Betcostmag.live Ads Virus. Removal Guide

Written by Valdis Koks

Betcostmag.live search hijacker is a sort of virus that injects into your WIndows, and afterwards modifies the search engine configurations in your browser to one which it is paid for. It additionally makes some unpleasant modifications that may result in private data leaks, as well as to various other malware delivery. In this post, you will see the guideline of Betcostmag.live hijacker elimination in various options, and also the method of making your web browser as good as new.

icon hijacker - Do I really need it?

Betcostmag.live Info

Name Betcostmag.live extension
Type Browser hijacker1
Short Description The unwanted software that amends important browser settings without the user’s permission.
Symptoms The Betcostmag.live hijacker replaces the browser parameters set by the users and replaces these settings with its own values.
Distribution Method Bundling with Freeware or Shareware, misleading pop-up ads produced by adware.
Detection Tool Inspect If Your System Has Been Affected by the Betcostmag.live hijacker.

The ways of injection of Betcostmag.live search hijackers are various. Many of them come from the malware dispersing via the malvertising or malicious web links of various sites. In some cases, your PC may be infected with this malware through the trojan-downloader, which is used to distribute numerous other malware. There is a single kind of this unwanted program – web browser plugin that can build right into any kind of web browser which supports the add-on setup2.

You will not likely install this plugin on your own, since their names are pretty uncertain, and also the usefulness is extremely questionable. The “creators” of Betcostmag.live hijacker usually mention that it can save the .doc/.docx files from the sites already to .pdf format, or to save the entire website on your disk. It is quite tough to picture if somebody can be needed in such operations in 2023, when the Web access is not time-limited as well as every computer is able to start the needed .docx files at Google Docs.

Nonetheless, besides their impracticality, they may easily be found in the Chrome Web Store. Of course, virus experts sound the alarm concerning such spam into the legitimate source of web browser extensions, asking for the Google reaction – eliminating these extensions from their place. However, they are still not hurrying to fix that protection issue.

Icon - Your PC hijacker

Is the Betcostmag.live virus?

At the first sight, you may assume that these redirects are just aggravating, but not dangerous. As a result of this factor a lot of users are simply playing for time rather than getting rid of this malware, getting more and more chances of being infected with various other viruses, which are much more serious than Betcostmag.live is.

Besides the changed search engine or search engine result, you can also see various ads even on those sites that do not have any kind of advertisements on it by default. And you may just misclick while shutting off the advertisement, and launch the downloading of an unrecognized file, which may be a malware, or a potentially unwanted application, or perhaps ransomware – whatever the maintainers of this hijacker want.

If your web browser is corrupted as a result of the Azorult trojan task, the system can begin malfunctioning soon – this symptome is among the most typical in case of trojan infiltration.

Icon - remove Betcostmag.live hijacker

How to remove Betcostmag.live?

First, let me say several words about prevention the Betcostmag.live virus injection. It is very easy to refer to the tactics of shielding your personal computer from such irritating things as browser hijackers, however, it is quite simple to be caught on this lure even being a qualified user. As it was mentioned above, this virus can hide after the attractive (at the first sight) advertisement, or in packs with various other adware you can get in dozens of means. But regardless of the common complexity of the injection techniques, it is really easy to avoid the Betcostmag.live hijacker appearance in your system:

  • Do not follow the dubious links;
  • Restrict the usage of pseudo-free software (one which is offered as free, but has an additional unwanted programs in its pack);
  • Leave the habit of clicking advertisements on the web. If you need to buy something, it is better to google it;
  • Avoid downloading the files from dubious sources, like forums or file sharing websites.

Preparation before removing Betcostmag.live.

Before starting the actual uninstall procedure, we recommend that you do the following introductory milestones.

  • Ensure you have this hand-operated tutorial constantly ready to utilize.
  • Perform a backup of every one of your data, including the kept logins, passwords and other qualifications. You should support your information with a cloud backup service and also make certain your data are protected from any kind of sort of loss, also from one of the most extreme infections.
  • Wait till the long-lasting back-up procedure is over.

