How to uninstall GeneralAnalog app/extension from Mac (Virus removal guide)

What is GeneralAnalog

GeneralAnalog is a malicious application that belongs to the adware category. Adware is a form of malicious software that’s designed to display unwanted ads. Some of these ads are scams or fake advertisements created to trick you. Even the harmless ads can become really irritating. Adware can be installed unintentionally and without you knowing about it, when you open email attachments, install free software.

The worst is, GeneralAnalog can analyze the location and which Web web pages you visit, and then display advertisements to the types of content, goods or services featured there. Its creators can gather and sell your surfing information and behavior to third parties.

How does GeneralAnalog get on your computer

Adware is bundled with various freeware. This means that you need to be very careful when installing programs downloaded from the World Wide Web. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only the Manual, Advanced or Custom install mode, switch off all optional modules and applications are offered to install.

Threat Summary

Name	GeneralAnalog, GeneralAnalog 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Adware.MAC.Generic, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware/Adload!OSX, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, OSX.Trojan.Gen and ApplicUnwnt
Distribution	Free software installers, dubious popup ads, torrent downloads and fake software updaters
Symptoms	You keep getting redirected to suspicious web-sites, unclosable window appear and recommend fake Jave updates, new entries appear in your Applications folder, an unwanted toolbar appears in your web-browser, your MAC OS settings are being modified without your request, speed test good but internet slow.
Removal	GeneralAnalog removal guide

How to remove GeneralAnalog

Fortunately, it is not hard to remove GeneralAnalog. In the following guidance, we will provide two ways to clean your machine of this adware. One is the manual removal way and the other is automatic removal method. You can select the solution that best fits you. Please follow the removal guide below to remove GeneralAnalog right now!

To remove GeneralAnalog, complete the steps below:

1. Remove profiles created by GeneralAnalog
2. Remove GeneralAnalog associated software by using the Finder
3. Remove GeneralAnalog related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove GeneralAnalog from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove profiles created by GeneralAnalog

GeneralAnalog can install a configuration profile on the Mac system to block changes made to the browser settings. Therefore, you need to open system preferences, find and delete the profile installed by the adware software.

Click Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, select Profiles. if there is no Profiles in the list of preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on the Mac device. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with GeneralAnalog.

To delete a malicious profile, click on the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen.

Remove GeneralAnalog associated software by using the Finder

It’s of primary importance to identify and delete PUPs, browser hijackers and adware through ‘Applications’ section of your Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Carefully browse through the list of installed apps and delete all suspicious and unknown software.

When you have found anything suspicious that may be the GeneralAnalog or other PUP, then right click this program and select “Move to Trash”. Once complete, Empty Trash.

Remove GeneralAnalog related files and folders

Now you need to try to find GeneralAnalog related files and folders, and then delete them manually. You need to look for these files in certain directories. To quickly open them, we recommend using the “Go to Folder…” command.

GeneralAnalog creates several files, these files must be found and removed. Below is a list of files associated with this unwanted application.

• /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.GeneralAnalog.system.plist
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.GeneralAnalog.service.plist
• /Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/System/com.GeneralAnalog.system
• ~/Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/Services/com.GeneralAnalog.service.app

Some files created by GeneralAnalog are hidden from the user. To find and delete them, you need to enable “show hidden files”. To do this, use the shortcut CMD + SHIFT + . Press once to show hidden files and again to hide them. There is another way. Click Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal. In Terminal, paste the following text: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Press Enter. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

Click on the Finder icon. From the menu bar, select Go and click “Go to Folder…”. As a result, a small window opens that allows you to quickly open a specific directory.

Check for GeneralAnalog generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchAgents

This will open the contents of the “/Library/LaunchAgents” folder. Look carefully at it and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files: macsearch.plist, com.google.defaultsearch.plist, , search.plist, com.net-preferences.plist, installapp.plist, com.GeneralAnalog.service.plist and com.machelper.plist. Most often, adware, PUPs and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Check for GeneralAnalog generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/Application Support

This will open the contents of the “Application Support” folder. Look carefully at its contents, pay special attention to recently added/changed folders and files. Check the contents of suspicious folders, if there is a file with a name similar to com.GeneralAnalog.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for GeneralAnalog generated files in the “~/Library/LaunchAgents” folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
~/Library/LaunchAgents

Proceed in the same way as with the “/Library/LaunchAgents” and “/Library/Application Support” folders. Look for suspicious and recently added files. Move all suspicious files to the Trash.

Check for GeneralAnalog generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Carefully browse the entire list of files and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files to be deleted: com.macsearch.system.plist, com.search.system.plist, com.installapp.system.plist, com.machelper.system.plist and com.GeneralAnalog.system.plist. In most cases, PUPs, adware and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) to scan the Mac for potentially unwanted programs, adware software and browser hijackers. This free utility is an advanced malicious software removal application created by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It is able to help you remove adware and other security threats from your Mac computer for free.

1. MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) can be downloaded from the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20850 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. After the download is complete, please close all programs and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes Free will open and display the main window.
4. Further, press the “Scan” button to start checking your Apple Mac for the GeneralAnalog . While the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware program is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.
5. When MalwareBytes Free has finished scanning, MalwareBytes will create a list of unwanted software and adware software.
6. Make sure to check mark the items which are unsafe and then click the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Remove GeneralAnalog from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying GeneralAnalog adware or other symptoms of adware software in your internet browser is a good reason to locate and remove malicious extensions. This is an easy way to recover web browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Chrome menu. When the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to get rid of GeneralAnalog adware by reset Chrome settings.	Click on ‘menu’ button and select ‘Add-ons’. Go to ‘Extensions’ tab. To uninstall an add-on, click on ‘Remove’ button next to it. If you are still experiencing problems with GeneralAnalog adware software removal, you need to reset Mozilla Firefox browser.
Safari
On the top menu select ‘Safari’, then ‘Preferences’. Select ‘Extensions’ tab. Select an extension you want to delete and click ‘Uninstall’ button next to it.

How to stay safe online

To put it simply, you need to use an ad blocker utility (AdGuard, for example). It will block and protect you from harmful web sites, unwanted advertisements and popups. To be able to do that, the ad blocker program uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious web page, an advertising content, a banner and others. The ad-blocker application automatically uses these filters, depending on the web-pages you’re visiting.

1. Click the following link to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3687 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. When downloading is done, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the installation is done, click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your MAC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive advertisements, block malicious and misleading web-sites.

Finish words

Once you have done the tutorial outlined above, your computer should be clean from the adware and other malicious software. The Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari will no longer display any unwanted ads when you surf the Web. Unfortunately, if the instructions does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help.

Please create a new question by using the “Ask Question” button in the Questions and Answers. Try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the unwanted GeneralAnalog adware.