PC Malware Removal Tip

I am encountering a problem that my homepage has been changed to FunnySurfing.com without my knowledge and consent. Even if I modify the homepage setting, I fail to change the default homepage and find that some pop-ups saying that my computer needs to optimize and suggests me to download certain products often occur on my computer screen. I feel very annoyed. My computer is running Windows 7 64 bits and I search things with Microsoft Internet Explorer. How should I solve this problem? Can anyone help me?

Description of FunnySurfing.com

FunnySurfing.com is a notorious website which is related to browser hijacker and adware. It pretends to be a useful platform by showing a search box in the middle of the web page and gives some icons like Facebook, Yahoo and Twitter. Hence, don¡¯ believe in it for it is exploited by cyber hackers to generate traffic and promote specific products which may severely decrease the system performance. If you analyze the page more carefully, you will find out that it is actually designed to bombard pops- up to promote undesirable things on the computer. The sly program will display predetermined virus number and scare users to instantly fix the problems. And after this infection, you will find it hard to access the websites you want to visit, for the redirect virus will keep redirect your browsers to its own page or other unknown websites. Besides, this redirect virus will constantly pop up sorts of advertisements on your browsers, urging you to download some unknown files, toolbars, or security software. You should not rashly click on that advertisements, for any click on them could lead to invasion of other malware like Trojan, spyware and adware.

FunnySurfing.com redirect virus can badly affect your browsers such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome and cause annoying problems to your computer system. It will automatically download and install some unwanted programs, which may slow down your system performance. You may fail to open the frequently-used sites, such as Yahoo mail and Twitter, because your browser has been messed up by the redirect virus. What¡¯s more, this hijacker corrupts DNS setting and reinstallation of the browser cannot get rid of the virus and make the browser run properly. As you can see, the threat can compromise your web browser and change your default search engine and homepage, remove it from your computer the sooner the better.

To protect your computer and your private information, please remove FunnySurfing.com immediately as soon as your computer is infected by it. Use a specialized tool to deal with the browser hijacker if you are not sure about the manual removal.

Effects of Being Infected by the Redirect Virus

1. You are redirected to unwanted web pages and the search results are not relevant to your requirement.

2. Search query usually get redirected to a page which seems to promote specific products.

3. Malware or spyware can be prompted by these unwanted popups and suspicious links.

4. The browser performance is drastically slowed down since many ads are downloaded and displayed on the web pages.

5. It complicates usual surfing experience, adds unneeded features to browser, and serves unwanted website instead of the required ones.

Manual Removal Instructions:

If the antivirus program installed on your computer cannot effectively remove the redirect virus, then you can try the manual removal. Prior to the manually remove the threat, you should be noted that this removal way is not only cumbersome but also risky, and it requires users to have certain levels of computer knowledge and skills. The following are the steps to manually remove FunnySurfing.com redirect virus (Please be very careful during the removal process, especially when dealing with the files and registry entries):

Step1. Terminate the related processes immediately
1) Right click on the task bar and select Task Manager or press the Ctrl+Alt+Del or Ctrl+Shift+Esc composite keys to open Task Manage.
2) In the Windows Task Manager window, click on the Processes tab, find out all the related processes of the browser hijacker and disable them.
3) Exit the Task Manager window.
Step2. Remove the related program from the Control Panel
1) Click on the Start button and click Control Panel in the menu.
2) Click on the Uninstall a program link below the Programs.
3) In the showing programs list, search for the unwanted program that is associated with the redirect virus and highlight it then click on the Uninstall.
4) Next, follow the prompt to complete the uninstallation.
5) Once finished, refresh the list and find out if the browser hijacker has been successfully removed.
Step3. Clean FunnySurfing.com from the browsers
Internet Explorer
1) Start the Internet Explorer, click on Tools in the menu bar then choose the Internet Options in the drop-down list.
2) Click on the Advanced tab in the showing window, then click the Reset button.
3) Restart the Internet Explorer.
Mozilla Firefox
1) Open the Mozilla Firefox, click on the Firefox menu. Locate the Help then click on the Troubleshooting Information.
2) In the showing Troubleshooting Information page, click on the Reset Firefox button and confirm the reset request.
Google Chrome
1) Launch the Google Chrome and click on the Settings in the list.
2) In the Settings label page, click on Show advanced settings.
3) Click on Reset browser settings button.

