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

What is ParameterQuest

ParameterQuest is an adware application that targets Mac computers. Adware is a type of malicious software. When adware software gets inside your MAC, it might carry out various harmful tasks. Some of the more common acts: display numerous pop-up deals and/or annoying commercials; redirect your web-browser to unsafe websites; slow down your computer; change browser settings.

Another reason why you need to get rid of the ParameterQuest adware is its online data-tracking activity. It has the ability to collect a wide variety of confidential information such as what web-pages you are opening, what you are looking for the World Wide Web and so on. This personal information, afterwards, may be sold to third parties.

Therefore, the adware is quite dangerous. So, we advise you get rid of it from your machine ASAP. Follow the guide presented below to remove ParameterQuest from your MAC and Safari, Firefox and Chrome.

How does ParameterQuest get on your MAC OS

Adware most likely to occur during the installation of freeware due the fact that unwanted apps like ParameterQuest are usually hidden in the setup file. Thus, if you’ve installed some free applications using Quick(Standard) mode, you may have let adware software get inside your MAC. Keep in mind that the Quick mode is unreliable because it do not warn about optional programs. Thus, additional software will be installed automatically unless you choose Advanced/Custom method and disable its installation.

Threat Summary

Name	ParameterQuest, ParameterQuest 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	OSX.Trojan.Gen, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, ApplicUnwnt, MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware.MAC.Generic and Adware/Adload!OSX
Distribution	Free software installers, torrent downloads, malicious popup ads and fake update tools
Symptoms	Every time you perform an Internet search, your browser is redirected to another web-site, you experience a large number of of unwanted ads, unwanted program installed without your consent, unexpected browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, your Mac settings are being modified without your request, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	ParameterQuest removal guide

How to remove ParameterQuest adware

Fortunately, it is not hard to get rid of ParameterQuest adware. In the following tutorial, we will provide two methods to free your computer of this adware. One is the manual removal solution and the other is automatic removal solution. You can choose the method that best fits you. Please follow the removal steps below to delete ParameterQuest adware right now!

To remove ParameterQuest, complete the following steps:

1. Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
2. Check the list of installed programs
3. Remove ParameterQuest related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove ParameterQuest from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

ParameterQuest can make changes to the Mac system such as malicious changes to browser settings, and the addition of malicious system profiles. You need to check the system preferences, find and remove malicious profiles and ensure your settings are as you expect.

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 computer. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with ParameterQuest.

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

Check the list of installed programs

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

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Very carefully look around the entire list of programs installed on your machine. Most probably, one of them is the ParameterQuest . Once you’ve found a suspicious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it and select “Move to Trash”. Another method is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Don’t forget, choose Finder -> “Empty Trash”.

Remove ParameterQuest related files and folders

Now you need to try to find ParameterQuest 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.

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

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

Some files created by ParameterQuest 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 ParameterQuest 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, , com.machelper.plist, installapp.plist, com.net-preferences.plist, com.ParameterQuest.service.plist and search.plist. Most often, adware software, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Check for ParameterQuest 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.ParameterQuest.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for ParameterQuest 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 ParameterQuest 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.installapp.system.plist, com.ParameterQuest.system.plist, com.search.system.plist, com.machelper.system.plist and com.macsearch.system.plist. In most cases, browser hijackers, PUPs and adware create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

If you carefully followed the previous steps, then you should be able to remove ParameterQuest. Of course, very often PUPs, adware and browser hijackers hides on a Mac device, disguising itself as legitimate apps and files. Therefore, in some cases, it is difficult for an inexperienced user to decide whether a particular file is part of browser hijackers, adware software and potentially unwanted programs. Therefore, we recommend you to use MalwareBytes to scan the Mac computer.

Please go to the following link to download MalwareBytes Free.

After the downloading process is done, run it and follow the prompts. Click the “Scan” button for checking your MAC for the ParameterQuest . During the scan MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will find threats present on your MAC OS. All detected threats will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes Free is a free program that you can use to get rid of all detected folders, files, malicious services and so on.

Remove ParameterQuest from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you have ‘ParameterQuest adware’ removal problem, then remove unwanted plugins can help you. In the steps below we’ll show you the way to remove malicious plugins without reinstall. This will also allow to get rid of ParameterQuest adware software from your browser.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Google Chrome menu. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to get rid of ParameterQuest 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 ParameterQuest adware 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 pages, unwanted advertisements and pop-ups. To be able to do that, the ad blocking program uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious web site, an advertising content, a banner and others. The adblocker application automatically uses these filters, depending on the web sites you are visiting.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard from the following link.

After downloading is complete, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.

Each time, when you start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop annoying ads, block harmful and misleading web-pages.

Finish words

Now your MAC should be clean of the ParameterQuest adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up advertisements and intrusive harmful websites) and MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your computer for new malicious software, hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, harmful apps and adware are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to get rid of ParameterQuest from your web browser, then ask for help here.