Uninstalling toolbar converter? Can't load plug-in?

[sunflower99]

Hi there,

I am brand new to this site and I have a question about my mac - 10.5.8. I was noticing the computer had been acting a bit slow lately, so I backed it up, deleted all of my photos..etc. and tried to delete a few applications, unused logs, and other trash/leftovers with 'CleanMyMac'. I then accidentally installed some sort of "toolbar", as I wasn't paying much attention at the time, and am regretting it now as I see that I am unable to uninstall it.

This is the website where I found the 'installer': http://installl.com/d/
http://alert.client.conduit.com/Alerts/Faq/?aid=1784823

I then noticed an alert icon on my regular finder computer toolbar that states "Alerts are instant announcements that appear right on our desktop.... The website will occasionally send out important news alerts... "

Now I've installed ClamXav, as well as Sophos, to try and get rid of whatever this is- It's not in my application's folder, I've gone through the activity monitor- and the only thing I saw was two 'red tagged' google chrome helper and plug-in. Now when I open Safari, Chrome and other applications- none of the shortcut keys work, nor do the controls work if I manually open them from the dropdown menu.

Which also brings me to the mess of not being able to load in any plug-in nor see any videos and such.

Sorry this is such a long post, I just am confused and I don't like to have excess on my mac, especially when I don't know what it is. Thanks.

 

[GGJstudios]

I am brand new to this site and I have a question about my mac - 10.5.8. I was noticing the computer had been acting a bit slow lately,

If you're having performance issues, this may help:

Performance Tips For Mac OS X​

so I backed it up, deleted all of my photos..etc. and tried to delete a few applications, unused logs, and other trash/leftovers with 'CleanMyMac'.

I would not recommend using CleanMyMac or any of its variants, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much. Here's a recent example. While you may not have experienced problems yet, enough people have that it's wise to avoid it, especially since there are free alternatives that have better reputations, such as Onyx.

​

You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. In fact, deleting some caches can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

​

Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths​

I then accidentally installed some sort of "toolbar", as I wasn't paying much attention at the time, and am regretting it now as I see that I am unable to uninstall it.

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

Now I've installed ClamXav, as well as Sophos,

Your problems are not related to malware, so you don't need an antivirus app. You should never have 2 antivirus apps installed at the same time, as they can conflict with each other and give false readings.

I recommend avoiding Sophos, as it can actually increase a Mac's vulnerability, as described here and here. 3rd party antivirus apps are not needed to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as the user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.

Mac Virus/Malware FAQ​

If anyone insists on running antivirus for some reason, ClamXav (which is free) is one of the best choices, since it isn't a resource hog, detects both Mac and Windows malware and doesn't run with elevated privileges.

 

[Weaselboy]

This is the website where I found the 'installer': http://installl.com/d/
http://alert.client.conduit.com/Alerts/Faq/?aid=1784823

It looks like that toolbar won't work in Safari, so I am guessing you installed it in Chrome?

Just start Chrome and hit the command-comma keys and you will be taken to Chrome's preferences page. Click the extensions tab and look in that list for the video toolbar convertor extension entry. Click the trash can icon to the right of it to delete the extension. Then close and restart Chrome and see if the problem is gone.

 

[sunflower99]

GGJStudios: Thanks for responding back so quickly with an extensive message and great tips, I do appreciate it. I've went ahead and deleted the Sophos as well as cleanmymac. I also went ahead and reread the guide to best way to delete the app, went into my activity monitor and could not find the app at all in any of the 'All Processes'. Should I screenshot it to show?

Weaselboy: Thank you as well for responding back promptly with this answer. I went into Google Chrome, and it states that there are no extensions. I'm just a little confused as to why the commands/plug-ins from either browsers aren't working when before they worked fine.

Thanks again

 

[GGJstudios]

Should I screenshot it to show?

It wouldn't hurt. Also, you can check the following locations for apps that automatically launch on startup and delete any you don't need/want:

• System Preferences > Users & Groups > yourusername > Login Items (SL and older: System Preferences > Accounts > yourusername > Login Items)
• In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > /Library/LaunchAgents
• In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > ~/Library/LaunchAgents
• In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > /Library/StartupItems

 

[sunflower99]

I went ahead and did that. I found the startup items are: cma, HP IO, HP Trip Monitor, but I'm unsure if I should delete any of those. As for the system preferences, it states the only login item I have is -iTunesHelper - Unknown.

This is the activity Monitor. The last one is the alert settings icon/program I was previously talking about.

 

[GGJstudios]

I went ahead and did that. I found the startup items are: cma, HP IO, HP Trip Monitor, but I'm unsure if I should delete any of those. As for the system preferences, it states the only login item I have is -iTunesHelper - Unknown.

This is the activity Monitor. The last one is the alert settings icon/program I was previously talking about.

First. you haven't completely uninstalled Sophos. If you followed the instructions I posted earlier, including restarting your computer, it shouldn't be showing in Activity Monitor. It also appears Chrome is having a problem. Restarting might address that, as well.

 

[Weaselboy]

Weaselboy: Thank you as well for responding back promptly with this answer. I went into Google Chrome, and it states that there are no extensions. I'm just a little confused as to why the commands/plug-ins from either browsers aren't working when before they worked fine.

Thanks again

Okay... I was able to download the toolbar installer and look around inside the installer packages a bit and I have a couple suggestions.

It looks like the main app doing this gets installed at /Applications/Toolbars/. So open Finder and click Go/Go to Folder and paste in the line below then enter. You should see a file called Installl_Converter among other files/folders including perhaps a /tmp folder. Just do a command-a to select all and trash everything in that Toolbars older.

/Applications/Toolbars/

Also open Finder and follow the same process to get to the input managers folders below. Look in both those folders for CTLoader and delete it.

/Library/InputManagers/

~/Library/InputManagers/

 

[sunflower99]

I restarted my computer, followed both of your directions and both applications have been removed! Thanks again!