Cleaner on my research VM. It showed update and downloaded Mac Auto Fixer.'
Bingo!
Within a few hours, the folks at Malwarebytes responded, 'Thanks for the heads-up! We're detecting that now.'
How to remove Mac Auto Fixer
I had already tried to delete Mac Auto Fixer manually but was pretty sure there were probably some hidden remnants. So I turned to Malwarebytes.
If you haven't already heard of Malwarebytes, it's an anti-virus program that detects unwanted leftover bits of coding that can oftentimes be left behind, even when you think you've deleted the offending program. You can use it for free on a one-time basis if your Mac is already infected. If you want full-time protection, you can upgrade to the premium version for $39.99 per year for one Mac, $49.99 per year for two computers, and $59.99 per year for three computers. The per-unit price gets cheaper the more computers you license it for.
- Open Malwarebytes.
Click Scan Now.
- In the results window, check the box for each item to be deleted and click Confirm.
Click Restart.
If you launch Malwarebytes and run the scan again, you can rejoice in the purge.
A PUP By Any Other Name Would Still Not Smell Sweet
Potentially Unwanted Programs will probably keep resurfacing. What PUPs are you seeing and how are you handling them? Let us know in the comments below.
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Apple ArcadeGet Rid Of Mac Auto Cleaner
STELA for Apple Arcade is a shallow, sadistic, totally fun game
Can you outrun killer dark shadows? Take leaps of faith into the unknown? Traverse a world where nothing is what it seems? STELA will test your mettle.
However, you should consider a duplicate photo finder app that will do the work for you.
Photos are no less than weeds that grow massively and spread all around. Look into your photo library to organize it; it usually is jumbled up and can’t be sorted on your own.
We won’t say it’s entirely your fault, after all you were just creating memories with those snaps. Nevertheless, tidying up that clutter can become an overwhelming task. So we won’t really ask you to. However, you should consider a duplicate photo remover app that will do the work for you. Without further ado, we’ll shall give you a brief on 5 best duplicate photo cleaner apps on Mac.
5 Best Duplicate Photo Finder and Cleaner For Mac in 2019
1. Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro
Duplicate Photos Fixer is the first duplicate cleaner on our list. It’s an intuitive app with a striking UI. You are required to add folder(s) for scanning, followed by auto marking duplicates and removing them in a click. Apart from this, it also has scanning criteria to detect duplicates. With Duplicate Photos Fixer, you simply have put desired folder(s) and rest is done by the app. Along with Mac, it is also compatible with Windows, Android and iOS operating systems. This is one of the best duplicate photo finders on Mac.
2. Easy Duplicate Finder
Next on our list of Best Duplicate Photo Finders for Mac is Easy Duplicate Finder. The software comes with a Wizard tool that scans & removes all the duplicates in one-go. It offers several scanning modes & search methods that find & remove both exact & similar-looking images with 100% accuracy. It also supports scanning for Cloud Storage solutions like Google Drive & Dropbox which makes it the number one choice in the market.
3. Gemini 2
Gemini 2 not only finds duplicate photos, but also all other files. You can find duplicate movies, music, pictures, documents, folders and other activities on your Mac. It scans all folders and summaries its disk analysis in pie chart and duplicate groups. Once it has scanned your folder(s) & file(s) for duplicates, you can take a look at it and delete them in a click.
4. Duplicate Photo Cleaner
Duplicate Photo Cleaner is another app on list to find and delete duplicate photos on your Mac. Like our previous app, this app also adds folder(s), scan them with a click and delete duplicates. However, you don’t have an auto-marking option with this app. You are required to surf through all images and select the ones that you want to delete. Yet, you can trust the app for its accuracy and easy-handling.
5. iPhoto Library Manager
This is an another app in the list of best duplicate photo finder for mac. iPhoto Library Manager allows you to organize you images, other than detecting and deleting duplicate photos for you. This app also has comparison criteria with which you can find specific duplicates laying on your Mac disk. Apart from these features, this app also does the same work for you within the similar interface that of other cleaner apps.
These are the 5 best duplicate photo cleaner apps on our list. Beside photos, you also get to accumulate duplicate files, which again take up considerable amount of memory on your storage space. Such files can be removed with Duplicate Files Fixer, which is another similar tool to delete duplicate photos or files on your Mac.