AdMedic is now AdwareMedic
Published September 12th, 2014 at 4:11 PM EDT , modified September 12th, 2014 at 4:11 PM EDT
Due to an unfortunate naming issue, AdMedic has been renamed, and is now AdwareMedic! You will find it now on AdwareMedic.com.
So, what happened?
When I chose the name AdMedic, I did a trademark search and did not come up with anything. I also searched Google for conflicts, and found only some medical-related products. Since those are in a different field, I wasn’t worried about those, just as Apple Computer and Apple Records coexisted just fine until Apple Computer started selling music.
However, I neglected to do one thing: check the domain name. I planned to put AdMedic on The Safe Mac website, and thus wasn’t planning to register a separate domain name. It turns out that admedic.com is already taken, and in active use by an advertising company. I learned about this when someone brought them to my attention, and sure enough, they had suddenly shot to number one on Google’s search results for “AdMedic.” 
So, rather than risk a cease and desist order or a lawsuit, I decided to change the name. And to do so quickly, before the name recognition got too far along. And I registered the domain name so I’d have a stronger claim on the name.
Sorry for any inconvenience the change of names might have caused anyone!
Tags: AdMedic, adware, AdwareMedic
82 Comments
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You changed it this time to a far superior name. I think AdwareMedic is an excellent name. You are lucky this happen. The new name is far more descriptive and fits your program better.
I agree! Perfect name.
AdwareMedic sounds like a real medicine against adware
Hi Thomas when I run the app it immediately says No Adware Found but doesn’t seem like scanned anything. Am I doing something wrong?
When I run a scan on my 4+ year old Mac, the scan happens so fast that I barely even see the progress window. On a faster machine, it would probably seem almost instantaneous.
AdwareMedic isn’t scanning every file on your hard drive like anti-virus software does… it’s just looking for specific things in specific places, so it doesn’t take very long to scan.
If you’re having an ad problem that hasn’t been solved, see:
http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/unsolved.php
OK thanks. Not having a problem just wondered if the app was working.
thanks very much for this program,
it solved my startup-problem with my mac book pro
after 2 fresh Maverick installs, and a restore from airport ( that enabled normal reboot ) then doing an virusscan with Norton
( Norton Antivirus revealed the name genieo , and “solved the problem” by deleting the adaware and in the process blocked my pc again !!!!! no salvation there )
During the second restore I googled for genieo , found you , did a new restore , and executed your marvellous program ADWAREMEDIC
i am up and running again.
The support of Mac advised to wipe my disk and do a clean install : I said to them : Goodbye
THANKS VERY MUCH THOMAS
This took care of my problem right away, as stated before, worked in about 2 seconds and removed all of the adware.
Hi Thomas,
I tried running AdwareMedic to remove the Mac Install Search (Genio) that’s been driving me nuts.
So I ran the scan, removed the files as instructed by your program, and even emptied the trash to make sure… but it appears the adware problem is still prevalent.
Now I no longer get the Mac Install search page whenever Chrome is opened up, but when I do a search using the web address bar, I always end up back on bing with my useless search results!
It is so frustrating and I need your help, please!
You need to change your web browser’s search settings. See:
http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/browsersettings.php
I just looked up AdwareMedic on Google and I saw downloads available from both Softpedia and MacUpdate:
http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/AdwareMedic.shtml
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/52105/admedic
Are you at all concerned about this seeing that such sites tend to distribute adware? Or was this your intention?
To be fair, MacUpdate doesn’t add adware to their downloads, and as far as I’m aware, never has. I’m also unaware of Softpedia ever doing that. (Perhaps you’re confusing Softpedia with Softonic, which does wrap software in an adware installer?) I will be keeping an eye on these, though, to make sure that no adware is ever added to the downloads. (There’s a specific clause in the license agreement forbidding this.)
It does concern me a bit that AdwareMedic is being hosted on sites that have ads for software that I don’t respect, like MacKeeper or CleanMyMac. However, I’m holding off for now on asking for it to be removed. I’m going to keep an eye on it.
Perhaps I am confusing the two. I’m willing to test Softpedia for you, if you want; if they do install adware I can just download from the official site and remove it 😀
I would love to see a signed version of this!
It’s already signed. There was an issue with the 1.0.2 release a few days ago, due to the fact that I had updated to OS X 10.9.5 just beforehand, that caused the signature to fail without me realizing it. That has been corrected. If you’ve got an unsigned copy, you can re-download to get a signed copy, though there is no other difference.
