How to remove CreativeSpire Mac Virus

George Herman

IT Security Expert

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Some infections like this CreativeSpire virus can regenerate themselves. There is no better way to detect, remediate and prevent malware infection, than to use a professional anti-malware software like SpyHunter. One Application that is capable of solving all MAC problems.

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What Is CreativeSpire Mac Virus?

CreativeSpire is a macos adware and is distributed through the internet. It is mostly found via software bundles or in toolbars on various websites. Its main purpose is to generate pop-up ads for wide range of topics, including jewelry, games, and healthcare products. The site often displays fake reviews and testimonials from trusted companies, saying that they are affiliated with CreativeSpire. As these pop-ups appear on your screen unexpectedly, you may be tricked into thinking they are legitimate promotions from trusted websites.

How Is CreativeSpire Mac Virus Distributed?

CreativeSpire is distributed to the computers of the users through one or more of the available ways. The most popular methods are: downloading shareware, entering personal data on informal private websites, reading online ads, and entering competitions including free downloads. No matter how it is distributed, most CreativeSpire infections are caused by clicking on malicious links. CreativeSpire is an adware program that acts as a virus and spreads itself using third-party programs bundled with freeware or shareware from different websites. Once launched, it will display numerous pop-ups, banners and sponsored links on the webpages that you visit. These ads might also appear in your web browser’s search bar as you type in queries and more likely, as you are browsing the Internet. They can appear as white overlay ads, green ad boxes, yellow ad boxes and other similar designs. The CreativeSpire window may look like a toolbar on your browser or it can be created by itself.

How harmful is CreativeSpire hijacker?

CreativeSpire will not only make your browsing experience less enjoyable, but it might also cause some privacy-related issues. The fact that CreativeSpire might collect various details about your surfing habits, search queries or online activities makes it a serious threat to your online security and privacy. As soon as you notice CreativeSpire on your Mac, you should remove it immediately. Using the guide below, you can remove CreativeSpire completely in a few easy steps. CreativeSpire may look legitimate, but note that it can be malicious in nature. Once installed, CreativeSpire will perform changes to your browser settings without your permission or consent. It might even cause redirects to unknown websites and display misleading ads. You should avoid all suspicious programs and software that you find online. Also, be sure to always install reputable security software on your Mac.

How did I get infected?

The creators of CreativeSpire create the infection using a technique known as bundling. This is where they include their trojan with other software, promising to install it if you accept to install the bundled software. It is recommended that you always read the terms and policies before completing any software installation. To avoid installing unwanted programs, only download software from official websites.

How can I Remove CreativeSpire virus ?

Step 1: Uninstall CreativeSpire and remove related files and objects

Open your Finder –> Click on GO –>Click on Utilities

Find Activity Monitor and open it

Review all the processes in Activity Monitor and write down the ones related to CreativeSpire virus

Select Quit

To kill the malicious process, choose the Force Quit option.

Step 2: Remove CreativeSpire – related extensions from Safari / Chrome / Firefox

The first thing you need to do is to make sure Safari is not running. If you have troubles closing it, you may need to Force Quit Safari - (Start Activity Monitor by opening up Finder, then proceed to Application --> Utilities --> Activity monitor. Locate the Safari process and force quit it.

Safely launch Safari again by holding the Shift key and clicking on the Safari application icon - This will prevent Safari’s previously opened malicious web pages.

In case that you still are having trouble with scripts interrupting the closing of unwanted pages, please do the following:

Force Quit Safari again.
Disconnect form Internet and try again.

Then Re-Launch Safari but don’t forget to press and hold the Shift button to prevent pop-ups. Then, click on Preferences.

Carefully take a look at your default home page and change it if the hijacker altered it.

Then go to the Extensions tab and make sure there are no unknow extensions installed.

Next step is to click on Privacy tab

Manage website data

Here you can remove any unwanted website data or just remove them all. Please, keep in mind that after you do this all stored website data will be deleted. You will need to sign-in again for all websites that require any form of authentication.
The next step is to Clear History (if you want), select the tab.

