Electronics

[dooBdoo]

          This is really puzzling, @glb613.   Bear with me, I'm trying to brainstorm this.   It might sound silly, so forgive me if it's not applicable, but is it possible your keyboard is causing the login?  Stranger things have happened.  Do you have another one you could try, just to be sure?

          Another thing:  Start the device in safe boot mode.   That will allow some cleanup to take place, and might fix any corruptions in files, etc.   (Give it a couple of minutes, and then restart it normally.)

          If the problem is still there, since you don't have an Apple store nearby you could post a detailed description on the Apple Support Community complete with EtreCheck info so the technical staff there can see the actual diagnostic reports.

          You mentioned you don't have anything on the device that you're concerned about losing, so you do have the option of wiping everything out and doing a clean install (look at some of the step-by-step articles online), but of course that won't tell you what caused the problem.   Also, take a look at this guide on the Apple site (or other various online articles about OS X Recovery):   https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

          I wish I were there to look at it with you.   I know you're technically-oriented with your solid PC background, and I do think you can find what you need with some of these options.   You might want to give Apple a call whether you have Apple Care coverage or not...   if you've encountered a new threat to Apple computers I think they would be interested and might be willing to do a remote access of your device or follow up on this in other ways.

          Sending good vibes to you! 

[gardenman]

That "loud screeching sound" is alarming. Did the sound seem to come from the speakers or the computer itself? There are really only three things in a computer that would likely give that type of sound. The hard drive, a fan (case, cpu, or power supply), or the speaker built into some motherboards. Legitimate motherboard speaker sounds tend to be more beeps than screeches though.

The following is a guess/hunch and should be considered as such and not as a proven response.

With that sound, possibly coming from the motherboard speaker, and a malware message popping up, my big concern would be some malicious code embedded in the OS that could be used to either take control of the computer or be a key logger. My gut would say a key logger of some sort since it requires you to enter your password. A good key logger hack would sneak in undetected, but it's challenging to hack a Mac and my guess would be that whoever wrote the hack somehow activated the motherboard speaker creating the screeching sound. There are lots of commercially available key loggers and likely many more illicit ones. If there's anyone who had access to your computer and who for any reason would want to know what you were doing on the computer, chances are you've got a key logger installed. That's the feel I get from this. It's likely wrong, but that's my gut reaction.

[glb613]

dooBdoo, so far nothing has worked but I did find this online.  It seems the only way to fix this is to reinstall the operating system.  I'm going to make copies of my photos and try it. 

Fix for auto password

[glb613]

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@gardenman wrote:

That "loud screeching sound" is alarming. Did the sound seem to come from the speakers or the computer itself? There are really only three things in a computer that would likely give that type of sound. The hard drive, a fan (case, cpu, or power supply), or the speaker built into some motherboards. Legitimate motherboard speaker sounds tend to be more beeps than screeches though.

The following is a guess/hunch and should be considered as such and not as a proven response.

With that sound, possibly coming from the motherboard speaker, and a malware message popping up, my big concern would be some malicious code embedded in the OS that could be used to either take control of the computer or be a key logger. My gut would say a key logger of some sort since it requires you to enter your password. A good key logger hack would sneak in undetected, but it's challenging to hack a Mac and my guess would be that whoever wrote the hack somehow activated the motherboard speaker creating the screeching sound. There are lots of commercially available key loggers and likely many more illicit ones. If there's anyone who had access to your computer and who for any reason would want to know what you were doing on the computer, chances are you've got a key logger installed. That's the feel I get from this. It's likely wrong, but that's my gut reaction.

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I was online when a popup appeared and that's when I heard the screeching noise.  It was like an alarm sound and a warning about problems with my computer.  It had a 800 number to call for Microsoft help.  I shutdown my Macbook, restarted and all seemed OK.  Shortly thereafter is when I started having the password autofill.  I just now logged onto the guest account and it was so jumpy and making funny noises I wonder if it's the problem.  I turned it off it and I'm currently making copies of my photos.  Once that's done, I'm going to restart and see what happens.  I posted a link for other Mac users who are having a similar problem and it looks like reinstalling the operating system is the answer.  I do have a backup but, it's really old.  I'm thinking it might be easier and better just to start over. 