If you downloaded from somewhere other than http://www.adwaremedic.com, please be aware that you may not have an up-to-date copy of the app.
I would love to download adwaremedic but my mac is ox 10.6.8 so I cannot get it. Got anything that would work for me? I will gladly pay for something good.
Try the manual removal instructions here in my Adware Removal Guide.
Hi Thomas,
can you explain : ” software I don’t respect, like MacKeeper”
I buy my software because I expect to be an asset.
So i am very curious to know your opinion about this program (MacKeeper) ,for example: what it promisses but fails to supply, or what it brakes.
For one : the anti theft with kromtech does not help you, because september 15 my mac book air was stolen and it did not surface yet , same week I had the genieo adaware on my mac pro – which your adwaremedic marvellously solved look comment september 17th -.
So I almost lost 2 MACS in 2 days. ( 6000 euros )
I was disappointed in the support of apple, so you deserve all credit.
Thanks Thomas
ADWAREMEDIC IS AWSOME, but some enlightenment to my address or an url would be appreciated,
MacKeeper is a scam. In fact, it is currently the subject of two separate class-action lawsuits alleging fraud. It provides an anti-virus engine licensed from Avira, which is available for free if you download it directly. Its other features are either useless, already provided by Apple (eg, anti-theft is already built into the system) or done better free by other software. Those who do think it’s necessary are usually victims of its aggressive marketing campaign.
Thank you so much!! Your software helped me get rid of Dynamic Pricer after I’d been fighting to get rid of it for the last few hours. Tried a couple of programs and they didn’t work. Awesome software 😀
Thank you for getting rid of the last vestiges of Genieo! The peace of mind is well worth the 10 bucks I sent you.
I am having the same trovi.com issue with my windows 8 machine as with my imac.
Is there an Adwaremedic download for the Windows 8 environment?
No, unfortunately I know nothing about removing adware on Windows, so there is no Windows version of AdwareMedic.
This app is amazing. Thank you. I will be donating soon.
Bob
I agree… this app is fantastic! I am a 25+ year veteran Mac user and I just experienced for the first time how easy it is to mistakenly install a malware/adware program on a Macbook Pro tonight. I wanted to download VLC, a good WMV video player. Unfortunately, it found it on a adware website and downloaded it. I did not understand the consequences of using that site.
Immediately I started seeing popup ads for crap software. I was shocked. I was able to manually delete the software from my Applications folder, but could not delete the Firefox extension that had been installed. I could disable it, but there was no delete button in my Extensions window.
I did some searching and came across Thomas’ AdwareMedic app, downloaded it, installed it and within 10 seconds after running it, the adware file was in the trash and GONE. Thank You, Thomas!
I just want to say thanks for the adwareMedic! How do we donate? Can I use Visa cards, iTunes cards, etc?
You can donate through any method that PayPal will accept, just go here:
http://www.adwaremedic.com/buynow.php
Payment is definitely not required, but is always welcome! 🙂
Hi Thomas
I just wanted to say thanks for making adwaremedic available, I had some add ware issues on my mac book pro and within seconds of starting adwaremedic, the 3 problems were identified and removed.
A wonderful program, again thank you.
Leigh Wood
Mackeeper was driving me crazy and I fould your software and used and it worked perfect. Thank you so much I was about to throw my air book against the wall. I will recommend this software to everyone.
Thomas,
I suggest you add the version # for AdwareMedic on the download page. My version alerted me that there was a new version, but it is not at all clear what version will be downloaded on your site.
Mac
Hi Thomas, I value your opinion greatly.
in one of your posts you mentioned
VirusBarrier Express
do you think this is worth investing my money in ? or do you have another suggestion.
Thanks
VirusBarrier Express no longer exists. The only anti-virus software I recommend these days is ClamXav, but please be aware that no anti-virus software will adequately protect you from adware.
I googled for VirusBarrier and came up with http://www.intego.com
so i can ignore this software ?
there is a trial period of 30 days
I have installed XamClav in the meanwhile 😉
ClamXav 😉
I just ran AdwareMedic and the only thing it flagged was my Omnibar firefox extension. I don’t have genieo and I installed omnibar myself from the firefox extensions site. I find it quite useful because it combines the search and the address bar.
Could you please explain why you consider it adware?
