Letstakemetoad.com Pop-up “Virus” Removal

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Letstakemetoad.com is not a legitimate website. If it bombards you with pop-ups, if your browser gets redirected to it, or if you feel like drowning in a sea of coupons, the news is bad. These issues indicate the presence of a browser hijacker. Somewhere in the corners of your OS, the Letstakemetoad.com hijacker lurks and causes problems. The good news is that the invader is not a virus. This parasite cannot infect your entire operating system. The hijacker limits its corruption to your web browsers only. There is a catch, though. The parasite may trick you into online traps, and potentially lead to serious computer infections. Bear this in mind the next time you see an irresistible advert. Everything “Powered by Letstakemetoad.com” is unreliable. So, click nothing! These ads arise unwarranted expectations at best. At worst, they redirect to dangerous websites. Don’t test your luck. Your best course of action is the immediate removal of the intruder. Don’t waste time in debates. Find where the hijacker lurks and delete it upon detection. The sooner, the better!

How did I get infected with?

The Letstakemetoad.com ads pop up by courtesy of a hijacker. As for the parasite, it sneaks into your computer through deception. This sneaky intruder uses myriads of tricks. It lurks behind freeware, fake updates, corrupted links, and spam messages. The hijacker hides in the shadows and waits for an opportunity to attack. Don’t make its job easier. Don’t let your guard down. No anti-virus app can protect you if you throw caution to the wind. Only your actions can keep your PC secure and virus free. Even a little extra attention can spare you an avalanche of problems. So, don’t be lazy. Always take the time to do your due diligence. Don’t visit questionable websites. Download software and updates from reliable sources only. And don’t skip installation steps. Most of the apps we download off the Web come bundled with bonus software. If you rush, if you don’t pay attention to the fine print, you might install a malicious extra. Do not give into naivety. Forget about the “Next-Next-Finish” setup strategy. Choose caution over carelessness. If available, use the advanced/custom setup option. Under it, you will be able to deselect all unwanted extras. Make sure you know what you install. Read the terms and conditions before you agree to them. If you cannot spare enough time to go through the whole document, scan it with an online EULA analyzer. Opt out of the installation if you notice anything suspicious!

Why is this dangerous?

The parasite behind the Letstakemetoad.com pop-ups is a menace. It wreaks advertising havoc. As soon as this parasite invades your PC, adverts follow. Your browser gets flooded with coupons and discounts. Banners cover every website you visit. Random text gets turned into hyperlinks. Notifications appear out of the blue. Commercials pause your videos. Questionable websites load in new tabs and windows. And as if that’s not annoying enough but the parasite also messes with your settings. It replaces your homepage and default search engine. There is nothing you can do to restore your preferences. As long as the parasite remains active, you are stuck with its alterations. The hijacker locks the changes and forces you to use its search engine. And if you are not sure, that’s bad. The questionable search tool displays sponsored links among the search results it provides. The promoted content, however, is not marked as such. You can never be sure which entries are organic search and which are ads. This nontransparency is ideal for the crooks. Hundreds of criminals use browser hijackers to target potential victims. They show you what you want to see, but when you click, bad things happen. Don’t put yourself through this torture. Heed the experts’ advice: as soon as the Letstakemetoad.com pop-ups appear, take action. Remove the hijacker the first chance you get!

How to Remove Letstakemetoad.com virus

The Letstakemetoad.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 Letstakemetoad.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 Letstakemetoad.com in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Letstakemetoad.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Letstakemetoad.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 Letstakemetoad.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 Letstakemetoad.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 Letstakemetoad.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 Letstakemetoad.com Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

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