How to Remove goPlay Search Malware

Can’t Remove goPlay Search hijacker virus? This page includes detailed goPlay Search Removal instructions!

goPlay Search is a malicious program that belongs to the hijacker family. It uses deceit and finesse to invade your system. Then, once inside, takes over. The tool wreaks havoc all day, every day. The longer it remains, the bigger the mess it makes. That’s why, it’s advised to remove it ASAP! That way, you’ll contain its hazardous influences. At first, they extend only to your browsing experience. But, as time progresses, they spread. So, what began as an online intrusion grows to a full-on security threat. Limit the tool’s stay to limit the unpleasantness, you face because of it. There aren’t enough ways to stress this. The longer you permit the hijacker hazard to stay on your PC, the worse your predicament gets. Do yourself a favor, and act against the threat now! Its prompt removal earns you the gratitude of your future self. While, goPlay’s extended stay earns you only regret.

How did I get infected with?

The goPlay Search menace doesn’t appear out of the blue. You don’t wake up with it on your PC, one day. Though, it does seem that way, it’s not the case. In reality, the tool sought your approval on its admission. And, here’s the kicker. You gave it. That’s right. The hazardous hijacker asked if you agree to install it, and you did. If you hadn’t permitted its entry, you wouldn’t be in your current predicament. It’s as simple as that. But don’t be too hard on yourself. As was stated, the cyber threat turns to deceit and finesse to invade. It doesn’t outright appear to seek access. If it did, you can deny it. And, it does its best not to leave any room for rejection. The threat uses every known trick in the book. It poses as a bogus update. Hitches a ride with corrupted links. Hides behind freeware, or spam email attachments. Its options are quite extensive. But the great lengths, the tool goes through to trick you, don’t excuse you for its install. You still take quite a lot of blame for it. Do you know why? Lack of attention. Infections prey on carelessness. Your distraction, haste, and naivety makes their infiltration that much easier. Without you doing your due diligence, they slip right by you. And, by the time you realize your mistake, the damage is already done. The hijacker has taken over, with the effects of its stay, starting to show. Keep that in mind, if you decide to skip reading the terms and conditions. If you choose to rely on luck, and head straight for the YES. If the infection doesn’t leave its fate to chance, why do you? Vigilance helps to keep an infection-free PC. Carelessness invites cyber threats in. Remember that.

Why is this dangerous?

Once the goPlay Search program invades, prepare for problems. They tend to first manifest with your browsing. Every time you so much as touch your browser, you regret it. The hijacker bombards you with intrusions! You get redirected to the Games.bettersearchtools.com website. And, not only that one. You get flooded with a variety of third-party pages. All suspicious-looking, and unreliable. But it gets worse. Apart from the redirects, you suffer a never-ending shower of ads. Pop-up ads take over your screen whenever you go online. What’s more, the hijacker meddles with your setting daily. One of the first intrusions, you notice are with your homepage and search engine. Your default ones get switched without your permission or knowledge. In their stead, you find Games.bettersearchtools.com. And, the nuisances continue. Since these online disruptions are constant, they cause further repercussions. Your computer slows down. Your system crashes all the time. The hijacker makes an utter mess. An ever-growing one. Deal with it the first chance you get, before it becomes to overwhelming to handle. Get rid of the goPlay Search threat ASAP. That way, you won’t only avoid the abundance of annoyances, mentioned so far. You’ll also keep your private information from getting stolen and exposed. Yes, hijackers follow instructions to do just that. Once they invade, they begin spying on you. Every move you make while browsing, gets tracked. And, worse, recorded. The goPlay Search program monitors and catalogs your online activities. When it steals enough data, it hands it over. To whom? Well, to the cyber criminals that programmed it. Unknown individuals with agendas. Those are the people that then have access to your privacy. Are you okay with them having your personal and financial details at their disposal? Or, would you rather, not take any chances, and delete the hijacker the first opportunity you get? Here’s a hint. Choose the latter. Find where goPlay Search lurks on your computer. Remove it on discovery. Hijackers have no place in your system.

How to Remove goPlay Search virus

The goPlay Search 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 goPlay Search 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.

WARNING! Stopping the wrong file or deleting the wrong registry key may damage your system irreversibly.
If you are feeling not technical enough just use Spyhunter Professional Malware Removal Tool to deal with the problem!
>>Download SpyHunter – a Professional Remover.

Please, keep in mind that SpyHunter’s scanner tool is free. To remove the goPlay Search infection, you need to purchase its full version.

STEP 1: Track down goPlay Search related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate goPlay Search startup location

STEP 3: Delete goPlay Search traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down goPlay Search 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 goPlay Search 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 goPlay Search 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 goPlay Search traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the goPlay Search 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 goPlay Search

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 goPlay Search, 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 goPlay Search 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 goPlay Search 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.