Remove Apusx.com “Virus” from Chrome/FF/IE

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

The appearance of the Apusx.com website is a bad sign. This page is associated with a nasty browser hijacker. If it has managed to replace your homepage, or if you see adverts provided by it, be sure. Your computer is infected with the Apusx.com hijacker. Don’t panic! This parasite is not a real virus. It is a malicious ad-generating program (malware). Even though it is not as dangerous as you thought it was, the hijacker is still a problem. This parasite can ruin your browsing experience in seconds. It is programmed to bombard its victims with tons of commercials. The app injects banners, hyperlinks and in-text ads on every website you open. It can also redirect your browser to third-party websites. And, of course, it can pause your online videos for commercial breaks. For every ad you click on, the owners of the hijacker will get paid. And so, they cannot let you click on their competitors’ content, can they? They will not allow this. The Apusx.com hijacker is programmed to block such ads and to replace them with its own. Every commercial you are exposed to is brought to you by the hijacker. This utility is turning you into an easy target. It is limiting your sources of information. Plus, it is extremely annoying. The hijacker becomes more aggressive with every passing day. It will start to display more and more commercials. You will get redirected more often. You will hate the experience! Luckily, you don’t need to put up with this. You can delete the hijacker. We have provided a manual removal guide below this article. If you prefer automated solutions, you can also download a trustworthy anti-virus app. The sooner you clean your computer, the better!

How did I get infected with?

The Apusx.com hijacker uses a lot of trickery. The key to its success is your carelessness and negligence. Torrents, spam emails, fake software updates, all these techniques will fail if you are just a bit more careful. The Apusx.com hijacker is a simple program. It cannot be installed without your approval. No approval, no access. As simple as that. But, when you rush through an installation process, you may overlook the program and accidentally allow it on board. That’s the scheme. Developers hide extra apps under Advanced/Custom installation options. They recommend you to use the Standard installation and when you do, you end up with programs that you don’t need. Always choose the Advanced option. Under it, you will be given the opportunity to deselect all unwanted programs. Make sure you know what you are giving your approval to. Read The Terms and Conditions/End User License Agreement (EULA). If you don’t have the time, use an online EULA analyzer or research the apps online. You can never be too careful. Once second of carelessness may cost you a lot. Always do your due diligence.

Why is this dangerous?

The Apusx.com hijacker is extremely annoying. It forces you to watch commercials, covers your screen with ad banners and hyperlinks. On top of all this, the hijacker redirects your browser to questionable third-party websites. This parasite is a pain in the neck that is hard to be tolerated. Yet, if you let this app remain active for too long, there may be unwanted consequences. You must have noticed that the hijacker displays appealing commercials, haven’t you? No, this is not a coincidence. To determine your preferences, the furtive app actually spies on you. It lurks in the shadows and records your online activities. It knows which websites are your favorite, what kind of links you click on, the videos you watch. Even the Incognito mode of your browser cannot hide you from the hijacker. The app uses this data as a base for better ad-targeting. Yet, there is a catch. Anyone willing to pay can use the hijacker as an advertising platform. All sorts of crooks take advantage. In exchange for a fee, they can access your data. They can use the data and the hijacker to target you with custom marketing campaigns. With the Apusx.com hijacker on board, you are very likely to be exposed to online scams. Be very careful what ads you click on. They may be misleading and deceptive. If an offer looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t! Be always doubting! Do yourself a favor. Delete the Apusx.com hijacker at once!

How to Remove Apusx.com virus

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

STEP 2: Locate Apusx.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

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