How to Remove YunPanSer Browser Hijacker

Can’t Remove YunPanSer hijacker virus? This page includes detailed YunPanSer Removal instructions!

YunPanSer is the name of the newest browser hijacker. This menace has only one goal – to generate revenue for its owners. It uses a rather clever strategy. YunPanSer takes advantage of popular Chinese websites and their marketing systems. The hijacker redirects its users to www.hao549.com/?r=y&m8 page and then to the legit Hao123.com website. This redirection lasts only a few seconds. Yet, these seconds are enough for ad revenue to be generated. The redirection is the first symptom you can notice. But not the only one. YunPanSer is not a light program. It consumes an enormous amount of computer resources. Your PC will become sluggish and your web browser will freeze and crash frequently. Some older machines may also experience system crashes. This leads to data loss and a lot of frustration. All these issues are not minor. Yet, they are barely the tip of the iceberg. With every passing day, the hijacker will become more and more aggressive. This malicious app will drown you in a sea of commercials. All sorts of ad banners and in-text ads will soon cover every website you visit. Pop-up windows will force you to watch videos. You won’t be able to get any work done. Luckily, there is a silver lining. The YunPanSer hijacker is removable. It is a bit more complicated than the average hijacker. Therefore, we recommend you to use a trustworthy anti-virus program. Of course, you can do it by yourself. Follow our guide and be careful.

How did I get infected with?

YunPanSer uses some well-known strategies to travel the web. It is mainly distributed via freeware bundling. A little extra caution can prevent this technique from succeeding. Whenever you are installing a program, opt for an advanced/custom installation option. It can be a button or a tab. Under this installation wizard, you will be able to see extra programs are about to be installed. Crooks tend to attach malicious programs as extra apps. So, be careful. Take your time to understand what you are approving on your system. Do some online research and read the terms and conditions. Install only the programs you trust. Keep in mind that you can deselect all extras and still install the program you originally planned to set up. Other malware distribution methods include fake software updates, malvertising, and the good old spam emails. The Internet is a dangerous place. One second of carelessness can cause you a lot.

Why is this dangerous?

YunPanSer is exposing its victims to numerous advertisements. For every ad you click on, its owners will be paid. As long as the money flow in their pockets, they do not care what is being promoted or who the advertiser is. Hackers use such applications to spread corrupted content. One click on a malicious advert can download more malware or viruses on your PC. There, unfortunately, is no way to tell which ads are corrupted and which are not. You cannot trust anything you see on your display while YunPanSer remains active. Be advised, though. Not all ads displayed by the hijacker are obvious. The parasite injects fake entries among the search results you are provided with. As this utility is installed on your system, it can control what is being displayed on your screen. This means that it doesn’t matter which search provider you use. The hijacker can corrupt all search results. The fake entries are adverts. Yet, they are not marked as such. As you already know, these ads may download parasites. However, they can also redirect you to websites partaking in scams. Nothing good comes from programs like YunPanSer. This utility has no place on your PC. It is a vulnerability in your security. You should remove it upon discovery.

How to Remove YunPanSer virus

The YunPanSer 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 YunPanSer 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.

STEP 1: Track down YunPanSer related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate YunPanSer startup location

STEP 3: Delete YunPanSer traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down YunPanSer related processes 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 YunPanSer 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 YunPanSer 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 YunPanSer traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the YunPanSer 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 YunPanSer

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 YunPanSer, 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 YunPanSer 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 YunPanSer Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network 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.