How to remove AristotleLookup adware

What is AristotleLookup?

AristotleLookup is one of many potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) that are distributed through an Adobe Flash Player fake installer designed to serve advertisements, promote a fake search engine and gather various information. In this way, AristotleLookup functions as adware and a browser hijacker.

Apps of this type are categorized as PUAs, since users often download and install them unintentionally.

AristotleLookup is a type of software that feeds users with coupons, pop-ups, surveys, banners and other intrusive ads. Commonly, by clicking these ads, users allow them to open untrusted, potentially malicious web pages or even execute scripts designed to download and/or install PUAs.

The app also promotes a fake search engine by assigning its address as the default search engine, homepage, and/or new tab URL. Typically, apps that hijack browsers in this way prevent remove of the fake search engine address from the settings, as long as the hijacker is installed.

Furthermore, browser hijackers and adware-type apps often gather browsing-related information (e.g., addresses of visited pages, entered search queries, IP addresses, geolocations), however, many apps of this type target sensitive, personal data as well.

Developers sell the collected information to third parties (even cyber criminals) who generate revenue by misusing it in other ways. These actions can lead to problems such as identity theft, issues relating to browsing safety, privacy, and other problems.

Therefore, remove AristotleLookup and other browser hijackers and adware-type applications from the browser and computer immediately. Note that the aforementioned fake Adobe Flash Player installers can be used to distribute and install PUAs such as AristotleLookup, and also malware including ransomware, Trojan-type programs, and other malicious software.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by AristotleLookup
Threat Type	Adware, Mac malware, Mac virus.
Detection Names	Avast (MacOS:Adload-J [Trj]), BitDefender (Gen:Variant.Adware.MAC.AdLoad.1), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of OSX/TrojanDownloader.Adload.AE), Kaspersky (Not-a-virus:HEUR:AdWare.OSX.Cimpli.k), Full List (VirusTotal)
Additional Information	This application belongs to the Adload malware family.
Symptoms	Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

There are other apps such as AristotleLookup, for example AimSearch, QuestSearch and InfoSearch. Commonly, adware-type apps display ads promoting dubious web pages or cause unwanted downloads/installations. They often gather data as well. These apps are useless can cause serious problems.

Adware (and other PUAs such as browser hijackers) should never be downloaded or installed.

How did AristotleLookup install on my computer?

AristotleLookup is distributed by disguising it as the installer of the Adobe Flash Player. People who use these fake installers often end up installing unwanted, even malicious software.

PUAs are often installed through clicked deceptive ads, which execute certain scripts, or together with other, mostly free programs, that have PUAs included into the set-ups as 'additional offers'. Developers commonly distribute PUAs using this marketing method, which is known as "bundling".

Typically, offers to download and/or install additionally-included software (PUAs) can be found in "Custom", "Advanced, and other settings of the download/installation set-ups, however, many people fail to check and change these settings, thereby agreeing by default with offers to download and install additional, unwanted software.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Do not download or install any software from unofficial, dubious websites, Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), third party downloaders, installers or other sources/tools of this kind. The safest way is to use official websites and direct links.

Check "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar options of the software setup and decline offers to download or install additionally-included, unwanted programs. Do not click intrusive advertisements that are displayed on dubious websites, since these can open other untrusted pages or cause download/installation of unwanted apps. 

Remove any suspicious, unknown or unwanted extensions, add-ons and plug-ins that are already installed on the browser. Also remove software of this kind that is installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with AristotleLookup, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate this adware.

Files related to AristotleLookup adware that need to be removed:

• ~/Library/Application Support/com.AristotleLookup/AristotleLookup
• ~/Library/Application Support/com.AristotleLookupDaemon/AristotleLookup
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.AristotleLookup.plist
• ~/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.AristotleLookupDaemon.plist

IMPORTANT NOTE! Rogue setups/apps that promote AristotleLookup adware are designed to create a new device profile. Therefore, before taking any further removal steps, perform these actions:

1) Click the "Preferences" icon in the menu bar and select "Profiles".

2) Select the "AristotleLookup" profile and delete it.

3) Perform a full system scan with Combo Cleaner anti-virus suite.

After performing these actions, you can proceed with further removal steps for this browser hijacker/adware.

Instant automatic Mac malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is AristotleLookup?
• STEP 1. Remove AristotleLookup related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove AristotleLookup ads from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove AristotleLookup adware from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove AristotleLookup ads from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

AristotleLookup adware removal:

Remove AristotleLookup-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select "Applications". In the applications folder, look for "MPlayerX", "NicePlayer", or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove adware-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon, from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/

In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for adware generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:

In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/

In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.

Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the adware, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove malicious extensions from Internet browsers

Remove malicious Safari extensions:

Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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