Remove Work.hta Trojan Virus

This article can help you to remove Work.hta Virus. The step by step removal works for every version of Microsoft Windows.

Work.hta belongs to the Trojan family of threats. In case, you’re unsure, these are horrendous and quite harmful infections. They invade via trickery and, once inside, wreak utter havoc. The infection puts you through a hellish ordeal. As soon as it slithers its way in, it spreads its clutches throughout. And, corruption ensues. It doesn’t take long before you notice the tool’s influences. It affects every aspect of your system. You experience a plethora of problems. You first notice something is wrong, when you browse. Going online turns into a nightmare. Every time, you even touch your browser, you get flooded with interference. Pop-up advertisements become a part of your daily routine. You get redirected to an array of suspicious-looking sites. Lagging occurs, non-stop. Your system suffers frequent crashes. Programs, which used to run fine, refuse to work right. The Trojan eats up your space and resources. It overloads your CPU and RAM. It makes for a terrible companion. Do yourself a favor, and get rid of it ASAP. Once the opportunity presents itself, take action. The faster you delete Work.hta, the better.

How did I get infected with?

Work.hta doesn’t pop up out of thin air. It may seem to appear out of the blue, but it’s not the case. Fact of the matter is, you’re to blame for its appearance. Oh, yes. You’re responsible for the Trojan’s presence on your PC. Or, rather, your carelessness. Let’s elaborate. It’s pretty simple. Trojans turn to trickery to invade. They prey on your naivety, haste, and distraction. And, employ the old but gold invasive methods to slither into your PC. But, here’s the thing. The plethora of tricks, up the Trojan’s sleeve, only prove successful because of you. Because you allow it. If you give into naivety, and rush. If you skip doing due diligence, and rely on luck. If you aren’t attentive. All that eases the infection’s invasion. So, don’t provide it. Don’t oblige. Don’t make it easier for the Trojan to invade. Every time, you allow anything off the web into your PC, be wary. Tools, updates, anything. Take the time to be extra attentive. That goes a long way, and it can save you countless issues. Choose caution over carelessness. It provides the better alternative. Remember that.

Why is this dangerous?

Trojans make quite the mess. They wreak havoc throughout your system, and jeopardizes its well-being. But that’s not all. They also extend their reach towards your privacy. The infection also jeopardizes your private information. That’s because, it follows programming to spy on you. And, it follows through. Once Work.hta invades, it begins to track your online activities. Every single move you make, while browsing, it has a record of. After it determines it has collected sufficient data, it sends it. That’s right. The Trojan steals information from you and, then, proceeds to expose it. To whom? Well, to the cyber criminals, responsible for its release. Do yourself a favor. Don’t allow that scenario to unfold. Protect your system, and your security from the hazardous infection. Get rid of it the first chance you get. The sooner it leaves your system, the better.

Manual Work.hta Removal Instructions

The Work.hta 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 Work.hta 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 Work.hta related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Work.hta startup location

STEP 3: Delete Work.hta traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Work.hta 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 Work.hta 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 Work.hta 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 4: Undo the possible damage done by Work.hta

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 Work.hta, 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!!!

 

• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Work.hta 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 virus leftovers or temporary files.