Some variants of Genieo install an Omnibar browser extension. If there is a legit Omnibar extension, I’ll have to tighten up the signature. However, that’s assuming these are separate extensions… I’ll have to check the code to make sure the one you’re referring to isn’t the same as Genieo’s.
the one I have is definitely a standalone omnibar extension. I installed it myself. I never had genio and Adwaremedic scan finds nothing except for that one extension which I’m quite sure is a legit one.
Hi Thomas,
as you proposed to install an antivirus, and you did not appreciate Norton Antivirus, I removed it,
installed ClamXav
and also bought Dr. Web for Mac OS X.
Dr Web. recognized a lot of issues in my download folder, and was able to quarantine and delete them, always checking if your adaware tool agreed and kept my reboot intact.
There are two components of dr Web. which slow down the use of Mac, before completely scanning the system – which is terminated now – and this too is solved now.
Spider Gard, and Spider Gate.
As I remember – you told – the issues on the time machine will gradually disappear as backups are taken.
Maybe I should fill up the time machine and my terabyte Mac Pro with sain data and take a few huge backups to speed up this process.
================================================
Only one issue remains : an infected archive which Dr Web put in quarantine,
================================================
details :
file : JavaApplicationStub
Where : /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/MacOS
Size : 34.1 Kb
Created : 24/01/14 10:01
Owner : system Administrator
Threats : infected archive
trojan.genieo.19 ( 0.file )
trohan.genieo.20 ( 1.file )
Dr Web proposes a few options : Delete –> impossible admin rights
restore –>
restore to
What do you suggest : 1. leave it there?
2. will a reinstall of maverick remove it ( i doubt it )
3. restore to and try delete?
Thanks for your input.
Actually, I didn’t propose installing anti-virus, I just said if you’re going to that you should use ClamXav.
As for that file detected as Genieo by Dr. Web, that appears to be a false positive. That file is a file normally found on all Mac systems, and is not part of Genieo. I’ve got that file on systems that I know Genieo has never touched.
Thanks Thomas,
your product removed a MACkeeper zeobit .com popup that was driving me mad i would like to donate a small amount as i am not very well off but only use Pay Pal do you have pay pal thanks again
Yes, I use PayPal. See:
http://www.adwaremedic.com/buynow.php
However, please be aware there’s no need to donate if it’s financially difficult to do so!
Thank you so much for this!!! It helped me immensely!! Will tell all my friends about this and continue to visit and support the site 🙂
awsome software as soon as i installed it got on goring so ended the problem in like 10 seconds
Thank you very much.this worked like a gem.i would donate.thnks again.
You’re a Mac saver, Thomas. Thank you for doing this. I love my Mac again and I will donate to support this site.
Thomas,
Just thought you might like to know that I went to the Apple Store today since I was having fits with Adware and not quite sure what to do. They did. The ‘Genius’ quickly brought up your program and in a few seconds the problem was solved. Amazing. Thought you might like to know if you didn’t that Apple seems to have a great deal of respect for your software. Thanks to you both!!
I’ve installed bluestacks app from softonic and hence I got this adware. Now that I’ve removed adware from your adware medic app, should I uninstall my bluestacks app too ?
The problem is not the bluestacks app, per se, it’s the fact that you downloaded it from Softonic. Still, I wouldn’t trust anything downloaded from Softonic, and would recommend removing that app and then reinstalling it after downloading from the developer’s site.
Now it’s not available on the developer’s site for mac osX, only for windows, earlier it used to be. What should i do ? Should I keep it ?
I’d probably assume that the developer has dropped support for the Mac OS X version, and would get rid of it. Unsupported software can be a serious headache.
Hi Thomas,
By reading the comments your software seems to be great. Although, I’m having trouble downloading it, the download button takes me to a 404?
That’s a sign that you have adware that is trying to prevent you from downloading it. See:
http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/download-redirect.php
Same here.
Just upgraded my Mac to Yosemite and wanted to use AdwareMedic, but the ‘Adware signature file appears to be corrupt’
And when I try to update the software I can not click the download button on your site. Just nothing happens. The donate button does work however.
Any idea on how to get this to work?
Kinda geting frustrated from all the annoying adds and Mackeeper pages.
You’re using an outdated version of AdwareMedic that no longer recognizes the current signature file format. You need to download the most recent version.
If the Download button isn’t working, that has become a common problem – some adware actively tries to prevent infected machines from downloading AdwareMedic. Here’s a direct download link:
http://www.adwaremedic.com/AdwareMedic.dmg
I follow the guide to remove adware.
