How to unintsall AdvancedTask app/extension from Mac (Virus removal guide)

What is AdvancedTask

According to security professionals, AdvancedTask is an adware application that targets Mac platform. Adware is a form of malicious software that’s designed for the purpose of showing numerous pop up windows and/or annoying ads on the affected MAC without the user’s permission. These advertisements should be ignored as they can redirect the web-browser to harmful and scam web sites. Adware software usually gets installed alongside freeware, codecs and shareware.

Adware is often harmless, but sometimes adware can also be spyware. Spyware can sometimes seek out data stored on the MAC, collect this information and use it to steal your identity. Therefore, the AdvancedTask adware is quite dangerous. So, we advise you remove it from your Apple Mac sooner. Follow the guide presented below to remove AdvancedTask from your Apple Mac and Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

How does AdvancedTask get on your MAC OS

Usually, adware gets into MAC computers as part of a bundle with freeware, sharing files and other unsafe software which users downloaded from the Internet. The makers of adware pays software authors for distributing adware within their programs. So, optional software is often included as part of the installer. In order to avoid the installation of any adware: select only Manual, Custom or Advanced installation type and disable all third-party apps in which you are unsure.

Threat Summary

Name	AdvancedTask, AdvancedTask 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Adware.MAC.Generic, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Adware/Adload!OSX, ApplicUnwnt, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, MacOS.Agent-MT and OSX.Trojan.Gen
Distribution	Freeware installers, torrent downloads, fake updaters and misleading pop up ads
Symptoms	When you go to a web site, you’re frequently redirected to another web-page that you do not intend to visit, unclosable window appear and recommend fake Jave updates, there is an unexpected program in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, unexpected web-browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, your internet browser homepage has changed without your permission, slow browsing Internet.
Removal	AdvancedTask removal guide

How to remove AdvancedTask adware

Fortunately, we have an effective method that will help you manually or/and automatically get rid of AdvancedTask ads from your internet browser and bring your browser settings, including search provider by default, homepage and newtab, back to normal. Below you’ll find a removal guide with all the steps you may need to successfully remove adware software and its traces. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to exit your web-browser or reboot your MAC system.

To remove AdvancedTask, execute the following steps:

1. Remove profiles created by AdvancedTask
2. Uninstall AdvancedTask associated software by using the Finder
3. Remove AdvancedTask related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove AdvancedTask from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove profiles created by AdvancedTask

AdvancedTask can make changes to the Mac 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. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with AdvancedTask.

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

Uninstall AdvancedTask associated software by using the Finder

In the next step, you need to check the list of installed apps on your Mac device and remove all unused, unknown and dubious programs.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will show a list of all programs installed on your machine. Scroll through the all list, and delete any dubious and unknown software. Right click to dubious program and select “Move to Trash”. Another solution is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Most important, scroll through the all list, and move to trash any unknown applications. Don’t forget, select Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove AdvancedTask related files and folders

Now you need to try to find AdvancedTask 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

If you’re still having problems with the AdvancedTask removal or just wish to check your Mac occasionally for adware and other malware, then download MalwareBytes Free. It is free for home use, and detects and removes various unwanted apps that attacks your machine or degrades machine performance. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware can delete toolbars, browser hijackers, adware and PUPs as well as malware, including ransomware and trojans.

1. Click the link below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware for Apple Mac.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20841 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. Once the download is done, please close all programs and open windows on your Apple Mac. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes Free will launch and show the main window.
4. Further, click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes Free program will scan through the whole computer for the AdvancedTask adware. When a threat is detected, the count of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is complete.
5. When MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) is finished scanning your MAC OS, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will show a screen which contains a list of malware that has been detected.
6. You may remove threats (move to Quarantine) by simply click the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Remove AdvancedTask from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying AdvancedTask or other symptoms of adware software in your internet browser is a good reason to locate and remove malicious extensions. This is an easy method to restore web browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right hand corner, click on ‘three vertical dots’, and this will open up the main menu on Google Chrome. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove AdvancedTask adware software 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 AdvancedTask removal, you need to reset 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

If you want to remove unwanted ads, internet browser redirects and popups, then install an ad blocking program like AdGuard. It can block unwanted ads and pop-ups, stop webpages from tracking your online activities when using the Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari. So, if you like surf the Net, but you do not like intrusive ads and want to protect your MAC system from harmful web-sites, then the AdGuard is your best choice.

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

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

Each time, when you launch your MAC system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive popups, block harmful and misleading websites.

To sum up

After completing the few simple steps shown above, your computer should be clean from the AdvancedTask adware and other malicious software. The Firefox, Safari and Chrome will no longer display any unwanted ads. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.