I just downloaded a video player a few minutes ago and the next thing I found my homepage was hijacked by Websearch.hotfindings.info so I went to Internet Option setting to reset my homepage. But it didn’t work at all. I am using IE browser and there are numerous types of pop up ads whenever I go to shopping website like Amazon, ebay or other similar sites. I tried to search a solution but this website took over my default search provider as well. I really need assistance removing this hijacker thing. I have spent a few hours scanning my computer with Malwarebytes but it detected nothing. The page doesn’t seem to go away. Please help me get rid of it.
If you find your current homepage or search engine suddenly changed to Websearch.hotfindings.info and your web browser starts behaving strangely or displays various ads, it is a clear sign that your PC has been infected with adware or potentially unwanted program like malicious add-ons, toolbar or other extensions. This hijacker can secretly infiltrate into Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and even Safari without asking for user’s permission. Once access, it replaces your homepage and default search provider to its own webs and adds useless toolbars in your browser, creating shortcuts for you and then sending you to websites you didn’t want to visit. Also you will always be redirected to other questionable pages when you perform a search on Google or Yahoo, or bombarded with useless ads which appear in your browser all the time, no matter what web-page you actually open and what browser you are using at that moment.
At first glance, Websearch.hotfindings.info seems to be a regular search provider, but in fact it was developed to advertise various sponsored websites. This Websearch thing can not provide any reliable online search results for its visitors, instead it only shows untrusted search results and always puts sponsored links to the top of search results. It seeks every way to advertise sponsored website so users should be aware that its advertising is not honest and the site has nothing good and should be removed quickly. Most people may have no idea how can this disturbing hijacker get into their PC because they have already installed antivirus programs to protect their machine. Technically speaking, a browser hijacker is not a virus so it can escape the detection of all kinds of antivirus software. However, it acts like a virus that can not only interrupt your browsing activities but also compromise your security. Most hijacker are downloaded from free downloads or free software like TV shows, video or music programs etc. Once downloaded, it can bring adware to the infected system as well that causes tons of ads and annoying redirection. The risk of not removing the virus could be system crashes, blue screens, and even hardware failure. Computer users are suggested to delete Websearch.hotfindings.info pop up once it is found.
It belongs to browser hijacker virus which can totally mess up your browser setting.
It changes your default DNS configuration and blocks you accessing your favorite sites.
It may install some malware in your computer to make bad influence without your consent.
It degenerates your computer performance gradually.
Browser hijacker infection like Websearch.hotfindings.info may enter your system as an add-on for your browser or bundled-up with some free software. Most of time, it can be downloaded from a website you visited, something you clicked on, or a pop-up that you did not request to view. You may not even know when and how you download this browser hijacker which compromises your internet security until you find your computer is fully messed up. A hijack virus is a type of computer virus known for its ability to disrupt your Internet browsing. It can redirect your Internet searches to random sites, disallow you from visiting certain Web sites, and change your Internet home page. In addition, it is able to slow your computer, decrease your available memory, and flood your computer with popup advertisements. When you detect the presence of such malicious hijacker, a complete removal is needed without any hesitation.
1. You keep getting random pop-ups opening in new browser tabs.
2. When clicking on Google search links you get taken to sites that have nothing to do with the subject you searched for.
3. Anti-virus and firewall software won’t start.
4. Internet stops working.
5. Unknown software has been installed without your authorization.
6. You can’t access reputable sites unless you type the URL into the navigation bar
Websearch.hotfindings.info hijacks your browser to redirect your web search results and changes the homepage and browser settings. To completely uninstall it from an infected system, manual removal is the first choice because sometimes antivirus software cannot pick up the exact computer threat timely or remove it permanently. Now most browser hijackers are quite similar to spyware and adware threats and therefore cannot be removed with the help of popular antivirus products. Users can follow the manual guide here to get rid of this browser hijacker completely.
1. Clear all the cookies of your affected browsers.
Since this tricky hijacker virus has the ability to use cookies for tracing and tracking the internet activity of users, it is suggested users delete all the cookies before a complete removal.
Google Chrome:
Click on the “Tools” menu and click the “Clear browsing data” button.
Select “Delete cookies and other site data” to delete all cookies from the list.
Internet Explorer:
Open Internet explorer window
Click the “Tools” button
Point to “safety” and then click “delete browsing history”
Tick the “cookies” box, then click “delete”
Mozilla Firefox:
Click on Tools, then Options, select Privacy
Click “Remove individual cookies”
In the Cookies panel, click on “Show Cookies”
To remove a single cookie click on the entry in the list and click on the “Remove Cookie”
To remove all cookies click on the “Remove All Cookies” button
2. End the malicious process from Task Manager.
Once Websearch.hotfindings.info redirect is installed, computer user may notice that CPU usage randomly jumps to 100 percent. At any time Windows always has many running processes. A process is an individual task that the computer runs. In general, the more processes, the more work the computer has to do and the slower it will run. If your system’s CPU spike is constant and remain at a constant 90-95%, users should check from Task Manager and see if there is a suspicious process occupying the system resources and then end it immediately.
(The name of the virus process can be random.)
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to quickly bring up Task Manager Window：
3. Show hidden files and folders.
Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.
Click the View tab.
Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click OK.
4. Remove all the malicious files related to Websearch.hotfindings.info hijacker manually.
%AppData%Local[random].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main StartPage
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Websearch.hotfindings.info is associated with browser hijacker and it won’t offer you any services like Google or Bing. Instead, it can cause an immense problem to the functioning of a computer system by altering the browser settings and changing browser settings without any consent. It offers users unwanted pop-up ads and other misleading information and hijacks browsers including Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer. Users will be redirected to phishing website that could install malware to their computer and even steal their financial information when they get online. Additionally, it will be a hard time for computer users surfing the web after browser was hijacked and they may usually have problem opening their desired webpage because the nasty hijacker can modify browser setting and change DNS in the background. Websearch.hotfindings.info hijacker usually runs in most versions of Windows, including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, and it may affect Mac computer sometimes. Since it can’t offer you anything good so have to get rid of it without any hesitation.
Published by & last updated on July 11, 2015 7:31 am
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