Troubleshooting

Security company Dr. Web is reporting on a new adware Trojan attack that is targeting Mac users, where malicious Web sites will trick users into installing a plugin that will track your browsing and display ads to you.

The malware, called "Yontoo," will be first encountered as a media player, download manager, or other plug-in requirement for viewing contents on some maliciously crafted Web sites disguised as sources for file sharing and movie trailers. When the plug-in prompt is clicked, you're redirected to a site that downloads the Trojan installer and requires you to run it. The … Read more

When you copy files from one location to another in OS X, the system should run a number of checks to validate the data and ensure that it was copied correctly; however, if you are using third-party utilities to copy a file, you might be concerned about potential corruption.

MacFixIt reader Douglas recently wrote in with such a concern.

Whenever your system wakes from sleep, the OS X Kernel will output a small code to the system console that indicates the reason for the wake event. Since you can access the system console using Apple's Console utility, if your system is regularly waking up when you have put it to sleep, then you can help track down the reason using these codes.

To locate these codes, first open the Console program. Next, select "All Messages" in the sidebar, which will bring up the output from active and ongoing system events. Now enter the term "wake&… Read more

One common upgrade to install for older Mac systems is to replace the conventional hard drive with a high-speed SSD to reduce data access bottlenecks and greatly speed up the system. However, those who have used some of Intel's SSDs may find that they cannot successfully install OS X 10.8.3.

After applying the updates from Apple, instead of booting normally the system will simply hang at startup or show a no-entry symbol that indicates the operating system cannot boot on the available hardware configuration. Reverting to the previous 10.8.2 installation via a Time Machine backup … Read more

Apple recently released OS X 10.8.3 along with security updates for past versions of OS X, and while the updates have worked properly for the vast majority of users, a few have reported having the problem that certain programs like Preview and TextEdit now will not run. When the program is opened, in some cases the system prompts users to authenticate and repair the user Library, but after this is done the program simply quits after bouncing in the OS X Dock for a few seconds. In other cases the program may simply crash and generate an error … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about battery care, where to get Mac-specific training, what to do about guest accounts deleting user data, and the limitations of using an iMac as an external display for other systems. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Common battery care guidelines MacFixIt reader Thomas asks:

With the latest round of OS X updates Apple has addressed a number of bugs in its Mac operating systems; however, in addition one update is particularly pertinent for those who wish to maintain security with their Java installations.

Java has received some hard knocks recently with a number of security vulnerabilities that could potentially lead to malware execution on exploited systems, and as such, while uninstalling Java has been a preferred recommendation, one common recommendation for those who do need it is to just disable the Java Web plug-in; however, recent developments suggest doing this may not always render … Read more

Apple has just released the OS X 10.8.3 update for Mountain Lion users, and while the update has gone smoothly for most people, as with any update there are a few who have run into a couple of hurdles when installing.

The most prominent issue so far is a small number of users have run into an issue where the update appears to install but then gives a message that simply states "Update Failed" with an option to restart the system. Upon doing so, the system reports it is still running OS X 10.8.2; … Read more

New findings show the recent malware attack that affected employees of Facebook, Apple, and Twitter was able to do so in part by bypassing Apple's GateKeeper security system in OS X.

Gatekeeper is a new technology in OS X Mountain Lion that allows programs to only execute if they are properly signed or if they only come from the Mac App Store. This works by the system blocking all execution and then settings up group-based rules to allow specific program types to run. For example, the default rule sets are for signed applications and those from the Mac App … Read more