[chickenbutt]

Oh wow!  Sorry you're going through this, Gail.

I'm still a PC girl so I cannot help but I wish I could, as you have provided so many answers and bits of advice for all of us here.

Fingers crossed that you find the solution.  Hope you don't have to re-install the entire OS, but the good thing is that you are no stranger to this so I know you can do it.  

[glb613]

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@chickenbutt wrote:

Oh wow!  Sorry you're going through this, Gail.

I'm still a PC girl so I cannot help but I wish I could, as you have provided so many answers and bits of advice for all of us here.

Fingers crossed that you find the solution.  Hope you don't have to re-install the entire OS, but the good thing is that you are no stranger to this so I know you can do it.  

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At least it isn't my main computer.  If it's out of commission for a while, it won't be a problem.  I haven't had amny problems with my Apple devices since I switched 4 years ago.  But when I do, I really don't know how to fix the problems.  I ran Bitdefender and Malwarebytes for Mac and neither show any malware.  I always look on the Apple forums for answers and did find one thread where the poster was having the same problem. I hope I can get rid of this.  Thanks. 

[dooBdoo]

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@glb613 wrote:

dooBdoo, so far nothing has worked but I did find this online.  It seems the only way to fix this is to reinstall the operating system.  I'm going to make copies of my photos and try it. 

Fix for auto password

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          Hi, again, @glb613.   I'm sorry nothing is working.  If it were me, still I'd try a call to Apple before reinstalling...  I think your situation is different from the discussion on Apple.com in that you appear to have discovered a new vulnerability -- it is highly, extremely unusual for a pop-up like this to affect a Mac so this is really alarming (to me, anyway).

[glb613]

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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@glb613 wrote:

dooBdoo, so far nothing has worked but I did find this online.  It seems the only way to fix this is to reinstall the operating system.  I'm going to make copies of my photos and try it. 

Fix for auto password

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          Hi, again, @glb613.   I'm sorry nothing is working.  If it were me, still I'd try a call to Apple before reinstalling...  I think your situation is different from the discussion on Apple.com in that you appear to have discovered a new vulnerability -- it is highly, extremely unusual for a pop-up like this to affect a Mac so this is really alarming (to me, anyway).

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Do you have a number? 

[NickNack]

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@glb613 wrote:

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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@glb613 wrote:

dooBdoo, so far nothing has worked but I did find this online.  It seems the only way to fix this is to reinstall the operating system.  I'm going to make copies of my photos and try it. 

Fix for auto password

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          Hi, again, @glb613.   I'm sorry nothing is working.  If it were me, still I'd try a call to Apple before reinstalling...  I think your situation is different from the discussion on Apple.com in that you appear to have discovered a new vulnerability -- it is highly, extremely unusual for a pop-up like this to affect a Mac so this is really alarming (to me, anyway).

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Do you have a number? 

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@glb613  I called Apple Support one time.  I got their number from their website.  I just checked and think this is the number that I called.  1-800-275-2273  The website says to have your serial number ready to give them when you call.  Good luck.

[glb613]

I reinstalled the operating system and the auto password was still occuring.  There is also a tone, like a bonk, during startup.  I restarted the computer, no bonk and no auto password.  I'm letting it cool down then will try shutting it down, restarting it and see if the auto password is gone or not.  I didn't do a complete recovery, erase the hard drive, and that will be my next option if reinstalling the operating system doesn't fix things. 

I restored from an old backup and there was still the auto password.  I vacuumed the keyboard and all seems well.  It may have been the problem all along.  Anyway, I'm glad I restored it since I had the malware popup and screeching noise.  Let's hope this is the end of it.