Remove Search.hfreeforms.co Hijacker from Chrome, Firefox, Edge, IE

Can’t Remove Search.hfreeforms.co hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Search.hfreeforms.co Removal instructions!

Did the Search.hfreeforms.co website replace your homepage on its own or did you approve this change? Do you like your new homepage? How do you feel about the numerous online adverts you are exposed to? Well, the news is not great! If the Search.hfreeforms.co website has made its way to your computer, you are in trouble. This platform is associated with a browser hijacker. The intruder enters your computer unnoticed and takes control of your web browser. It uses your poor browser as an ad-displaying tool. It forces numerous adverts on every website you open, redirects your web traffic to sponsored platforms, and opens pop-ups. The Search.hfreeforms.co hijacker can ruin your browsing experience in seconds. This nasty parasite generates revenue for every advert you click on. And so, it has no intentions of limiting the number of ads you get exposed to. Quite the opposite, it floods its victims with advertisements. The more ads you see, the bigger the chance you click. Yet, there is one small problem. You would not click on just any advert. The crooks have found a solution. They programmed the hijacker to monitor your online activities and to base its ads on the data. In other words, the parasite spies on you and uses the collected information against you. This nasty parasite knows your every online step. Even the Incognito mode of your browser cannot hide you. Every link you follow, every page you load, every video you watch, everything is recorded and analyzed. The collected data may not strike as too sensitive, but a capable advertiser needs very little to successfully target you. Bear in mind that the hijacker does not filter its advertisers. Anyone willing to pay can use its services. Numerous crooks do. They use the hijacker and its resources to lure potential victims into online schemes. Do not risk your security and financial stability. Remove the Search.hfreeforms.co hijacker as soon as possible!

How did I get infected with?

The Search.hfreeforms.co hijacker uses a lot of trickery to reach its victims. It uses torrents, spam emails, software bundles and malvertising. The key to its success is not the methods it uses, but its victims’ negligence. Were you a bit more careful and informed, you would have prevented this infection. Always do your due diligence. Your computer’s security depends on you. Download your software from reputable sources only. Forget about the “Next-Next-Finish” installation method. Always make sure you know what you are giving your approval to. Read the Terms and Conditions/EULA. If you don’t have the time to do so, use an online EULA analyzer to scan the document. If you spot anything out of the ordinary, abort the installation. Also, if you are offered an Advanced/Custom installation option, by all means, select it. Many software developers attach additional apps to the payload files of their programs. If you are not careful, you are very likely to install the extras unintentionally. Under the Advanced installation, you will be given the opportunity to deselect all extras. Do it! You don’t need these tools. If you truly wanted them, you would have downloaded them by yourself. This is your computer. You decide what to be installed on it. Don’t let others make this decision for you!

Why is this dangerous?

The Search.hfreeforms.co hijacker is extremely intrusive. It interferes with every aspect of your web browsing. Every time you as much as touch your browser, the parasite covers your screen with advertisements. Unfortunately, it seems that parasite gets more and more aggressive as the time passes. The numerous adverts cause your browser to freeze and crash. On top of all this, your Internet connection is slower than ever. These minor annoyances, however, are nothing compared to the things the hijacker does behind your back. The parasite spies on you. It uses tracking cookies and web beacons. It monitors what search inquires you make. And it threatens to reveal the collected data. Anyone can assess the information. Anyone can use it against you. A capable advertiser would use it to target you with customized marketing campaigns. Unfortunately, the crooks are more than capable advertisers. They use the Search.hfreeforms.co hijacker to lure numerous people into only traps. They show you what you want to see, but when you click, bad things happen. By keeping the Search.hfreeforms.co hijacker on board, you put your security and financial stability at risk. Do not play with your luck. Remove the nasty hijacker now!

How to Remove Search.hfreeforms.co virus

The Search.hfreeforms.co 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 Search.hfreeforms.co 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 Search.hfreeforms.co related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Search.hfreeforms.co startup location

STEP 3: Delete Search.hfreeforms.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Search.hfreeforms.co 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 Search.hfreeforms.co 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 Search.hfreeforms.co 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 Search.hfreeforms.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Search.hfreeforms.co 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 Search.hfreeforms.co

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 Search.hfreeforms.co, 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 Search.hfreeforms.co 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 Search.hfreeforms.co 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.