Conclusion

FunnySurfing.com is closely associated with an adware and browser hijackers. Once it succeeds in loading on the workstation of the computer by the help of dishonest ads embedding in spam email attachments and hacked websites, it will attach unwanted add-ons, plug-ins as well as extensions to the browser. It must be frustrating when FunnySurfing.com appears on the browser each time it starts up. You fail to eliminate the web page even though you have re- install the browser. Even worse, it can harvest your privacy, including personal identifiable information, online shopping account information, online bank information and credit card details. To get rid of such annoyance, you can follow the guide provided above or simply use a powerful malware removal tool.

Note: It requires sufficient computer skills to perform the manual removal of this redirect virus. If you still don¡¯t clearly know how to manually remove the threat after reading the guide above, please download and use an automatic removal tool instead.

Similar to other browser hijack redirect, Socopoco.com belongs to nasty redirect infection, utilized by the hijackers to attack the browsers on the Windows OS computers, boost traffic and make profit by letting PC users click the links. Once gets into a target computer, the browser hijacker will force the user to visit its domain every time you open the infected browser. It is a web browser plug-in that can modify DNS and browser settings in order to replace default homepage and even delete critical files randomly. In a word, the ultimate purpose of creating this redirect virus is to make money. You should never click on the suspicious pop ups or links provided by Socopoco.com, or you will bring many other computer threats such as adware, spyware, rookits to your compromised computer system.

Problems Caused by Socopoco.com

Once Socopoco.com completes its installation on the target computer, it will tamper with the web browsers including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer and change the Internet settings. Then, the browser default homepage and search engine will be replaced by Socopoco.com. The Socopoco.com redirect will also cause several problems to affect the PC users' experience while going online and redirect PC users to other malicious purpose frequently. What is more, the Socopoco.com redirect will create many popping up webpages and show to the PC users. These popping up webpages will provide some services which can not help PC users at all, those sites offered by Socopoco.com redirect will only cheat the PC users to buy unless things. Once users are cheated by the bogus information, their money may be taken away once they purchase the programs recommended. What' s worse, the browser hijacker may collect and send people' s confidential data to cybercriminals for illegal activities.


How to Remove Socopoco.com Redirect Virus Completely

Removing the Socopoco.com redirect virus is a complicated process, because not only the browser hijacker can change all default browser parameters, but also inject its malicious files on system or local disk to conceal its existent. Even though you restore all Internet settings tampered by the redirect virus, you computer may still be attacked by such virus again since its components are very stubborn. It is highly advised to download a professional toolkit to eliminate the redirect virus from an infected system safely.

1. Stop running processes related to this redirect virus
a: When the Windows Task manager appears, switch to Processes tab.
b: Find out and select the processes related to the virus by name random.exe, and click on the ¡°End process¡± button.
2. Remove the redirect virus from Internet Explorer:
a: Start IE, go to Tools and select Internet Options.
b: Find General section, remove the unwanted address as a home page.
c: Then go to Search section, find Settings button and choose Manage Add-ons
d: Erase the redirect and after the action, close Manage Add-ons
3. Remove the redirect virus from Mozilla Firefox:
a: Open Mozilla Firefox browser, click on tools and go to Options.
b: Switch to General tab, remove the unwanted address as a startup site.
c: Then, go to: Firefox -> Add-ons -> Add-ons Manager -> Remove.
d: In the Search list, select Manage Search Engines and erase this redirect and choose OK
4. Remove the redirect virus from Google Chrome:
a: Open Google Chrome and navigate to Settings tab and Set pages.
b: Erase Socopoco.com which was seta as the startup site and choose OK
c: Find Manage search engines and here, erase this redirect.
d: Press on OK, and restart Google Chrome.
5. Delete all registry files created by this redirect
a. While the Registry Editor is opened, search for the registry key ¡°HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Socopoco.com.¡± Right-click this registry key and select ¡°Delete.¡±
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ¡°[RANDOM].exe¡±
b. Navigate to directory %PROGRAM_FILES%\ Socopoco.com \ and delete the infected files manually.
%AppData%Local[random].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\*.*


Conclusion

Socopoco.com redirect virus usually comes bundled with freeware or shareware downloaded from unsafe sources, and most users don' t realize that they would download and install this redirect virus on their computers while they are downloading such software from the Internet. What is worse, this Socopoco.com redirect virus will hide its actual intent in an ambiguous End-User License Agreement which PC users usually will ignore. Users often install an application without knowing what is really going on. This is the way that the browser hijacker compromises a computer. Then, this redirect virus can modify the browser settings and causes users' browsers to be constantly redirected to unwanted websites. Note: the most important thing need to be done is quickly remove Socopoco.com browser hijacker from the affected machine before it totally damages the entire machine inch by inch. Want to remove the redirect virus efficiently? Using a reliable removal tool should be your best choice.

