urgent help needed in trying to get rid of 2 viruses

Submitted by Jessica Brown on Thursday, February 18, 2016.
Forum
macOS & Mac Apps

My mac has not been behaving properly so I cleared logs and cashes with disk cleaner pro. That did not work so I ran bit defender. Bit defender says I have 2 active threats but that the disinfect failed. I clicked on show in finder and was able to trash some of the files, then empty the trash. However, some files when I try to trash them it gives an error message saying the files could not be moved to trash because they are lock. So I click get info and the checkbox for locked is not checked. So why is it saying the files are locked when they are not and how do I get rid of these viruses? Thank you.

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Comments

Submitted by Usman on Thursday, February 18, 2016

If I were in your position, I would restore from a much earlier time machine backup. if you don't have a time machine backup, I would reinstall el capitan and start over fresh.

Submitted by treky fan on Thursday, February 18, 2016

Although I don't own a mac, I know that some viruses may prevent the user from getting rid of files.

Submitted by Jessica Brown on Thursday, February 18, 2016

I still use the os that came with my mac because I am not a verry good computer user and I don't want a new os that may have different commands then I am used to. What if any commands have changed in the new os? I also don't want to restore every time I get a virus. I don't use time machine but all my stuff's in dropbox so that's fine.

Submitted by Jayson Smith on Thursday, February 18, 2016

I don't use OsX very often, but what it sounds like to me is that the viruses are using the files you're trying to delete, so since the files are in use, they can't be moved. Beyond that, I can't offer much help. If all else fails, restore from a backup if you have one, or copy everything important to somewhere else, do a fresh OS install, and then restore your stuff.

Submitted by Siobhan on Thursday, February 18, 2016

Hi. First look for virus barrier express, also malware bites. Both I think are free. Virus barrier will take years to scan but it's accessible. If you do install the new Os it hasn't changed you still use the voice ver keys to navigate roter to use headings links etc. If you need more help I can walk you through installation via skype or phone or something.

Submitted by Jessica Brown on Thursday, February 18, 2016

I just finished waiting for my mac to restore from recovery mode. I wanted a clean os install and everything on the computer deleted. However after the restore everything is still on the computer. What now?

Submitted by Tyler on Friday, February 19, 2016

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

To completely erase and reinstall OS X, you must first go into Disk Utility from the recovery mode and erase your startup disk and then reinstall OS X. This will permanently erase everything on the drive, so be sure to have a good backup.

Submitted by david s on Friday, February 19, 2016

Hello,

You can try this. This will allow you to delete the offending files, keep your existing osx and try el capitan all on your mac.

Go to disk utilities and create a new partition. Make it 20GB.
Go to the app store and download el capitan.
When download is complete, go to your applications and launch the OSX installer. Install el capitan on the second partition.
After the installation is complete, your mac will reboot into el capitan. You can now delete the offending files from the first partition.
IF you want to switch between your existing OSX and el capitan, go to system preferences and select the partition you want to boot from.

HTH and good luck.