How to Remove Hanstrackr.com Hijacker

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

Hanstrackr.com is a malicious website. Its appearance is bad news. To see the page pop up, is to be in severe trouble. Its display indicates the presence of a hijacker on your system. That’s right. Your computer is no longer infection-free. It harbors a browser hijacker. The site’s appearance is the infection’s way of announcing itself. It’s a warning sign. You best acknowledge it as such. Don’t waste time to act against the cyber threat. Hijackers are atrocious. They are meddlesome and menacing. And, if one gets inside your system, you best remove it ASAP. Otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for a bad time. The infection bombards you with unpleasantness. And, on top of everything else, jeopardizes your privacy. That’s right. The application, behind Hanstrackr.com, threatens your privacy. Given enough time on your PC, it steals your sensitive information. And, then, exposes it to the cyber criminals, who unleashed it onto the web. The question is, will you allow it the time, it needs? Or, will you prevent its success? You best decide fast. The more you debate it, the worse your station gets. Time is of the essence, so don’t waste it. Heed experts’ advice, and delete the hijacker ASAP.

How did I get infected with?

Hanstrackr.com pops up, because a hijacker forces it on you. And, the hijacker appears on your PC, because you allowed it to. Confused? Well, let’s explain. These tools can’t access your PC without your permission. They have to ask if you agree to install them. And, proceed with installation, only if you do. So, if they’re to invade, it’s crucial they get your approval. No permission, no admission. That’s why, hijackers resort to trickery. They use the old but gold invasive methods. And, exploit your naivety, haste, and distraction. The most common methods, include the following. Fake updates, spam emails, freeware, corrupted links, the usual antics. The infection relies on your carelessness. That, you’re careless, when installing tools or updates. Or, when visiting a suspicious site. That carelessness ends up leading to a malicious threat infiltrating your PC. If you wish to keep an infection-free system, you must be vigilant. Caution is essential! Always take the time to do your due diligence. Double-check everything, before you say YES. Look for the fine print, and know what you say YES to. Even a little extra attention can save you a ton of troubles. It helps you catch the hijacker in the act, and prevent its covert invasion. Caution keeps your PC safe. The lack thereof, however, does the opposite. Make the right choice.

Why is this dangerous?

After the hijacker invades, brace yourself. You’re in for quite the unpleasant experience. It doesn’t take long before you notice the tool’s influence. At first, its touch is most evident, when you browse. That’s because, it turns your browsing into a nightmare. The infection forces the Hanstrackr.com page on you, non-stop. It doesn’t miss an opportunity to redirect you. Open a new tab, type a search, whatever you do, the site makes an appearance. It even replaces your default homepage and search engine. No, you didn’t agree to the switch. No, you didn’t know of its implementation. But it’s fact, nonetheless. Hijackers have that power over your system. They have free rein, and can perform a variety of changes. All, without bothering to inform you, or seek your permission. Add to that the severe security threat. As well as, all the minor grievances. Like, the endless redirects, and the bombardment of pop-up, in-text, and banner, ads. Or, the slower PC, and frequent system crashes. And, it becomes quite evident. The hijacker has NO place on your computer. It brings NO positives, only headaches, annoyance, and regret. Delete it the first chance you get.

How to Remove Hanstrackr.com virus

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

STEP 2: Locate Hanstrackr.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

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