How to Remove FindWide.com Browser Hijacker

Suddenly FindWide.com took over your homepage and you cannot remove it.

Today’s article aims to help PC users remove the pesky FindWide parasite. If you notice that your browser settings have been modified without your permission, your search results always are extremely inaccurate, your browsers display much more ads than before and the overall speed of the PC itself has been affected as well, then you have a browser hijacker to deal with. Now, it’s quite obvious that compared to some other types of online parasites, hijackers aren’t a particularly big threat. Having said that, any virus has the potential to wreak havoc over your machine if you make the mistake to leave it unattended there. FindWide doesn’t shine with originality in any department, therefore it doesn’t deviate much from the usual hijacker pattern. According to its developers, this program will help you “find what you’re looking for faster”. However, nobody is looking for infections and yet, FindWide practically bombards you with them. Corrupted search results, corrupted advertisements, corrupted third-party web links, corrupted software updates… The list is actually very impressive. Unfortunately, there is nothing beneficial for you out of this whole thing and trust us when we say that no browser hijacker is worth keeping on your machine. These parasites exist only so the hackers who created them could generate some illegal profit through one of the many dubious monetizing systems out there. If you’re willing to watch your Internet experience turn into a battlefield  and if you agree to become a sponsor of cyber criminals, go ahead and keep FindWide on board. But, if you want to have a virus-free trustworthy machine in front of you and to protect your very own privacy, then keep on reading.

How did I get infected with?

If you notice FindWide’s sneaky presence on your PC, that means you probably downloaded some free programs off of the Internet not long ago. Being a classic browser hijacker, this parasite usually travels the Web bundled with freeware/shareware. Did you think software bundles are just a convenient way for you to install programs faster? It is also a stealthy infiltration method and hackers don’t fail to take advantage of the fact that not many people pay enough attention to the software they install. Unless you select the Custom or Advanced option in the Setup Wizard, you can never know for sure what is entering your PC and what exactly you’re giving green light to. Most computer users tend to opt for the Basic option as it saves time but it also allows all kinds of parasites to land on their machines. Remember that being extra careful will save you much more energy and problems in the long run. That is why it’s also highly recommended to check the Terms and Conditions of what you’re installing in advance; reading the End User License Agreement (EULA) is also a good idea. The key to your safety is your own cyber caution so don’t take any potential threat lightly.  Another piece of advice is to stay away from the various spam email-attachments, spam messages, etc. that the Web is full of.

Why is this dangerous?

FindWide does make a great effort pretending to be a practical browser extension but you know better than to trust hackers when they try to deceit you. Once this program manages to force its way into your PC, it gets activated almost immediately and will soon make you bitterly regret that moment of distraction that allowed it to get installed. The parasite attacks your browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer included) and starts modifying them according to its own preferences. Yours are no longer a part of the picture. FindWide replaces both your browser homepage and default search engine with its malicious domain so it could mess with your search results. Having in mind that the virus comes for free, it’s not going to come as breaking news that its developers need to find some other way in order to generate profit. They do so by displaying web links all over your PC screen. The malicious FindWide infection effectively demolishes your browsing experience because you can be more than certain that finding what you’re searching for online will become a real struggle. What is even more troublesome here is the fact FindWide doesn’t discriminate between safe and corrupted web links so you will be seeing both and as you can imagine, you could easily click both as well. One careless click on the wrong link, though, means you’re installing malware directly thus providing your future self even more reasons to be upset. As if that wasn’t enough, the hijacker is also known for stealing some of your data and FindWide’s unexpected trickery might even include spying on your personally-identifiable information. Do the words identity theft mean something to you? This may be the worst case scenario but nevertheless, it is still a terrible possibility that you absolutely have to eliminate as soon as possible. In addition, due to the parasite’s pile of cyber issues, get ready to see your trusty browsers often crash and/or freeze. Basically using the PC in general becomes problematic so the only reasonably thing to do here is to delete the virus. If you decide to uninstall the FindWide parasite manually, please follow the comprehensive removal guide down below.

How to Remove FindWide.com virus

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the FindWide.com 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.

The FindWide.com adware is specifically designed to make money. It generates web traffic, collects sales leads for other dubious sites, and will display advertisements and sponsored links within your web browser.

STEP 1: Uninstall FindWide.com from Add\Remove Programs

STEP 2: Clean FindWide.com from Chrome Firefox or Internet Explorer

STEP 3: Permanently Remove FindWide.com leftovers from the System

STEP 1 : Uninstall FindWide.com from your computer

Simultaneously press the Windows Logo Button and then “R” to open the Run Command Window

 

Type “regedit”

 

navigate to HKCU\software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Modify the string with a value data and set it to google.com for example.

STEP 2 : Remove FindWide.com homepage from Chrome, Firefox and IE

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the FindWide.com 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

How to Permanently Remove FindWide.com Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

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.