Excellentsearch.org is a browser redirect virus created to help boost website traffic, mostly by modifying users¡¯ browser settings to interfere with their online activity. It is an online advertising platform that is able to display lots of pop-up ads, coupons and unknown links within Internet browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. In fact, this website is not as helpful as what it appears, for it may be used by cyber criminals to make a profit by using the pay-per-link technique. Usually, the browser hijacker can be distributed to PC by many means, such as hiding in phishing sites, being bundled with unsafe ads and fake pop-ups. The creator of this browser hijacker may also send it to computers online as an attachment or link in Email. If the Internet users click on the recourses involved the activation of Excellentsearch.org virus, this redirect virus will stealthily infiltrate into the target machine.

This malicious browser threat will install its copies by adding its related files and registry to the infected system once it has totally attacked the targeted computer. At the beginning, only browsers will be affected by this browser hijack redirect. That is to say, the default settings as homepage or start page on the browser will be changed by this virus without permission. Therefore, this redirect has been one of the most dangerous redirect viruses on the Internet. Endless pop up ads will appear on the screen suddenly with this browser hijacker's help.

It is capable of changing your browser and Internet settings and deleting essential files randomly. If not removed timely, the redirect virus will download and install some unknown toolbars onto users¡¯ browsers for the purpose of gathering users¡¯ browsing history and further deliver them many targeted ads. It will seize every possible chance to display various kinds of ads on your screen such as coupons, special offers, and discounts so as to generate pay-per-click profits. There will also be many misleading advertisements when the PC users tend to go to some site and are redirected to another one in spite of the replacement of the homepage. More seriously, this redirect virus can take advantage system vulnerabilities to open a back door for third party. Once the back door is found by remote attackers, they will be allowed to access to the compromised computer and do whatever they want on the machine.

How to Manually Remove Excellentsearch.org Redirect Virus Step by Step

Step one: set the default homepage back
For Internet Explorer:
1. Click on Browser Tools
2. Select Manage Add-Ons on the tools window
3. Click Search Provider
4. Here you can see many kinds of search engine option as Bing and Google, select your favorite one to be a default homepage.
5. Choose Search Results and click on Remove icon to eliminate it
6. Click Tools, select Internet Options and then the General tab. Here you can option a website you like and save it.
c. Select the unwanted address and click ¡®Remove¡¯ to remove it;
For Google Chrome:
1. Open Customize and control
2. Click on Settings
3. Select on Basic Options icon
4. Here you can reset your homepage (e.g.Google.com£©
5. Once you choose a default homepage, click on Manage Search Engines and then click Google to be your default search engine.
6. Remove it from the browser by clicking Excellentsearch.org and then the X¡¯ mark
For Mozilla Firefox:
1. Click Manage Search Engine
2. Select Search Results and then click Remove option, click OK
3. Open Tools, under the General tab, set Google.com as default homepage
Step two: locate related files of the redirect virus and remove them from the computer
%AllUsersProfile%
%AllUsersProfile%\Programs\{random letters}\
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~r
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~dll
Step three: Remove Cookies on all Browsers
Internet Explorer:
a. Click options on the browser and then choose Internet Options
b. Open General tab, click Delete Browsing History to remove all related cookies
c. Select cookies and click Delete
Firefox:
a. Click option
b. Select Privacy and then click on Remove Individual Cookies icon
c. Delete relevant cookies list on the box
Google Chrome:
a. Click option
b. Open Under the Bonnet tab
c. Select Privacy and then click Clear browsing data
d. Delete all cookies
Step four: Remove Malicious Registry
a. Open Registry Editor on the start menu
b. Type in Regedit and click OK
c. Remove all the following registry entries
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings ¡°CertificateRevocation¡± = ¡®1¡¯
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments ¡°SaveZoneInformation¡± = ¡®0¡¯


Conclusion:
Excellentsearch.org is a great threat to computer users and it should be removed from the affected computer without delay. As its other partners, this redirect often brings changes to the browser settings firstly. It is hard to be removed by antivirus programs. Actually, this redirect virus is equipped with the rootkit technique which allows it to deep hide in the infected system ¨C and this is why common antivirus programs cannot detect and remove it successfully. The manual removal is helpful in removing the browser hijack virus.

