Chrome Issue

[MacDummy]

I'm a Windows guy trying to help a Mac friend.

Yesterday she told me that when she went to Google, it would open a weather site she had once visited instead of her normal home page, google.com. She was using the Chrome browser, and I checked the settings. It was indeed set to start with the home page google.com. Then I noticed that even with the browser closed (clicked on the red ball), the menu across the top still said Chrome next to the Apple logo. Using CTL, and the "mouse" button (it's actually a Mac Book). I exited from Chrome. Chrome went away from the top menu. After that Chrome opened with the correct home page, but I noticed that even after supposedly closing Chrome, it was still at the top menu next to the Apple logo. So why isn't Chrome completely closing?

 

[honestone]

How is she closing Chrome? It is important to actually quit the application, either by selecting Quit form the file menu, or using the keyboard shortcut Command-Q. I always do that, but just to test, I clicked the red button in the upper left corner, and sure enough, the menu for Chrome remained at the top of the screen. That means I actually did not quit Google Chrome.

A couple of more questions:

1. What exact Mac OS is she running?

2. What exact MacBook model does she have?

3. Does she have the latest version of Google Chrome?

4. Has she ever done any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, from a software perspective?

5. Although not exactly pertinent to this issue, this is nevertheless critical: Is she making backups to an external device?

 

[MacDummy]

I don't have all the answers right now, but I assumed she closed it by clicking on the red button, that's how I did it and assumed that was how mac apps were closed. Guess I was wrong. The only time I work on a Mac is when she has a problem. I know when I close Chrome by clicking the X in Windows, it's closed, gone from the task manager.

OK, I just did a search on the red button, and it is as you said:
"Unlike in Windows, when you press the red button on a Mac's window it closes the window only, and generally does not close the parent application for that window. ... Another way to quit applications is to use the Command-Q keyboard shortcut when the application is in the forefront (its name is next to the Apple menu)."

You learn something every day I'm sure that was the whole problem. Thanks for your help.

 

[honestone]

You're welcome. While the other questions I asked are not really pertinent to this specific issue, it would be best if she is 1) making frequent backups to an external device, and 2) doing disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, from a software perspective. Maybe you could point her to this site, and wed' be glad to help.

 

[MacDummy]

I had answered those two question, but accidentally deleted the answers.

I seriously doubt she does any kind of maintenance, as far as I know, she doesn't know how to do much more than email (which is on-line anyway) and web browsing.

I have talked to her about backups, and once saw she had an external drive connected, but haven't seen it lately. She is a neighbor, so I'll bring it up again. I on the other hand I back up monthly to two external drives, have Carbonite always running, and for a few of my most important files, have Mozy run about 8 times a day

 

[MacDummy]

I'm back... the plot thickens.

She was using the red button to close Chrome. Someone told her that it was the same as Command Q, which obviously it isn't, at least for Chrome. But the new mystery is that the weather site was back. I don't remember the exact URL, but it started with "search", and they something about local weather radar.

What is happening is, if the Chrome window is closed with the red button, re opening Chrome from the dock, always opens Chrome with that weather site, even if the last site was on something else. I tried Google.com and yahoo.com, closed the window with the red button, reopened from the dock, and it opens with the weather site, as if it were the home page. If closed with Command Q, or "Quit Chrome", it opens with the correct home page. Any ideas?

BTW, "Quite Chrome" appears in the Chrome menu at the top, not the File menu.
Also regarding backup, she said it's backed up to the cloud, which has a familuar ring to it (I had gone to some classes with her years ago to interpret between her and the instructor ).

 

[MacDummy]

Update: This may be a browser hijacker that she inadvertently installed.
http://www.myantispyware.com/2017/08/20/how-to-remove-local-weather-radar-chrome-firefox-ie-edge/

I'll see if I can remove it next time I'm there. I only see her when my wife and I borrow her dogs for a dog walk Which is most afternoons.

 

[honestone]

That site has no instructions for Mac versions of the browsers! So, what you (or she) can do (and it's suggested in the link) is to download, install, and run the excellent program Malwarebytes for the Mac, available from here:

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

She can use it for free. It works very well.

 

[MacDummy]

Thanks again. I found a webpage that references the exact hijacker: http://www.computips.org/remove-search-hlocalweatherradar-co/
It mentions malwarebytes for mac and also gives instructions on how to manually remove it from Chrome.

Maybe I can get to it tomorrow.

 

[MacDummy]

I hope this finishes this adventure.

The OS seemed to be too old for the current Malwarebytes (also too old to update Chrome), so I took care of it manually. I didn't see it in the Applications Folder, but found, and removed it from Chrome Extensions. When I did that, another search page came up. It was also in Chrome Extensions, so I deleted that, and I think one more. When I was done, another search page came up that wasn't identified in any way. I did a Chrome Reset, which had me worried because it took longer than I expected. BTW, I found that opening Chrome after closing with the red button had the same result as opening a new tab. So after the Reset, Chrome opened with a Google search screen (similar to the one below from my computer) but not the one from google.com. I had to reset it to start with the home page, google.com. I think that fixed everything. Opening a new tab still opens the Google search page, not the home page, but I've found that's by design.

Not bad for a Windows/Firefox guy

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