&%(#ing SOFTONIC. Stuck in system tray!!

[Gr80Likes2Boogi]

Hey all,

So I wanted paintbrush, and noticed (cause how could you not?!) that it came with this softonic awfulness. I removed the toolbar, went into applications and 86ed the entire thing. I still have the ALERT icon in my system tray, right next to wifi, caffeine and shades. I can't get rid of it! The ol' command and drag off isn't working, and I've spotlighted to find ANY remnants, and can't find a single thing.

I've searched google and mroogle, and came up with an old thread but doesn't do it. I can hide it, but it comes back every time I restart Safari (I'm using 5.0.2). I reset Safari, nada. PLEASE help! It bugs me so!

 

[Gr80Likes2Boogi]

Well I went ahead and sent a message for guidance to Softonic and they said I didn't provide enough details. I'll email them again, I suppose. If I removed paintbrush, would that do it? That was the app that I downloaded that added this Softonic crap. Of course, if I remove Paintbrush and it's still there, I might have an aneurysm.

 

[GGJstudios]

I still have the ALERT icon in my system tray

Why are you asking this in a Mac forum? Mac OS X doesn't have a system tray... Windows does.

 

[LPZ]

Why are you asking this in a Mac forum? Mac OS X doesn't have a system tray... Windows does.

Yes, good question.

 

[416049]

Why are you asking this in a Mac forum? Mac OS X doesn't have a system tray... Windows does.

I think he meant the top toolbar in Mac os or is it a toolbar inside a browser like safari,chrome,firefox.... ? please specify

 

[GGJstudios]

I think he meant the top toolbar in Mac os or is it a toolbar inside a browser like safari,chrome,firefox.... ? please specify

The bar at the top of Mac OS X is the Menu Bar. To remove many items from the Menu Bar, hold the Command key and drag them off. Others may need to be removed by application preferences.

 

[416049]

The bar at the top of Mac OS X is the Menu Bar. To remove many items from the Menu Bar, hold the Command key and drag them off. Others may need to be removed by application preferences.

Oh oops well than there is the second option...

 

[LPZ]

The bar at the top of Mac OS X is the Menu Bar. To remove many items from the Menu Bar, hold the Command key and drag them off. Others may need to be removed by application preferences.

I guess he means the menu bar, since he mentions "The ol' command and drag off isn't working" in his original post.

A quick Google search yields "you click on softonic icon, left end of the toolbar, then settings, uninstall"

Maybe this will work?

 

[GGJstudios]

Manual removal of applications

Sometimes people will delete an app and it leaves an icon on the Menu Bar. If Command+drag doesn't remove it, one option is to reinstall the app, then use the app's uninstall function to completely remove it. If that's not an option:

Most "uninstaller apps" like AppCleaner, AppDelete and AppZapper leave many files and folders behind, so manual removal is more thorough and effective.

To manually remove an application and all associated files:

1. Launch Finder and search for the app name (hopefully unique, such as Skype)
2. You can narrow the search to specific folders or search your whole Mac
3. Searching "File Name" vs "Contents" usually provides better results.
4. Click the + button below the search term to add criteria
5. Click the "Album" drop-down and select "System files"
6. Click the "Don't include" and change to "include"
7. Sort by name, kind, date, etc. to identify components of the app, such as folders, .plist files, cache files. etc.
8. Delete all files and folders related to the app.
9. Don't empty your Trash until you've determined that everything is working OK, in case you need to restore something you deleted by accident.
10. A reboot might be necessary to completely remove some apps.

​

 

[Gr80Likes2Boogi]

Hi all,

SORRY about the wrong wording for the "up there in the top right corner" area. I've been using OSX for about 3 years now, I should know better.

So right here, you can see it up there, it's the lil red bastard.

Going clicking on it gives me those options

And settings gives me this.

As you can see, I get no uninstall option, much to my chagrin.

EDIT: So I tried GGJStudios' thing, and I only see 'safari items' in spotlight. Maybe I should re-install this monster and try again? I just found everything I had in my applications folder and dragged it into the trash. I've emptied AND restarted the computer since. I also removed Paintbrush, which was the culprit, yet still no fix.

 

[LPZ]

What happens when you uncheck "Show icon in system tray"? Does that "hide" the icon until Safari starts again?

Have you looked in /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons for a softonic-related plist file?

You could also open Activity Monitor (in Utilities), choose All Processes from the menu adjacent to the Filter window and try to identify the process that handles that icon. Click on the icon and see if a certain process becomes more active.

 

[Gr80Likes2Boogi]

Nada in Library/Launch agents, and I don't even have a launchdaemons folder. I did find a Conduit folder (or the evil empire, as I'm waging an all-out war, right now!) in Library/application support. I'm going to close and restart safari, then do activity monitor.

The hunt continues!

EDIT- It's a ZombieVampireHighlander. It will not die.

THE GOOD NEWS- I successfully (somehow) got it to stop popping up. I deleted it from Library/Application support. Restarted my computer. Now it's back!!! Here's the newest addition to my lil bastard family:

I get this fun lil' number

And the Zombie pathway

EDIT x2- restart.... remove.... replaced!!! It's all STILL THERE!! Do you think I should try to reinstall this abomination from the ground up and then maybe remove again? Maybe I did it improperly?

 

[Gr80Likes2Boogi]

Success!!!

ZOMFG. I never say that.

So I re-downloaded it, and this time instead of dragging everything madly to trash, I calmly looked around in this clusterfu..... ahem, cluster of a toolbar and found the uninstall option. Then of course it took me to feedback and yadda yadda yadda, but anyway at the end of this process, the toolbar disappeared in a FLASH and so did the icon in the system tr- menu bar.

Thank you ALL for your help and suggestions, I went through everything you said and found a lot of garbage from old apps I no longer have. I know 5 or 6 .plist files aren't doing any damage or taking up space, but I like tying up loose ends.

And the BEST part of all this? Paintbrush is on Sourceforge, and not JUST Softonic! I clearly just went to the first hit that Google provided (lesson learned.)

...all that trouble, just so I can do this crap!