spyware on my macbook

A

angelbabe

New Member
Hi all I have a macbook that I got as a present. The person I got it from has installed a spyware on it. He is able to see my email usage, forums I am registered to, websites I have visited and who knows what. How can I see if a spyware is on my laptop and reset everything to start back new?
 
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How old is the Macbook and what version of OSX is it running? If it's one of the newest ones you should be able to hold down CTRL on boot and select the recovery to wipe and reinstall OSX.
 
Hi voyager I have mac os x 10.7.5 lion. Do I need a disc to do a reset? I can still reset it using the CTRL button on start up. I was told that that isnt going to do a full reset if someone installed some kind of spyware on my laptop already. Is there a program I can install on my laptop to detect spyware?
 
I don't know of any Mac anti-spyware software.

When you boot to the recovery partition you first need to enter Disk Utility and format the partition OSX is installed on. That will wipe anything installed off there. Then you exit disk utility and follow the Lion install to reinstall OSX.
 
So I don't need a disc to do the full uninstall and install? I want to erase everything and start back new because one of the operating systems files might be corrupt and thats where the spyware is located? Sorry if that doesnt make sense. I need to be 100% sure I have deleted and erased all spyware or other unwanted programs on my laptop.
 
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If I don't need a disc to do the reset, can you link me to instructions on how to do it? I have reset my laptop before but it seems like it didn't work. I'm suspecting that I can't erase the spyware because I haven't used a disc to do an unstall and install of the whole computer.
 
I can't give you detailed instructions right now but I'll post back later.
 
I just did a reset. I held the command+R buttons down on start up that took me to the mac utilities screen. I clicked on disk utility and erased the disk thats labeled macintosh hd. On my laptop its labeled as "untitled" I think because I have done this reset before. Anyways after its deleted, I installed mac os lion which takes like half an hour. Its still installing right now. I have a few questions.

After the install is complete, is my laptop basically fully reset?

Is there any type of virus, malware, or spyware that could still be on my laptop after this?

Also, is my laptop downloading from the internet or is there a os file saved to my laptop in which it is installing from?
 
Yes, your laptop is back to stock. Just like if you wipe your hard drive and reinstall Windows on a PC. No form of malware should still be on the computer. If you connected to wifi when doing the reinstall it's already downloading the latest version (I believe) otherwise it's using what was created on the recovery partition. Just run the software updates to update to the latest version.

You could even go into the app store and upgrade to Mavericks once Lion is installed.
 
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