Geek's Advice

“* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” is a rogue pop-up that is delivered by PUPs

* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash pop-up is delivered to Mac computers when they are infected with various types of potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). It includes adware, browser hijackers, unwanted tools, suspicious extensions, and others. According to the experts, those who have installed PUPs before updating their OS to Catalina have a higher chance of receiving the pop-up. This error recently started bothering Mac users who use HP printers due to revoked HP certificate. You will find an explanation on how to fix this issue below.

The delivered notifications can vary depending on the potentially unwanted program that displays it. For example, if you Mac is infected with Chromium browser hijacker, you can receive “chromium will damage your computer you should move it to the trash” pop-up while browsing the Internet. Thus, the alerts are slightly different from one another. Here is the list of the most common pop-ups:

• “servicerecords will damage your computer”;
• ““securid” will damage your computer. you should move it to the trash.”;
• “parallelsmd.mdimporter will damage your computer”;
• “receiver helper will damage your computer”;
• “”macperformance” will damage your computer”;
• “click here to install” will damage your computer you should eject the disk image”;
• “filezilla will damage your computer”.

Potentially unwanted applications, like Mac Cleanup Pro, Mac Speedup Pro, Mac Auto Fixer, that start showing the pop-up sneak into the system as software bundles. Once the questionable application settles, it starts delivering various advertisements, including “* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” window. It is not only annoying but also significantly deteriorates user’s computer performance.

2020 October 27th update. Mac users unable to print because Apple revokes HP certificate

If you have started receiving these pop-ups just recently, it is because many Apple MacOS X users who have HP printers started experiencing the same issue recently. The one to blame is Apple itself, who has revoked certificate that was meant to sign HP printing drivers. Therefore, these print drivers are currently falsely recognized as insecure, thus showing “* will damage your computer” pop-ups.

The issue seems to be bothering users of MacOS Catalina (10.15) as well as Mojave (10.14) users.

To fix the said issue, please refer to fix Encryption Credential Expired Guide here.

PUPs cause privacy risks

Adware, browser hijackers, and others are designed to collect private data. For example, it can gather browsing history, recent queries, IP addresses, geolocation, and other sensitive information. Additionally, if people perform a query by including their credentials or e-mail address, PUP can get ahold of it as well. Thus, users who keep rogue programs on their computers are exposed to risks related to identity theft, scams, etc.

Everyone should look into their systems right away when they receive a suspicious notification. You can remove “* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” pop-up only when you get rid of the potentially unwanted application that is displaying it. Thus, regular computer users might find it difficult to locate all PUP’s components and eliminate them manually.

Geek’s Advice team recommends INTEGO for “* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” removal along with all questionable and unwanted applications. This antivirus is a professional virus elimination tool that is exceptionally effective when dealing with potentially unwanted programs.

Quick Sum Up of The Threat

Discussing the spread of the infection

While people might think that someone intentionally installs potentially unwanted programs on their systems, the reality is different. Actually people install the PUPs themselves on their computers. It happens when some freeware is bundled with a rogue application and advertised as one. Then users who are not aware of software bundles start installing the primary application without even understanding that the PUP comes with it.

You can easily protect your system from such infections if you stick to the advanced installation process instead of the express one. This way the installation wizard will not skip important steps where permission to infiltrate PUPs is given. You must follow the installation process attentively and de-select any previously marked tick boxes that allow to install PUPs.

Furthermore, some developers have expanded their distribution techniques and infiltrate rogue codes to execute unwanted program installation when the user clicks on an infected ad. Therefore, it is essential to stay away from suspicious advertisements and refrain from clicking on any types of ads while browsing on the Internet.

Get rid of “* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” pop-up virus

As we have explained above, this notification appears on the system because it is infected with a potentially unwanted program. Likewise, if you want to remove “* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” pop-up virus, you must get rid of the application displaying it as well. Note that it might be tricky to locate all related elements.

Thus, we suggest choosing an automatic “* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” removal process. In other words, you should install a reputable antivirus, like INTEGO, and let it scan your system files for infections. Once it indicates all related components, the antivirus can quickly clean the computer without manual interruption. If you struggle to start the elimination process, check the guidelines below.

Keep in mind that investing in your computer’s security has long-run benefits as it not only protects your system but your privacy as well. Therefore, choose only the best security tools that are highly recommended by security experts. They allow scheduling systematic OS scans that ensure security at all times.

Instructions to terminate PUP related processes

Firstly, users should clean their systems from associated processes manually. Since some potentially unwanted programs might hide and do not appear in the Applications folder, you should remove them by following the instructions given below.

Note that these guidelines will focus on one PUP. However, the pop-up alert might be caused by multiple questionable applications and you should perform the indicated steps with all suspicious programs.

Files that are related to “* Will Damage Your Computer. You Should Move It To Trash” pop-up and should be removed:

• ~/Library/Application Support/adc/hlpradc
• ~/Library/Application Support/adc/com.adscleaner.hlpradc.plist
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adscleaner.hlpradc.plist

These files are related to Hlpradc potentially unwanted program. If the pop-up appears on your system due to another infection, the given files will contain its name instead of Hlpradc. Keep an eye on files that cause suspicion and check them for safety before performing any eliminations.

Once you spot a potentially unwanted program, continue with the following steps:

1. Go to ~/Library/Application Support/adc/ directory and find Hlpradc application;
   
2. Right-click on it and select Show Package Contents;
   
3. Open Contents/MacOS directory and find Hlpradc application, then move it to trash.

Now the processes related to the potentially unwanted program are terminated. In other words, they will not re-start when you turn on your computer and you can safely proceed with further removal guidelines. For that, please follow the guide appended below.

Scott Bolton

Scott Bolton is a senior content strategist in our Geek’s Advice team. He is exceptionally passionate about covering the latest information technology themes and inspire other team members to follow new innovations. Despite the fact that Scott is an old-timer among the Geeks, he still enjoys writing comprehensive articles about exciting cybersecurity news or quick tutorials.