And I see in Launchagents:
com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist
com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist
com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist
I also have in
LaunchDeamons
com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
com.adobe.versioncueCS3.plist
com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist
And a lot of frameworks
DivX Toolkit
EWSMac.
FontLab
HPDeviceModel
HPPml
HPServicesInterface
HPSmartPrint
iTunes LIbrary
NyxAudioAnalusis
PluginManager
YSLicense
So, I’m not sure about what to erase.
If you’re trying to follow the manual removal instructions in my Adware Removal Guide, you should only erase the items that it specifically tells you to erase! None of those items are identified as needing to be removed by that guide.
Also — for anyone who sees this article, if you have Web of Trust, rate the AdwareMedic site before the weenies start giving it bad ratings!! (I’m posting this on all of the AdwareMedic related posts on this website)
Hey there 🙂
I have been panicking all day. I just used your software (and some of your useful advice) to remove some adware and problem fixed!! I just wanted to stop by and say thank you, and that I think its an amazing thing that you have gone to such lengths to help others out 🙂 🙂
All the Best
Raquel
Are there any plans on publishing this on the Mac App Store? I think it would be a great, useful, and resilient addition.
Unfortunately, it cannot be distributed through the Mac App Store. There are very strict sandboxing limitations on App Store apps, and some of the things that AdwareMedic has to be able to do aren’t allowed. Adware files can be buried very deeply in the system, where no App Store app is allowed to look, much less make changes.
Hello, I keep getting the only search tab that keeps opening and then of course the mackeeper???? wanting to install. Everytime I try to open adwaremedic I get a message that safari can not open page. can you help me please.
See:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7792
Help! My browser has been taken over by adware posting ads by speed dial. I’m running Mac OSX 10.6.8. Google shows that in your comments someone else running 10.6.8 asked you for help with this, but I’m not seeing it here. Please can you give instructions how to clear this adware from my machine? This happened to me only today, shortly after I downloaded Spotify. I downloaded from Spotify’s website, but I suspect the download was compromised somehow or other.
You can try the manual removal instructions here:
http://www.thesafemac.com/arg/
You could also restore to a previous state with Time Machine, but you would need to roll the whole system back… ie, erase the hard drive and restore everything from a Time Machine backup prior to the adware infection. That’s overkill, and far more time consuming, but would work.
I’ll have to check out the current version of Spotify and see if it includes any kind of adware.
Is it possible to undo the adware installation by rolling back my computer with Time Machine to the previous day? Which folders should I roll back to?
I tried the manual removal instructions, but none of the problem files you have listed are there, and no browser extensions other than the few I have been using with Google Chrome (Chromebleed, Streamus, Google Translate, Ublock, and FVD downloader). Cleared browser cache and cookies & plug-in data several times to no avail. I peered into the hosts file, but nothing suspicious turned up there either. None of our other devices that connect to the modem are affected, so that pretty much rules out a modem infection. Are you familiar with this particular adware? What file names should I be looking for?
Is there a way to invoke this program from the terminal? Having commands to automatically scan and clean would be invaluable.
Not at this time. But if you need this program repeatedly, you’re engaging in dangerous online behavior that will eventually get you infected with something worse than adware. Better to change the behavior. See:
http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg-defense/
If it’s possible to use AdwareMedic through terminal it could be used remotely. That way it would be very useful in larger IT environments.
my mac mail stopped working after using this software. any suggestions
regards
rob
That is probably unrelated to AdwareMedic, which should not go anywhere near any files that would cause Mail to stop working. It’s hard to say what might have happened without more details, though. Send me an e-mail and let me know what’s going on.
need a reply to this asap, as i need my mail for work
hi,
thanks for quick reply,
how do i send an email with out my mac mail. mac mail stopped working as soon as i removed the adware files. that all i know, not really a tech computer user,
regards
i was going to upgrade to yosemite, but now noticed can even update now.
and the app store will not open now
i am on 10.9.5 do you think the auotmatic update of this might be the cause. no mac mail, no software upgrade, no mac app store
None of this is related to AdwareMedic, and though I’d be glad to help, this is not the right place to do that.
Download a copy of EtreCheck and run it. Post a copy of the report on Apple’s discussion forums with a complete description of what’s going on. Then put the address of your post into a comment here and I’ll take a look.
thanks for help. will do
https://discussions.apple.com/message/27208141#27208141
cheers
this software is epic! thank you so much man I had problems with my mac for ages