Step 1: Uninstall Betcostmag.live and related software from Windows

Here is a technique in couple of simple stages that must be able to uninstall most applications. Either you use Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, these milestones will work well. Moving the app or its folder to the Trash can be a very wrong idea. In case you do that, remnants of the app may remain, and that can cause the unstable performance of your system, malfunctions with the file type associations and other unpleasant behavior. The effective solution to get an app off your device is to remove it manually. To do that:

1. Keep holding the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will soon arrive.

Windows keyboard R

2. In the field that appeared, type in “appwiz.cpl” -1  and choose OK – 2.

Run appwiz.cpl

 

3. This will open a window with all the apps available on the device. Choose the app that you want to get rid of, then choose “Uninstall

Follow the steps above and you will successfully get rid of most unwanted apps.

Step 2: Get rid of Betcostmag.live from all your available browsers.

Mozilla FirefoxGoogle ChromeInternet ExplorerMicrosoft Edge

1. Launch Mozilla Firefox. Go to its menu window

2. Choose the “Add-ons” icon in the menu.

3. Find the unwanted extension and select “Remove

Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Remove

4. Upon deleting the extension, reload Mozilla Firefox, closing it with the help of a red “X” button in the upper right corner and start it again.

1. Launch Google Chrome and go to its drop menu

Google Chrome drop menu click

2. Click on “Tools” and then in the extended menu select “Extensions

Google Chrome Tools select Extensions

3. In the “Extensions” menu find the unwanted extension and apply the “Remove” button related to it.

Google Chrome Extensions Remove

4. As soon as the extension is deleted, reload Google Chrome by closing it by means of the red “X” button at the top right corner and launch it again.

1. Launch Internet Explorer

2. Click on the gear icon marked ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and choose ‘Manage Add-ons’

Manage-add-ons

3. In the “Manage Add-ons” window, locate the extension you want to delete and then click “Remove”. A pop-up window will come up to inform you that you are about to delete the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and choose “Remove”.

Internet Explorer extension removal

4. Once the unwanted extension is deleted, reload Internet Explorer by shutting it down from the red “X” button located at the top right corner and launch it again.

1. Launch Edge

2. Access the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

3. From the drop menu choose “Extensions”.

Microsoft Edge menu Extensions

4. Locate the suspected dangerous extension you want to delete and then click on the Remove button.

Microsoft Edge Extensions Remove

Step 3: Clean any registries that could be added by Betcostmag.live on your device.

The usually attacked registries of Windows machines are the following:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by going to the Windows registry editor and getting rid of any values added by Betcostmag.live. Follow the steps below:

  1. Start the Run Window command once again, type “regedit” and click OK.Window command regedit
  2. As soon as you open it, you can freely go to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are displayed above.Window command Run and RunOnce keys
  3. You can delete the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and deleting it.Window command regedit delete the value virus

Tip: To locate a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and select “Modify” to find which file it is set to run. If this is the malware file location, delete the value.

Step 4: Scan for Betcostmag.live with Loaris Trojan Remover

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to Loaris Trojan Remover download.

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by Trojan Remover. Click on the corresponding links to check License AgreementPrivacy Policy.

2. Click “Install” to start.

Loaris Trojan Remover Install

There were 4 scan types suggested:

  • Standard Scan.
  • Full Scan.
  • Custom Scan.
  • Removable Scan.

 

3. After the installed has finished, click on the ‘Scan’ tab. Click on ‘Full Scan’.

Loaris Trojan Remover Full Scan

4. Once the scanning is started, Loaris will initiate the thorough analysis of your device and may soon identify specific threats currently slowing down the performance of your system. Make sure to wait until the scanning is completed to let the software fully evaluate the safety of your workstation.

Loaris Trojan Remover - scan in process

5. After Loaris Trojan Remover has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Apply’ button. There were options to move the files to quarantine, ignore or delete them.

Loaris Trojan Remover - show viruses

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

 

  1. About browser hijackers on Wikipedia
  2. Possible danger of free browser extensions

About the author

Valdis Koks

Security engineer, reverse engineering and memory forensics

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