Remove INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM Redirect Virus

INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM is a website, you don’t want to see. Why? If you do, you’re in for a bad time. Its appearance indicates the presence of a cyber threat. A browser hijacker, to be precise. And, those are an utter plague on your PC. They manage to dupe you into permitting their installment. And, once you do and they settle in your system, they wreck it. Each extra moment you allow them to remain on your computer brings further troubles. As time progresses, your issues worsen. So, what begins as a browsing intrusion, grows into a security threat. So, the question is, are you going to let it get that far? Are you okay with enduring everything the infection throws at you? And, to what possible end? What do you think you have to gain from that? Nothing. Nothing but headaches and grievances. That’s what a hijacker’s presence leads to. That’s what the hijacker, using the page as a shield, exposes you to. Think of INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM as a sign. It warns of troubles to come. Don’t ignore it. Act on it! Locate the infection’s lurking place ASAP. Then, delete it upon discovery.

How did I get infected with?

Hijackers are sneaky applications. As was already stated, they dupe you into installing them. It may seem surprising but you don’t even realize it at the time. The tool keeps you clueless until the meddling begins. Confused? We’ll explain. If a hijacker is to access your PC, you have to allow it. It has to ask whether you consent to let it in, or not. And, it can enter only after receiving your permission. As you can imagine, it doesn’t just come forward, and ask. That leaves too much room for denial. And, it cannot take chances. So, instead, it turns to trickery. It hides behind freeware, corrupted sites, or spam email attachments. It can also use false updates as a means of invasion. For example, while you believe you’re updating your Java, you’re not. In reality, you’re giving the green light to an infection. If that’s something you’d rather NOT do, be wary! Instead of giving into carelessness, choose caution! Don’t rush but take your time. Don’t just agree to the terms and conditions without reading them. Do your due diligence. Even a little extra attention goes a long, long way.

Why is this dangerous?

Once the hijacker slithers into your system, you’re in for a bad time. First of all, the page becomes your constant companion. INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM turns into the bane of your browsing. That’s because it interrupts your activities incessantly. Every time you open your browser or a new tab, you see the site. You suffer from continuous redirects. And, not just that. You also get flooded with pop-up ads. So, imagine what your browsing becomes. It’s an endless string of pop-ups and INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM. And, it doesn’t take long before the incessant interruptions leave their mark. Your system starts to suffer frequent crashes. Your computer slows down to a crawl. Not to mention, the malware risk you face. Oh, yes. Nothing the hijacker shows you is reliable. Every pop-up, for example, conceals malicious tools. And, every time you press one, you agree to install whatever lurks behind it. You may not realize it, but a click equals consent on installment. So, unless you wish to overwhelm your system with malware to the point of the dreaded blue screen, be wary. Trust nothing the infection displays. But even the malware threat pales in comparison to the security risk. The tool, using INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM as a front, spies on you. It keeps a close eye on your browsing habits, and catalogs your every move. After it determines it has enough data, it sends it to the people that published it. That means, strangers who unleashed a dangerous cyber menace. Those people will have access to your personal and financial information. Don’t let them have it! Nothing good follows them getting their hands on it. Take the page’s popping up as the warning, which it is, and act on it. Find and delete the nasty hijacker at once. The sooner, the better.

How to Remove INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM virus

The INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM 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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM 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!
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STEP 1: Track down INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM startup location

STEP 3: Delete INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM 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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM 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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM 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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM 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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM

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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM, 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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM 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 INTERNETWAIT.COM/HOTOFFM Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your system 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.