Remove Brainfinds.com Redirect

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

The Brainfinds.com website is supposed to be an alternative search engine. Yet, it isn’t very useful, is it? This page is also raising a lot of questions. You must be wondering how did this page mange to replace your preferable homepage?! Unfortunately, we must be the bearers of bad news. The appearance of the Brainfinds.com website is a sign that your computer harbors a nasty browser hijacker. This parasite is responsible for the unauthorized replacement of your homepage. Upon infiltration, the Brainfinds.com hijacker adds its extension to your browsers. To all of them. If you happen to have more than one installed, be certain, all installed browsers are affected by the hijacker. This parasite is programmed to replace its victims’ browsers settings. It is not just your homepage, the Brainfinds.com hijacker has set a new default search engine. It is now the hijacker that decides what search results you will see. Unfortunately, it is true. This parasite can manipulate the search results you are provided with. It doesn’t matter which engine you use, the hijacker can control what is being displayed on your screen. This utility uses a pay-per-click marketing system to generate revenue for its owners. So, it should not be a surprise that the hijacker camouflages advertisements as organic search results. For every ad you click on, its owners will be paid. They will be even better paid for every website you are redirected to. Oh, yes! That is right. It is the hijacker is redirecting your web browser to these odd websites. If you haven’t experienced this “pleasure” yet, be prepared. The Brainfinds.com hijacker is also known as redirect virus for a reason. This utility opens third-party websites constantly. Every time you go online, you will get redirected to dozens of highly questionable domains. Don’t waste your time there. These pages are not verified. They are likely to arouse unwarranted expectations.

How did I get infected with?

The Brainfinds.com hijacker is not an ingenious virus, but a simple computer program. As any other program, to be installed, it needs your approval and assistance. Yet, you can’t remember installing this program, can you? The Brainfinds.com hijacker uses trickery. It travels hidden in software bundles. If you use the Standard Installation, such programs can get installed without your explicit approval. To prevent this, always opt for the Advance option in the Setup Wizard. It can be a button or tab. Under the Advanced method, you will be presented with a list of “extra” programs that are about to be installed. Examine this list carefully. These third-party apps, more often than not, are malicious. Take your time to read the Terms and Conditions/EULA. You can also research the apps online. If you spot anything out of the ordinary, abort the installation immediately. You should also keep in mind that you can deselect all extras and still install the program you originally planned to set up. The Internet is a dangerous place. It is roamed by numerous nasty parasites. All of them use the same distribution techniques. Torrents, spam email attachments, fake software updates, misleading advertisements, etc. A little extra caution, however, can prevent them from succeeding.

Why is this dangerous?

The Brainfinds.com hijacker is a pain in the neck that cannot be tolerated. And it shouldn’t. This parasite is removable. If you act promptly, there will not be consequences. If you delay the removal, however, hell will rise. The hijacker exposes its victims to unverified commercials. Such ads may arouse unwarranted expectations, at best. At worse, they may redirect the user to infected or scam websites. With the Brainfinds.com hijacker on board, you are far more likely to land on a scam web page that on a legit one. Be vigilant and doubting! Question everything. Only your caution can save you from trouble. Unfortunately, the hijacker may redirect you to an infected page automatically. There isn’t anything you can do about it. Don’t wait for this scenario to unfold. The hijacker is removable. Please, follow our detailed removal guide down below. Or, download a trustworthy anti-virus app and run a full system scan. Keeping the Brainfinds.com on board is not worth the risk. Track this intruder down and delete it on the spot!

How to Remove Brainfinds.com virus

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

STEP 2: Locate Brainfinds.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

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