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Need help uninstalling search elf

A

aldo818

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 18, 2009
183
0
South of France
by accident i installed search elf after it made my safari crash i was able to delate it but i still have alerts in system tray and i can t find the application in finder nor anywhere. How can i get it away?

First time ever my mac crashed and i couldn t start safari because of this toolbar.
 
aldo818 said:
by accident i installed search elf after it made my safari crash i was able to delate it but i still have alerts in system tray and i can t find the application in finder nor anywhere. How can i get it away?

First time ever my mac crashed and i couldn t start safari because of this toolbar.
Click to expand...
Mac OS X doesn't have a "system tray"; that's Windows.
Windows doesn't have "Finder"; that's Mac OS X.
So which are you running? Mac OS X or Windows?

If Mac, this is the most effective way to completely remove an app.

This is from SearchElf's Help page:
How do I uninstall the SearchElf toolbar?
You may uninstall this software at any time and with no limitations, using the standard uninstall procedures as offered with your computer's operating system or your Internet browser.

How do I uninstall the SearchElf toolbar?
You may uninstall this software at any time and with no limitations, using the standard uninstall procedures as offered with your computer's operating system or your Internet browser.

Safari users
  1. Open the Finder application and browse to Applications.
  2. Scroll down to Toolbars and click on SearchElf.
  3. Double-click on “Uninstall”.
  4. Fill in the “User name & Password” and click the OK button.
I can’t uninstall the SearchElf toolbar.
  1. Visit the SearchElf toolbar's download page and reinstall the toolbar.
  2. Restart your computer.
  3. Uninstall the toolbar again.
Click to expand...
 
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thank you did both the app is gone but the alert of the app is still in the system try as soon as i start safari

GGJstudios said:
Mac OS X doesn't have a "system tray"; that's Windows.
Windows doesn't have "Finder"; that's Mac OS X.
So which are you running? Mac OS X or Windows?

If Mac, this is the most effective way to completely remove an app.
Click to expand...

ah ok sorry i m new to mac just got the macbook air a few days ago so i guess it has the latest os on
 
Last edited by a moderator:
it 's the bell on top second icon
 

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aldo818 said:
thank you did both the app is gone but the alert of the app is still in the system try as soon as i start safari
Click to expand...
There is no such thing as a "system tray" on your Mac. Read my previous post, as I've added more information.
aldo818 said:
it 's the bell on top second icon
Click to expand...
That's the Menu Bar, not the system tray. Hold your Command key down and drag the icon off the Menu Bar.
 
GGJstudios said:
There is no such thing as a "system tray" on your Mac. Read my previous post, as I've added more information.

That's the Menu Bar, not the system tray. Hold your Command key down and drag the icon off the Menu Bar.
Click to expand...

it doesn t move i m able to move all the others except that one.
 
i opened it and took another screenshot so u see the app in question. Thank you guys so much and sorry to border you as i m new to mac i did the mistake to install this app and now keeps me busy all afternoon.
 

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aldo818 said:
i opened it and took another screenshot so u see the app in question. Thank you guys so much and sorry to border you as i m new to mac i did the mistake to install this app and now keeps me busy all afternoon.
Click to expand...

Did you follow the instructions I posted? By the way, you might try unchecking the box that you show that says "Show icon in system tray" (it was obviously written for Windows, but it may remove the icon from the Mac's Menu Bar)
 
fallowed all your instructions the app is gone after a fresh install then remove . even the icon went away i rebooted opened safari and the alert came back :(

when i uncheck it it goes away till i reopen safari
 
problem solved scanned the disk with sophos and it put some files in quarantine and now all fine again. uffff what a relief thank you again
 
Same thing happend to me.

I ran sophos just as you did. No items were found so nothing was quarantined, but after restarting the computer the alert icon finally never came back upon running safari again, which as you know, would like clock work prompt the annoying alert icon in the top right hand corner. Anyway, I guess sophos worked, but it's strange considering it found nothing, yet yielded positive results in the end.

- Hugo
 
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Same Thing

Sorry to say my nephew has done the same thing to my computer trying to download "Oregon Trail" please help me make the same bell go away. I've tried Sophos and Appcleaner, erased and reinstalled safari and rebooted countless times. Sophos isn't finding anything and unlike above it is not fixing the problem. I do not know what else to do... thanks in advance.
 
The bell at the top (searchelf 1.2)

The bell was there, i've had it for a months now, and i only just realised that it's malware. I ticked the box in the settings which made it leave the menu bar. I don't know how to access it now or how to uninstall it. I did a full scan but the Sophos anti-virus didn't find anything. I went into 'Finder', and searched any folders/files to do with searchelf. There were these two documents, i think they were '.xml' files as far as i can remember. I trashed both of them. I'm a bit curious about it, despite what i've done, because i hear that it's a potential malware, and i don't want any data stolen/lost.

Any help?
 
soliloquy101 said:
The bell was there, i've had it for a months now, and i only just realised that it's malware. I ticked the box in the settings which made it leave the menu bar. I don't know how to access it now or how to uninstall it. I did a full scan but the Sophos anti-virus didn't find anything. I went into 'Finder', and searched any folders/files to do with searchelf. There were these two documents, i think they were '.xml' files as far as i can remember. I trashed both of them. I'm a bit curious about it, despite what i've done, because i hear that it's a potential malware, and i don't want any data stolen/lost.

Any help?
Click to expand...
It's not malware. It's just a left-over icon. The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:
I recommend that you avoid using Sophos, as it could actually increase your Mac's vulnerability, as described here and here.
 
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