How to Remove Affablesearch.com Redirect

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

Affablesearch.com falls under the hijacker umbrella. The website links to the presence of such a threat on your computer. If you see it take over your screen, there’s no doubt about it. Your system harbors a browser hijacker. And, that’s not good news. These infections are dangerous, and place you in harm’s way. Hijackers find a sneaky way into your system. Then, once they settle, proceed to corrupt it. They mess with your settings, force unwanted changes, it’s a mess. And, it’s a mess that worsens with time. The more time, you allow the threat on your PC, the more issues, it forces on you. That’s why, experts advise towards immediate action. As soon as the hijacker announces its existence, do your best to find and remove it. Its prompt deletion saves you an avalanche of grievances. Its prolonged stay ensures them. Do what’s best for you, and your system. Acknowledge the warning, you’re given. The display of Affablesearch.com, is a clue. One, you must heed, and act on. Act now.

How did I get infected with?

Affablesearch.com appears after a hijacker invades. But how do you imagine it ended up on your PC? It doesn’t pop up as if by magic. In fact, you have yourself to thank for its appearance. Or, rather, your naivety, haste, and distraction. Let’s elaborate. Hijackers have to ask permission to install themselves. Before they enter a system, they must receive the green light from the user. No permission, no admission. It’s pretty simple. But it’s not full-proof. Infections have found ways around that rule. They still do ask approval. But they do it so sneaky, that you don’t even realize. For example, freeware. Freeware provides possibly the easiest access point. Hijackers use it as a shield to lurk behind, and gain entry unnoticed. That is, if you’re not careful enough to spot it. And, foil its attempts. You must not throw caution to the wind when installing tools or updates. Or, anything off the web, at all! The web is a dangerous place that harbors a plethora of threats. Be vigilant enough to make the distinction between safe and dangerous. Never give into gullibility. Don’t rush. Choose caution over carelessness. One keeps infection away. The other opens your system up to them.

Why is this dangerous?

Affablesearch.com turns into your online shadow. The hijacker forces it on you at every turn. Open your browser? It’s there to greet you. Open a new tab? Affablesearch.com is there, as well. Type in a search? Can you guess what appears among the suggested results? Yes, it’s Affablesearch.com. But, it’s not only redirects that bother you. The hijacker also floods you with advertisements. You find yourself face to face with a screen of interference. And, don’t think that goes unnoticed for long. Pretty soon, after intrusions start to occur, consequences follow. Your system suffers frequent crashes. Your computer slows down to a crawl. But do you know what? These aren’t the worst issues, you encounter. In fact, they’re considered the minor ones. There is one that towers over all the rest. And, needless to say, you won’t like it. The hijacker threatens your privacy. It follows programming to steal and expose your private details. Make no mistake! If you don’t remove it in time, it WILL succeed. The tool, using Affablesearch.com as a front, spies on you. It tracks your browsing activities, and records everything. That’s right. It keeps a record of every move you make. That includes, your personal and financial information. Once it deems it has gathered enough data, it sends it. The infection hands it over to the people behind it. Cyber criminals with agendas. Don’t let them have it. Keep your privacy private. Don’t allow the hijacker to steal it, and expose it to strangers. Affablesearch.com is a warning. Once it pops up, take action. Find and remove the hijacker, forcing it on you. The sooner you do, the better.

How to Remove Affablesearch.com virus

The Affablesearch.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 Affablesearch.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 Affablesearch.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Affablesearch.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

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