Click the menu next to clear and choose a time period — if you want to completely reset Safari, choose all history.
Press Clear History

To remove from Chrome, open the browser and click the icon with the three dots located in the top-right.
Select to More Tools --> Extensions and review what Chrome Extensions are present in the browser
Remove the ones that you do not recognize.

If the parasite continues to disrupt your browsing with Chrome, this is what else you can do:
1. Click again the menu of Google Chrome, and open Settings.
2. Select the Search Engine from the left panel, review the available search engines and change the default to your preference.
3. Then, click on Manage Search Engines, review the list of search engine availabilities and if any of the listed items looks suspicious, click the three-dots next to them, and delete.
4. Click on Privacy and Security in the left panel, select the Clear browsing data option, check every box except the Passwords one, and click Clear Data.
5. Next step is to clear Notifications, select the Site settings option in the Privacy and Security section, then locate Notifications.
6. Review the listed websites in the Allow to send notifications section and if any of the entries shown there seem dubious or related to the browser hijacker, select the three dots next to the object and click on Remove.

Start Mozilla Firefox
On the top right click the three dashes

go to add-ons and themes
The add-ons manager will open
Carefully review review four Firefox Extensions
If any unwanted extension is present, click on the three horizontal dots and then Remove

After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red dot in the top left and start it again.

To make sure CreativeSpire is removed from the browser we recommend to scan with a reputable antimalware program like SpyHunter for Mac

Go to official SpyHunter for Mac page

Step 3: Scan for and remove CreativeSpire files from your Mac

Fix your browser settings with SpyHunter Anti-Malware

Once you download and install SpyHunter for Mac run a scan.

Once the scan is complete, your mac will be virus free.

CreativeSpire malware Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I get rid of CreativeSpire?

CreativeSpire is a Browser hijacker – malicious software that can be installed by third-party applications or websites. They usually change the settings of web browsers and search engines to display certain ads, pop-ups, banners, etc.

What are the symptoms of CreativeSpire infection in your Mac?

CreativeSpire becomes your web browser’s built-in search engine.

Your browser’ s search queries are redirected through CreativeSpire.com

The “CreativeSpire” browser extension or some shady software is installed on your Mac.

How do I remove CreativeSpire from my browser?

In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon on the top left and select Manage add-ons. Under Add-on Types, select Search Providers. Select your search engine from the list of providers and click Remove to remove it. In Google Chrome, go to Settings (at the top right) and choose Search in the On Startup drop down menu.

How do I uninstall CreativeSpire?

If you made a mistake when installing an app on your mac, the easiest way to uninstall it is by right clicking on its icon in your dock, then going to ‘move to trash’. Once it’s gone, restart your mac. If that didn’t work for you, try rebooting and looking for an icon opening up. Once you’ve found that, go to utilities/get info, then go to the ‘Applications’ tab and look for the app. Right-click it and select ‘Get Info’ and then look for the option to ‘Uninstall this Version’. If that doesn’t work, restart your mac again. If you don’t have any luck you can always use the SpyHunter free uninstall.

How to Make Your Mac Run Faster?

You might be wondering how to make your Mac run faster? It is a common misconception that the more processing power you have, the faster your computer will run. In reality, it’s actually about what’s going on in your processor and memory. For the average person using a computer for just general applications like word processing and web browsing, you don’t need much in the way of computing power.

– Use an SSD drive instead of a hard disk drive.

– Double your RAM if possible.

– Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP). (Attention! – do this only if you know the consequences.)

References:

More about pop-up advertisements on Wikipedia.
MacOS malware
SpyHunter Anti-Malware overview and also the reasons why we recommend it for malware elimination.

ATTENTION, PLEASE!
CreativeSpire may have the ability to replicate itself, if not completely cleaned. This may require tracking down hundreds of files and settings. You can choose to use Spyhunter Professional Anti-Malware Program to deal with any infection that might be lurking along with CreativeSpire!
>>Download SpyHunter – a Professional Virus scanner and remover.

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