However, manual removal is very risky since it needs to modify DLL virus and registry editor, so it is very necessary to do the removal process by using certain expert skill. If you are a novice user and not sure how to perform the manual removal, it is highly recommended that you download and use an advanced malware removal tool to clean up all traces of the redirect virus, which will save you much time and lower the risk of damaging your computer system.

Your antivirus program detects a threat called Spora on your computer? You don't take it to heart because you think your antivirus program can deal with it easily, but only to find it fail to remove this threat completely after you try several times? How does this Trojan appear on your computer out of nowhere and what will it do in your computer? Is there an effective method to remove Spora completely without damaging your system?

Spora is a Trojan Horse created by cyber criminals who aim to access to the infected computers and steal people¡¯s personal information for malicious purposes. Generally, antivirus programs can detect this Trojan but cannot delete it from the machines. The virus can capture computers even if you are very careful when using the computer. Moreover, decompressing spam email attachments, loading web pages containing malicious script or clicking on malicious links which combines unused drive- by downloads.

Spora is a computer infection that is able to perform many tasks which will mess up the target computer system once it finishes its installation. It can open a backdoor to the system when your computer is on. It occupies a large percent of system resource. You may notice a sudden dip on system performance. Normally, a healthy computer only requires seconds to load things when logging in, but users whose computer is infected will have to spend around several minutes on waiting for the desktop to load. You will usually experience a system pop- up notifying you system low memory even though you just perform a simple task. Even if you just run a few small programs, the infected computer also runs extremely slow or restarts randomly. What¡¯s more, other threats might appear on your computer since the Trojan can connect to certain websites and download other malware onto your computer. With the help of this Trojan, the hackers are able to visit your remotely. Some of them can spy on your online activities, such as what you search for or view, what you chat with your friends and then data stored on the computer. If you want your computer to run normally and protect data & information stored on your computer from being stolen, you should get rid of this dangerous Trojan promptly. But this Trojan horse may nearly drive you crazy because it comes back again and again after you remove it with your antivirus program. Some low quality antivirus may not have the ability to remove it completely. You can try manually removing this stubborn Trojan. If you are not familiar with computer, try the automated removal instead.

The steps below require you to have experience on virus removal. If you' re not sure that you can handle it perfectly during the process, please resort to the more convenient and easy way.

Guide to Manually Remove Spora from Your PC

Spora is able to get itself installed on your computer without any knowledge and permission. It makes your computer to run abnormally and leads to other malicious infections. Moreover, it gives the remote hackers access to your important data and information, which may bring money loss and other losses. It is suggested to eliminate it immediately. Users can learn the manual guide here to have it removed instantly.

Step One: show its related files:

1.Start button>Control Panel>Appearance>Personalization link>Folder Options.

2. Click on ¡°View tab¡± in the folder options window, here, you can show all the malicious files by clicking on ¡°Show hidden files/ folders¡±, and then drives under the Hidden files and folders category.

3.Finally, click ¡°OK¡± at the bottom of the Folder Options window.

Step Two: Remove its associated registry

1. Open Registry Editor.

Start>Run>type ¡°regedit¡±>OK.

Then remove the following registry entries:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ¡®Random¡¯
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Random
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings ¡°CertificateRevocation¡± =Random
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\run\Random.exe

2.Locate and Clear the malicious files:

%AllUsersProfile%\random.exe
%AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\random.exe
%Temp%\random.exe
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\random
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~random
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\.dll HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Random ¡°.exe¡±

In a word, Spora is a devious computer threat which is designed by the hijackers with the aim to attack your computer. If you want the computer to stay away from the virus, you should be cautious when you download things from unknown sources and avoid clicking on any suspicious link. As soon as your computer has been infested, the performance of the system will downgrade drastically. What¡¯s still, The Trojan has the ability to monitor activities on your computer and steal your confidential information. Therefore, it is very important that you remove this Trojan immediately.

My browser has been hijacked by Motious.com and I don¡¯t know how to remove it. I usually clean some cookies and history records after browsing web sites. However, this does not help to get rid of the redirect virus. How can I eliminate the virus? Any help will be appreciated.

How to Eradicate Motious.com From the Computer?

