Remove Qooq-search.com “Virus”

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

Qooq-search.com is bad news. The appearance of this website indicates trouble. Your computer is no longer free of infections! A browser hijacker lurks in the corners of your OS and wreaks havoc. The good news is that you are not stuck with a virus. The intruder can’t corrupt your entire OS. It targets your web browsers! Chrome, Firefox, Edge. There is no immune program. The hijacker alters their setting and throws you into a whirlwind of reshuffles and annoying ads. Brace yourself! The hijacker knows no boundaries. It replaces both your homepage and default search engine. There is nothing you can do to restore your preferences. The sneaky parasite locks its modifications and forces you to use its questionable search tool. And if you are not sure, that’s dangerous! The qooq-search.com web page provides search results infused with ads. This search engine not only displays ads but it also inserts sponsored links that are not marked as such. You can never know which results are organic and which are advertisements. Do you think that ends well? Hundreds of dodgy websites pay for their links to be displayed at the top. That’s the nature of the hijacker. It is a hazardous parasite that ruins your browsing experience, as well as threatens to lure you into online traps. Do not put up with this menace! As soon as the qooq-search.com website pops up, take action. Find where the hijacker hides and delete it upon detection. The sooner you clean your computer, the better!

How did I get infected with?

The qooq-search.com website appears by courtesy of a hijacker. As for the parasite, it sneaks into your computer through trickery. This menace relies on slyness to sneak into your computer undetected. Don’t imagine ingenious cyber attacks, though. Although this parasite appears out of the blue, it is not a virus. The hijacker is a simple application. And as such, it needs you, the user, to approve its installation. No permission, no admission! The hijacker is bound to seek your consent. Note, however, that having to ask is not the same as having to do so outright. The parasite steals your approval in the sneakiest way possible. The menace lurks behind software bundles, fake updates, corrupted links, pirated software, and spam messages. It hides in the shadows and preys on your naivety. The hijacker gets installed when you “forget” to deny it access. Don’t make that mistake. Only your vigilance can keep your PC free of infections. So, don’t let your guard down. Choose caution over carelessness! Even a little extra attention can spare you an avalanche of problems. Don’t visit questionable websites. Download software and updates from reliable (preferably official) sources only. And forget about the “Next-Next-Finish” setup strategy. When available, use the advanced/custom option. You should not, of course, skip the terms and conditions. If you can’t read the whole document, scan it with an online EULA analyzer. Opt out of the installation if you notice anything suspicious!

Why is this dangerous?

The qooq-search.com website is a harbinger of bad news. Its display is the beginning of an ad invasion. You get flooded with countless ads as soon as the website appears. Pop-ups appear out of the blue. Notifications urge you to “Add” or “Update” questionable apps. Random text turns into hyperlinks. Every ad-blocking app is powerless against the advertisements. Dozens and dozens of coupons and discounts cover every web page you visit. The numerous ads, of course, cause underperformance and freezing. You face an avalanche of errors. These issues, however, are not your worst nightmare. The ads are actually a warning of the true threat. If you just examine the countless “Ads by Qooq-search.com,” you’ll realize that they are targeted at you. Every ad “Powered by the Qooq-search.com” is based on the websites you visit, the videos you watch, the links you follow. That’s because you are under surveillance! The hijacker spies on you from day one. It knows your every online activity. Even the Incognito mode can’t hide you. The hijacker knows everything! And when it deems it has enough information, it sells everything to unknown third parties. Do you feel comfortable knowing that confidential details may leak? Do not fool yourself! Some pieces of monitored data, your search queries, for example, may contain personal and financial details. Do not risk it! Protect yourself and your privacy. Remove the sneaky hijacker ASAP!

How to Remove Qooq-search.com virus

The Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Qooq-search.com startup location

STEP 3: Delete Qooq-search.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.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 Qooq-search.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.