Remove Play-bar.net Hijacker from Chrome/Firefox/IE

Suddenly Play-bar.net took over your homepage and you cannot remove it.

Play-bar.net is a browser hijacker. It’s a threat you shouldn’t underestimate as it can, and will, cause you an abundance of issues that jeopardize both your and your system’s well-being. So, don’t ignore it! To clarify the situation, play-bar.net is merely a website. The threat you’re faced with, the one making a mess of your system, is lurking behind the website, using it as a front. Think of the page as the ‘face’ of the issue. Your PC was invaded by malware, and it’s that malware that will plague your browsing and make a mess of your system. Don’t just idly stand by as it wreaks havoc on your system. And, you can be quite sure that it WILL indeed wreak plenty of havoc. Unfortunately, there’s even a possibility that the ton of grievances the tool will cause you might prove to be beyond what your system can handle. There’s a chance one day you’ll be greeted with The Blue Screen of Death, and that’s something you should fervently wish to avoid. Granted, the possibility of that actually occurring is quite slim, but that doesn’t make it non-existent. So, take action before it’s too late and you’re drowning in regret.

How did I get infected with?

The tool, using play-bar.net as a front, is quite the masterful one. When it comes to sneaking into your system, it’s immensely resourceful. Since hijackers are bound to get your permission before they install themselves, they’ve come up with an entire array of ways to do it. And, they not only succeed in gaining your approval but also manage to keep you oblivious to the fact that you gave it. That’s right. Until the tool decides to clue you into its presence, you’re utterly unaware that a hazardous infection made advances towards your system and prevailed, which is why you’re in your current predicament. The hijacker duped you into allowing it in by preying on your carelessness. That’s a key element for its successful infiltration. So, if you wish to keep such harmful tools away from your system, make sure to be more careful and NOT to give into distraction, haste, and gullibility. The only thing, throwing your caution to the wind and rushing, is going to get you is trouble. So, be more careful, and remember that even a little extra attention can save you an abundance of grievances. Some of the hijacker’s favorite means of invasion include hiding behind freeware, spam email attachments, corrupted links, or sites or pretending to be a bogus update. Remember, keep your eyes open and your guard up, and you just might stop the malware, forcing play-bar.net on you, from ever entering your system.

Why is this dangerous?

play-bar.net is an obnoxious website that will plague your online experience every single time you try to browse the web. It will pop up each time you try to use your browser without fail. How long do you expect to endure this disruption before it goes from annoying to infuriating? It will hardly take long. But don’t think the hijacker will stop there. Oh, no. That’s merely its first intrusion. After it slithers its way in, it takes over your default search engine and homepage and replaces it with play-bar.net. But its meddling continues. That’s only the first of many yet to come switches you didn’t approve or request. Confused? Well, it’s quite straightforward. As soon as the hijacker gets you to give it the green light and allow it in, it’s no longer bound to ask your permission on anything else. Take a minute to wrap your head around that tiny, little, minuscule detail. It means that the hazardous infection you’re stuck with will be able to implement all the changes it so wishes to, and you’ll you’ll just have to accept it. That will hardly lead to anything positive for either you or your system. For example, if the hijacker chooses to, it can install as many more malicious tools as it desires. The question is, are you going to give it the opportunity to do that? Protect yourself and your PC, and delete the hijacker as soon as you’re first greeted with play-bar.net! It’s the right thing to do, and you’ll save yourself a ton of headaches and issues. The biggest one of which will be the security risk. Oh, yes. The harmful, unwanted tool you’re unknowingly agreed to install, will jeopardize your personal and financial details as it spies on you from the moment it settles in your computer. It keeps track of your browsing habits, catalogs your every move, and then sends the gathered data to the unknown third parties that support it. Again, are you going to allow that? Are you prepared to risk strangers winding up with access to your sensitive information? Think long and hard before you make up your mind on whether the tool behind play-bar.net is worth keeping. But know that the hijacker will only cause you headaches and bury you in unpleasantries, grievances, and regret. So, is it even a question? Delete it now.

How to Remove PLAY-BAR.NET virus

The PLAY-BAR.NET infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the PLAY-BAR.NET infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

WARNING! Stopping the wrong file or deleting the wrong registry key may damage your system irreversibly.
If you are feeling not technical enough just use Spyhunter Professional Malware Removal Tool to deal with the problem!
>>Download SpyHunter – a Professional Remover.

Please, keep in mind that SpyHunter’s scanner tool is free. To remove the PLAY-BAR.NET infection, you need to purchase its full version.

STEP 1: Track down PLAY-BAR.NET in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate PLAY-BAR.NET startup location

STEP 3: Delete PLAY-BAR.NET traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down PLAY-BAR.NET in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate PLAY-BAR.NET startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean PLAY-BAR.NET virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

STEP 3 : Clean PLAY-BAR.NET traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the PLAY-BAR.NET by clicking on the little recycle bin
• Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

• Open Mozilla Firefox

• Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
• Disable the unwanted Extension
• Go to Help
• Then Troubleshoot information
• Click on Reset Firefox

• Open Internet Explorer

• On the Upper Right Corner Click on the Gear Icon
• Click on Internet options
• go to Toolbars and Extensions and disable the unknown extensions
• Select the Advanced tab and click on Reset

• Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by PLAY-BAR.NET

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Play-bar.net, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

You must clean all your browser shortcuts as well. To do that you need to

• Right click on the shortcut of your favorite browser and then select properties.

• in the target field remove PLAY-BAR.NET argument and then apply the changes.
• Repeat that with the shortcuts of your other browsers.
• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove PLAY-BAR.NET Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your system and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible registry leftovers or temporary files.