Motious.com is a risky browser hijack virus pretending to be an attractive search engine website. It seems to be as simple as google.com. But don¡¯t be fooled and cheated by its look. Certainly, you can type some keywords into the search box and begin to search what you want. However, the search results offered by the search engine are not exactly associated with the keywords. Some of them are advertisement websites which utilize the website to display advertising. So the search results are not real. The malicious script will slip into the system once you click on the sponsored links. It may leave the browser stay in danger. For instance, the level of the browser security will be decreased. In this case, other malware can take the chance to break into your computer and further steal your private information like banking account details if you make online payment during the infection session. The personal files stored in your computer will also be stolen. Moreover, some personal files may be encrypted, but you don¡¯t know how to decrypt them. The worst thing is that you won¡¯t be able to open them!

Generally, your computer may be invaded by this threat when you visit some insecure websites. When you visit some web sites, a window will pop up prompt you to set this web site as your homepage. Of course, you will click no if you don¡¯t want to change your homepage. Once you modify homepage setting and replace the previous one by Motious.com, the hijacker may get a chance to take over your browser. This disguising website virus can modify start menu settings, Windows registry settings as well as browser settings. If the computer is infected, the browser settings are usually change from default settings to unwanted ones. So, don¡¯t take it for granted that websites are safe to visit. Before visiting a website, please make sure that it¡¯s completely safe. Other system applications are also affected due to this virus. Don¡¯t leave the virus stay in the PC for such a long time for it has the ability to completely disrupt the whole system. Don¡¯t think that it is ok to keep it on your PC, for it may cause great damage to your system!

Guide to Manually Remove Motious.com Redirect Virus

Note: You should perform the manual removal only when you have certain levels of computer knowledge and skills, because you have to deal with processes, files and registry entries related to the redirect virus during the removal process, which may potentially cause some damage to your computer system. The manual removal of Motious.com requires you to set files or folders¡¯ view, eliminate the entire files associated with the virus, eradicate potentially unneeded registry files and repair registry files, re-set some basic configurations of the whole operating system to improve the security level. The most complicated step of the removal task is to identify the files of the virus since the files would be randomly tagged. It requires enough you to have computer skills. If you are not sure about it, using a specialized tool to deal with it is the best choice.

1. Stop running processes related to this redirect virus
a: When the Windows Task manager appears, switch to Processes tab.
b: Find out and select the processes related to the virus by name random.exe, and click on the ¡°End process¡± button.
2. Remove the redirect virus from Internet Explorer:
a: Start IE, go to Tools and select Internet Options.
b: Find General section, remove the unwanted address as a home page.
c: Then go to Search section, find Settings button and choose Manage Add-ons
d: Erase the redirect and after the action, close Manage Add-ons
3. Remove the redirect virus from Mozilla Firefox:
a: Open Mozilla Firefox browser, click on tools and go to Options.
b: Switch to General tab, remove the unwanted address as a startup site.
c: Then, go to: Firefox -> Add-ons -> Add-ons Manager -> Remove.
d: In the Search list, select Manage Search Engines and erase this redirect and choose OK
4. Remove the redirect virus from Google Chrome:
a: Open Google Chrome and navigate to Settings tab and Set pages.
b: Erase Motious.com which was seta as the startup site and choose OK
c: Find Manage search engines and here, erase this redirect.
d: Press on OK, and restart Google Chrome.
5. Delete all registry files created by this redirect
a. While the Registry Editor is opened, search for the registry key ¡°HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Motious.com.¡± Right-click this registry key and select ¡°Delete.¡±
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ¡°[RANDOM].exe¡±
b. Navigate to directory %PROGRAM_FILES%\ Motious.com \ and delete the infected files manually.
%AppData%Local[random].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\*.*

Motious.com Virus is very nefarious that it can compromise your computer system badly. Sometimes, only relying on antivirus programs doesn¡¯t work. We do not recommend that you blindly download an unknown antivirus program to remove it. This can only lead to bigger problems. The manual removal guide given above is only for PC users who acquire certain levels of computer skills. But before you start to do the removal work, please back up the system to save the critical files. Moreover, if you are a professional computer technician or experienced PC users, manual way is a absolute and accurate way for your infected computer. Motious.com redirect virus can show in different variations in different versions of computer system. You can search for a good quality product and use it to troubleshoot the problems. Like what is listed above, it is a catastrophe for the computer. The files associated with the redirect virus can be changed to others. The removal of Motious.com is also good for the proper running of other normal applications and legal system files.