Audienceline Malware Removal

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

Do you feel like drowning in a sea of online advertisements? Every time you as much as touch your web browser, numerous adverts cover your screen. You cannot get a simple task done without being redirected to some unknown website. Does it seem that all these issues share a common source? Are they all somehow related to the Audienceline website? If yes, then you should prepare for bad news. These issues are definitely caused by a parasite. Somewhere, in the corners of your OS, the nasty Audienceline hijacker lurks. This intruder is an intrusive ad-generating utility which opens your web browser to malicious interference. The good news is that this parasite cannot corrupt your entire system. It limits its interference to your web browsers only. This said, you should bear in mind that if you happen to have more than one web browser installed, the hijacker has affected them all. The parasite is programmed to force adverts on every website you visit. It can also redirect your web traffic to sponsored pages. The hijacker generates revenue every time you click on its adverts. So, it bombards its victims with advertisements. The parasite even dares to pause your online videos for commercial breaks. The bad news is that this intrusive interference will worsen. The hijacker tends to get more and more aggressive with each passing day. It will drown you in adverts. At some point, your poor browser will fail to keep up with the aggressive advertising. It will start to freeze and crash frequently. Can you imagine getting any work done in such conditions? Do not wait for this scenario to unfold. Get back in control of your web browser, remove the Audienceline hijacker for good.

How did I get infected with?

The Audienceline hijacker did not hack your computer. No, it is not that advanced. To get installed, it actually needs to have the user’s approval. No permission, no admission. Unfortunately, the crooks have found a way around that rule. They learned how to lure the victims into installing the hijacker unintentionally. They hide the parasite in software bundles, spam emails, and torrents. Do not underestimate them. They know how to deceive you. Your caution, of course, can prevent them from succeeding. Download your software from reputable sources only. Do not rush through any installation process. Pay close attention to the fine print. If available, always select the Advanced/Custom/Manual installation option. Under it, you will be presented with a detailed list of all changes that are about to be made to your OS. If additional programs are about to be installed as extras, deselect them. You don’t need such apps. If you truly wanted or needed 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! Make sure you know what you are giving your permission to. Read the Terms and Conditions/End User License Agreement (EULA). If you cannot spare enough time to read the whole document, use an online EULA analyzer to scan it. If detect anything out of the ordinary abort the installation immediately.

Why is this dangerous?

The Audienceline hijacker is a complete and total menace. This intruder is not an annoyance you should neglect. The parasite does not expose you to random adverts. No, it uses surveillance to determine your preference and to target you with relevant advertisements. Thus, if you enter “sneakers” into a search engine, you will get presented with ads for sports shoes. It looks great on paper. Yet, in reality, you get flooded with countless unverified adverts. Furthermore, it’s just a matter of time for the parasite to discover sensitive information. You wouldn’t want the crooks to have such information about you, would you? That’s what you risk. Of course, you also risk falling into online traps. The Audienceline hijacker has no security mechanism. It cannot protect you from online frauds. Quite the contrary – it turns you into an easy target. Anyone willing to pay can use the parasite and its resources to target you with customized advertising campaigns. The crooks use the collected data to prepare irresistible online offers. They show you what you want to see, but when you click, bad things happen. You may end up on a scam and potentially infected websites. The hijacker is more likely to redirect you to bogus websites than to legitimate once. Do not put up with this situation. Take action against the intruder. The sooner you remove the Audienceline hijacker, the better!

How to Remove Audienceline virus

The Audienceline 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 Audienceline 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 Audienceline related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Audienceline startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Audienceline 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 Audienceline 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 Audienceline 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 Audienceline traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

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

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 Audienceline, 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 Audienceline 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 Audienceline 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.