So many questions! Installation, etc.

[EternalNoobie]

My Mac is up to date with High Sierra and Firefox Quantum.

Since the installation of Quantum I've had a flurry of problems. For some of those, I was advised to download MWB in case some had resulted from malware. I know exactly how rare those are on a Mac anyway, but was told it wouldn't hurt.

The recommendation specifically mentioned adwcleaner, which I can't find for Mac - only an .exe file for Windows. So I opted fro MWB for Mac.

I've installed it twice now, and - there's no MWB. That's to say, I complete all the installation steps, and I get the confirmation that it's been installed. I look for MWB anywhere on the computer, and it's just not there. Spotlight can't find it; I've done manual searches; nothing. It doesn't exist. All that's left is the installer package.

I did download MWB free once in the past, but that's nowhere to be found either. And I'm not getting any messages that - for example - I can only download it once.

Questions:

1. Where might MWB be lurking, and if it's truly not on the machine - what's happening with the false installation?
2. Is adwcleaner part of the total Mac MWB package?
3. If I do successfully install this, will it kill the floating/sticky video windows that follow me down the page on news sites? That was the original question that led to the advice (and you can see why I doubted this was the solution).

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[alvarnell]

1. MWB is always installed in your /Applications/ directory (folder). There should also be a Malwarebytes icon in your menubar. Perhaps the developer has an explanation, but I don't recall a totally failed installation being reported.

2.Yes, adwcleaner is strictly on the Windows side, but MalwareBytes for Mac includes that functionality.

3. I don't know, but I'm inclined to doubt that it will, depending on where you are seeing it. If that same window follows you around to various site, then it might well be able to eliminate it, but if this is limited to one or only a few sites, I'd say it's a "feature" of the site you are visiting. If you can give us a better explanation of exactly what you are seeing and where along with a screenshot of that shows the video window we could give you a more conclusive answer.

[treed]

I agree 100% with Al's assessment.

One thing I'd add is that, if the installation fails for any reason, Apple's Installer app will alert you to that fact. If the installer is completing with a message saying the installation was successful, then you should find the Malwarebytes application in the Applications folder (the one at the root level of the hard drive, not the one in your user folder) and the menu bar should have a Malwarebytes icon in it. If you are not seeing those things after having the installer complete successfully, that's not something I've ever seen before.

[EternalNoobie]

Thank you both for your input. The next day, everything showed up where it belongs - in the menu bar and the apps folder.

I don't know if it's connected, but the entire system has slowed down now - Thunderbird, Firefox, Office - everything's sluggish, response to clicks can take two or three seconds.  I wonder if the slowdown has anything to do with why the system couldn't see MWB for so long.

Ironically, after all this - the solution to the persistent video windows is a little Firefox add-on called WebControl. The best intentions ...