Keytar.com Hijacker Removal

Can’t Remove Keytar.com hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Keytar.com Removal instructions!

If you get redirected to the Keytar.com website or if your homepage is replaced by this questionable page, the news is bad! Keytar.com is a hijacker-related site. Take its appearance as a warning. A warning that your computer is no-longer infection-free. The Keytar.com hijacker is a nasty ad-generating tool. Once on board, it takes control of your web browser and wreaks havoc. The hijacker causes only problems. Yet, one critical issue stands above all others. This furtive utility jeopardizes your privacy. The hijacker monitors your browser related data. It knows which websites you open, what ads you click on, what search inquiries you make. Even the Incognito mode of your web browser cannot hide you from the hijacker. Everything you do online is recorded, analyzed and sent to a remote server. What does the hijacker do with the collected data? Well, it claims that the data is used for better ad-targeting. If you type “sneakers” into some search engine, the hijacker will display ads for sports shoes. It doesn’t sound too bad. Yet, in practice, the hijacker doesn’t use the collected information for marketing purposes only. This information is quite valuable. It is a resource which can be sold. That is exactly what the hijacker does. It sells every bit of information to third parties. The potential buyers range from desperate marketing agents to dangerous hackers. The Keytar.com hijacker knows too much. This information should not become a possession of cybercriminals. Take immediate measures against the hijacker. You can find our detailed removal guide below this article. If you prefer automated solutions, you can also download a trustworthy anti-virus app. Choose your removal method and act!

How did I get infected with?

To reach its victims, the Keytar.com hijacker uses a few techniques. No one would infect their PC on purpose, so the hijacker has to be smart. The solution is simple. The hijacker hides its presence in software bundles, torrents, and spam emails. If you are not careful, you may install the parasite unintentionally. Whenever you are installing a program, opt for the Advanced option in the Setup Wizard. Under it, you will be given the opportunity to deselect all unwanted “bonus” programs. Developers often attach extra apps to the payload files of many popular tools. Be careful. These extras, more often than not, are malicious. Always make sure you know what you are approving on your computer. Read the Terms and Conditions/End User License Agreement. If you spot anything out of the ordinary, abort the installation immediately. This time you were lucky, the Keytar.com hijacker is removable. What will you do if a Trojan makes its way to your PC? Many dangerous viruses are distributed via software bundles. Only you can prevent infections. Don’t be lazy. Always do your due diligence.

Why is this dangerous?

The Keytar.com hijacker is a menace that can ruin your browsing experience in seconds. Banners in-text ads and hyperlinks will blink in all imaginable colors. Every time you go online, you will see numerous adverts. Even your online videos will be paused for commercial breaks. These ads, however, are just the obvious ones. The hijacker displays more than you might think. This furtive utility injects fake entries among the search results you are provided with. No matter which search engine you use, the hijacker can modify the displayed results. The fake entries are adverts. However, they are not marked as such. The problem is, dodgy websites pay for their links to be displayed on the top. Think twice before you click on the next “great offer.” With the Keytar.com hijacker on board, you are far more likely to be redirected to a scam page than to a legit one. Question everything. Refrain yourself from online purchases while the hijacker remains active. Furthermore, as we already explained, this app spies on you. If you enter your credit card details, the hijacker may steal them. On top of all this, the Keytar.com hijacker may redirect you to infected websites. This utility is too dangerous to be kept on board. We recommend you to delete it as soon as possible.

How to Remove Keytar.com virus

The Keytar.com 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 Keytar.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.

STEP 1: Track down Keytar.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Keytar.com startup location

STEP 3: Delete Keytar.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Keytar.com 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 Keytar.com 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 Keytar.com 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 Keytar.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

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

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Keytar.com

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 Keytar.com, 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 Keytar.com 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 Keytar.com 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.