Remove DirectionsAce Toolbar from Chrome/Firefox/IE

Can’t Remove DirectionsAce? This page includes detailed DirectionsAce Removal instructions!

As you could imagine, there’s nothing ace about the DirectionsAce toolbar. And if you find yourself stuck with this pest, don’t waste time. Classified as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) for numerous reasons, DirectionsAce quickly gets out of hand. Once it does, both your safety and privacy end up seriously jeopardized. Does that sound like a fun experience to you? It’s not. That means you have to get rid of the virus before it manages to cause harm. According to this program’s official website, the DirectionsAce toolbar provides you satellite/aerial maps, information on gas prices, local events, local weather, etc. It’s supposed to help you find the fastest route to your destination. However, the virus only shows you the fastest route to malware. You might be interested to know that it was developed by Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc., a company famous for its many malicious creations. DirectionsAce simply isn’t safe. Therefore, why would you risk your security by keeping it on board? This thing modifies your browser settings, floods your PC screen with intrusive and unwanted ads, practically destroys your Internet activities and serves as a back door to more infections. It might even mess with your default browser homepage and default search engine. As if that wasn’t more than enough, the virus also spies on your personal information. By pretending to be a harmless online application, DirectionsAce tricks you into keeping it on board. The problem is, the virus spends this entire time on your machine wreaking havoc. If you wonder why you’re seeing an excessive amount of commercials on a daily basis, you should know that DirectionsAce is ad-supported. Every time you click some of the advertisements it displays, hackers gain profit through the pay-per-click mechanism. You’re practically becoming a sponsor of cyber criminals by keeping their infection on board. Those ads are incredibly annoying as they stubbornly cover every single website you visit. Apart from irritating you, though, they also put you in danger. The virus generates both real and fake commercials and there’s no telling which is which until you click. Clicking is the very last thing you should do. As you can see, you might end up on some very harmful website infested with malware. Another possible scenario is to get involved in a nasty syber scam and purchase a non-existent product. The only reason why such programs get developed in the first place is rather clear – they offer hackers a very efficient way to gain revenue online. That is it. Your safety, your browsing experience and your privacy are irrelevant. In order to put an end to the various manipulations the DirectionsAce toolbar has in store for you, get rid of it.

remove DirectionsAce

How did I get infected with DirectionsAce?

Do you often download programs off of the Internet? And do they, by any chance, come bundled? There’s your answer to the question how DirectionsAce got installed. One of the most popular infiltration methods at the moment is called freeware/shareware bundling. It’s just as stealthy and secretive as it sounds so, of course, hackers love it. Remember, protecting your machine isn’t a difficult thing to do. A rule of thumb for the future – stay away from illegitimate software, especially if it comes bundled. When installing programs, opt for the Advanced or Custom option in the Setup Wizard instead of the Basic one. Go through the programs one by one. Furthermore, check out the Terms and Conditions or EULA (End User License Agreement). These are all pieces of advice which will inevitably take more time than clicking the “I accept” button but they could protect you. Deleting some vicious infection is a greater hassle than preventing virus installation. Also, you got infected with a relatively easy to deal with program; however, Trojans and ransomware travel the Web using the same technique. Don’t rush the installation and don’t underestimate any of the potential threats you might come across online. Keeping your machine virus-free should be your number one priority when surfing the Web. Is it?

Why is DirectionsAce dangerous?

The DirectionsAce toolbar is compatible with three of the most commonly used browsers out there. Yes, it takes down Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. And it does so in no time. Now that your entire Internet experience is disrupted, you’re forced to waste your time dealing with commercials. The DirectionsAce ads include a rich bouquet of stubborn discounts, coupons, price comparisons, “best prices”, product deals, etc. and the one thing they all have in common is their unreliability. Don’t jeopardize your safety by clicking the commercials; that’s exactly what hackers want. To prevent further damage, you have to avoid DirectionsAce’s pop-ups. Also, the virus sneakily starts spying on your personal data the minute it invades your PC. It collects IP addresses, email addresses, passwords and usernames, browsing history but keep in mind that you personally identifiable data might get stolen as well. Hackers usually sell the information they collect to questionable third parties with questionable intentions. It goes without saying that this might cause you extremely serious privacy issues. To delete the pesky infection manually, please follow the detailed removal guide that you will find down below.

How Can I Remove DirectionsAce?

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the DirectionsAce 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.

  • Open your task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
  • Locate the process of fileopenerpro.exe and kill it

kill-hpnotify-exe

  • Open your windows registry editor by typing”regedit” in the windows search box

Navigate to (Depending on your OS version)

[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: FileOpenerPro

Simultaneously press the Windows Logo Button and then “R” to open the Run Command

Type “Appwiz.cpl

Locate the DirectionsAce program and click on uninstall/change. To facilitate the search you can sort the programs by date. Review the most recent installed programs first. In general you should remove all unknown programs.

Navigate to C:/Program Files and delete FileOpenerPro folder. Double check with any antimalware program for any leftovers. Keep your software up-to date!

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