Remove Swapgame.net Homepage Virus

Can’t Remove Swapgame.net hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Swapgame.net Removal instructions!

If your homepage was mysteriously replaced by the Swapgame.net website, you’ve guessed right. Your PC is no longer infection-free. You have the Swapgame.net hijacker on board. Do not panic! You are stuck with one relatively easy to remove type of a parasite. We have even better news. The Swapgame.net hijacker is not a full-fledged virus. This pest is a malicious program that has managed to get itself installed on your machine. For its invasive nature, many PC users refer to such parasites as “ redirection viruses” or “redirectors.” These classifications may cause confusion. All you need to know is that this “virus” is completely removable. Provided you act promptly, of course. There is no such thing such as a minor infection. The Swapgame.net hijacker is just the latest example. This furtive program displays ads and redirects your web browser. However, given enough time, it will slow your computer down to a crawl. It can cause some older machines to freeze and crash frequently. This, of course, leads to data loss and even causes the Blue Screen of Death. You should not put up with this application. It has no value for its users. On the contrary, it is a pain in the neck. With each passing day, the hijacker will get more and more aggressive. You will start to see ad-banners on websites that used to be ad-free. Pop-ups and pop-unders will blink in all imaginable colors. You won’t be able to get any work done in time. The hijacker will interrupt you constantly. You will hate every second of the experience. You will even start to avoid your PC. Remove the hijacker before the issues escalate! Follow our guide or download a trustworthy anti-virus application. You have options. The sooner you clean your device, the better!

How did I get infected with?

The Swapgame.net hijacker is not an ingenious virus. This parasite uses some well-known distribution techniques. We are talking about the good old spam emails, fake software updates, and freeware/shareware bundling. All these methods rely on your naivety and carelessness. If you are vigilant and know what to look for, you can prevent them from succeeding. All you should do is to keep your guard up. Whenever you are installing a program, opt for an advanced installation option. It can be a button or a tab. Use it. You may read that this method is a suitable option for IT gurus only. Do not believe such obvious lies. The truth is, crooks don’t want you to use the advanced option. Under it, you will be presented with a list of all extra programs that are about to be installed. Examine this list carefully. Malicious programs often get attached as such extras. Before you give your consent, read the terms and conditions/EULA and do some online research. Install only the programs you trust. Keep in mind that you can deselect all extras and still install the program you originally planned to set up. This is your PC. Install only the apps you want. The Internet is bursting with parasites. They wait for you to make a mistake. Keep an eye for suspicious update notices and odd pop-ups. A little extra caution can spare you tons of future problems!

Why is this dangerous?

The Swapgame.net hijacker is a has only one true goal – to generate revenue for its owners. Your security and comfort have never been part of the equation. To guarantee its owners’ stable income, the hijacker will ruin your browsing experience. With this tool on board, you can’t browse the Internet freely. Every website you visit will be heavy on ad banners. Prepare to see a lot of pop-up messages stating that there is a problem with your software. Do not trust a word you read. Any ad displays by the Swapgame.net hijacker may lead you into trouble. The furtive tool has no verifying mechanism. Anyone willing to pay can use the hijacker to promote. Scammers included. Some of the ads you are exposed to are leading to infected websites, others to pages part of financial scams. The problem is, some ads are executing drive-by downloads. Have you heard about drive-by downloads? Well, these are completely automatic downloads that have no visualization. In other words, they start without your interaction and are almost completely invisible. Hence, the drive-by download is quite often used for malware and virus distribution. One click on the wrong advert can infect your PC. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which ads are corrupted and which are not. Do not live with that risk! Take immediate measures! Remove the Swapgame.net hijacker ASAP!

How to Remove Swapgame.net virus

The Swapgame.net 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 Swapgame.net 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 Swapgame.net infection, you need to purchase its full version.

STEP 1: Track down Swapgame.net related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Swapgame.net startup location

STEP 3: Delete Swapgame.net traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Swapgame.net 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 Swapgame.net 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 Swapgame.net 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 Swapgame.net traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

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

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 Swapgame.net, 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 Swapgame.net 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 Swapgame.net 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.