How to Remove XSOCKSX.EXE Virus

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

XSOCKSX.EXE falls under the Trojan umbrella. That’s NOT good news. The Trojan’s presence on your PC brings nothing good your way. It does the exact opposite. It throws you into a whirl of unpleasantness. As soon as it invades, it begins to wreak havoc. In no time, you find yourself buried in issues. Its malicious influences first manifest with your browsing. You cannot make a single move, without suffering interference. You get flooded with ads, and redirected to a variety of malicious websites. Your system starts to crash all the time. Your computer slows down to a crawl. And, these are the minor problems. They’re no different from what you encounter, when stuck with adware or a hijacker. What makes the Trojan a worse threat, is the severe malware risk. The infection opens your system to malware invasions. It acts as a gateway. After it slithers its way in, it opens the door to your PC. It can install as many harmful programs as it so wishes. It can be quite sneaky about it, too. You won’t realize the danger, you’re under, until the damages become too overwhelming. How long do you imagine, your system will be able to endure such harm? How long until it cannot take it anymore? Know, that The Blue Screen of Death is a valid possibility. If your predicament gets too out of hand for your PC, it can give up, and display the dreaded blue. Then, what? Nothing good occurs when a Trojan find its way to your system! Protect its well-being, as well as yourself. Once you realize, XSOCKSX.EXE lurks on your computer, act against it. Locate it, and remove it. The sooner, the better.

How did I get infected with?

The XSOCKSX.EXE Trojan is masterful in infiltration. It used slyness and subtlety to slither its way in. And, it doesn’t only succeed with sneaking in, but it does it undetected. That’s right. It sneaks in unnoticed. That may seem confusing, considering it needs your permission to access your PC. Oh, yes. A Trojan cannot access your system without your consent. It must ask if you’re okay with its installment. Only if you grant it the green light, can it proceed with admission. But, here’s the thing. Do you remember the exchange? Saying YES to the cyber threat? Odds are, you don’t. And, it’s to be expected. The infection is quite sneaky with its inquiry. It doesn’t outright pop up to ask your approval. That leaves too much room for rejection. To increase its chances of a sneaky invasion, the tool employs trickery. It turns to the old but gold means of infiltration. Freeware, spam emails, fake updates, et cetera. It preys on your distraction, naivety, and haste. It hopes you give into carelessness, and leave your fate to chance. It hopes you rush, and skip doing due diligence altogether. Do NOT oblige! Every time, you install anything off the web, be thorough. Take the time to read the terms and conditions. Don’t agree to anything without doing your research first. Vigilance goes a long way. It helps to keep Trojans, like XSOCKSX.EXE, out of your PC.

Why is this dangerous?

XSOCKSX.EXE is an utter cyber plague. It messes up your system through and through. But it doesn’t stop with causing you frustration alone. Apart from the issues mentioned above, it also poss a severe security threat. The infection jeopardizes your personal and financial information. It follows instructions to spy on you. And, it begins to follow through, as soon as it invades. The nasty program starts to track your online activities from the moment it settles. It monitors every move you make, and records it. That’s right. The infection keeps a record of everything you do, while browsing the web. That includes your private details. Are you willing to have your private life fall into the hands of dangerous people? Because that is what follows. After the Trojan gets a hold of enough data, it sends it to the cyber criminals, who published it. Then, once they get it, these individuals can use it as they see fit. Whichever way you look at it, that scenario will NOT end well. Do yourself a favor, and prevent it from taking place. Don’t allow your private data to get stolen and exposed. Get rid of the XSOCKSX.EXE menace the first chance you get. It’s the best course of action, you can take. Take it ASAP!

Manual XSOCKSX.EXE Removal Instructions

The XSOCKSX.EXE 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 XSOCKSX.EXE 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 XSOCKSX.EXE related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate XSOCKSX.EXE startup location

STEP 3: Delete XSOCKSX.EXE traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down XSOCKSX.EXE 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 XSOCKSX.EXE 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 XSOCKSX.EXE 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 XSOCKSX.EXE

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 XSOCKSX.EXE, 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 XSOCKSX.EXE 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.