Qareaste.info Hijacker Removal (Chrome/FF/IE)

Can’t Remove Qareaste.info hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Qareaste.info Removal instructions!

The Qareaste.info site is bad news. Its appearance on screen, means your system is no longer safe. It harbors a dangerous cyber threat of the hijacker category. Yes, the website is a clear indication of the invasion. A browser hijacker slithered its way into your PC, undetected. And, the page’s popping up, is its way of announcing its existence. Heed its announcement. Accept it as the warning it is. To discard it is a colossal mistake. Hijackers are hazardous and harmful threats. They use trickery to invade and, once inside, wreak utter havoc. The more time you allow them on your PC, the worse your predicament gets. So, don’t. Don’t do that. The hijacker, behind Qareaste.info, is a typical representative of the infection family. It sneaks in unnoticed, then proceeds to wreak havoc, and make a mess of everything. Don’t extend its stay beyond the point of discovery. Get rid of it as soon as the opportunity presents itself. If you don’t, you WILL regret it. The display of the Qareaste.info page is a warning. Heed it.

How did I get infected with?

Qareaste.info pops up, because of a hijacker. A hijacker forces it on your screen, non-stop. But what about the hijacker? How did it appear on your computer? These programs can’t pop up out of thin air. It may seem that way, but it’s not the case. Fact of the matter is, a hijacker needs user’s permission to enter. Your permission. So, the hijacker behind Qareaste.info, is on your PC because of you. It sought your approval on its install, and you granted it. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t get stuck seeing Qareaste.info everywhere. Don’t be too hard on yourself, though. It was anything but a straightforward inquiry. Yews, the hijacker asked if you agree to allow it in. But, it did so in the most covert way possible. It turned to the old but gold means of invasion. Spam emails, fake updates, freeware, corrupted links. The usual antics. But, ultimately, whether it succeeds or not, is up to you. You’re the last line of defense. Yes, the hijacker is sneaky. But if you’re vigilant enough, you can catch it in the act, and prevent it from invading. So, be thorough. Be attentive. Always take the time to do your due diligence. Carelessness leads to cyber threats. Caution helps to keep them out. If you wish to have an infection-free PC, choose caution over carelessness.

Why is this dangerous?

Once the hijacker invades, brace yourself. You’re in for quite the horrendous experience. The tool spreads its nastiness throughout your system. And, in no time, you start to notice its touch. It affects every aspect of your system. But, you first tend to notice its influences, when you browse. The hijacker interferes with your activities, non-stop. It redirects you to a plethora of suspicious pages. As well as, flood your screen with in-text, banner, and pop-up ads. Not to mention, the Qareaste.info site makes an appearance at every turn. No matter what you do, you WILL see the page. “Ads Powered by Qareaste.info,” “Waiting for Qareaste.info,” and so on. The page pops up when you open a new tab. It’s among the suggested results after you type a search. It’s there when you do anything online. The hijacker forces it on you all the time. That has consequences. You suffer frequent system crashes, continuous lagging. Browsing becomes a nightmare. In fact, doing anything at all turns into an ordeal. The hijacker makes your life difficult. So, why not remove it? As soon as you see signs of its stay, get rid of it. Find its exact hiding place, and delete it. The sooner it’s gone, the better. You’ll avoid a plethora of problems, as well as ensure your privacy stays private. Delete the infection ASAP.

How to Remove Qareaste.info virus

The Qareaste.info 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 Qareaste.info 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 Qareaste.info related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Qareaste.info startup location

STEP 3: Delete Qareaste.info traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Qareaste.info 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 Qareaste.info 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 Qareaste.info 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 Qareaste.info traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

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

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 Qareaste.info, 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 Qareaste.info 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 Qareaste.info 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.