Fathodloss.com Virus. Ads Removal Guide

Written by Valdis Koks

Fathodloss.com search hijacker is a sort of virus that infuses into your system, and afterwards modifies the search engine configurations in your web browser to one which it is paid for. It additionally makes some undesirable changes that can lead to private information leakages, as well as to various other malware injection. In this post, you will read the tutorial of Fathodloss.com hijacker clearing in several techniques, as well as also the method of making your browser just as good as new.

icon hijacker - Do I really need it?

Fathodloss.com Info

Name Fathodloss.com extension
Type Browser hijacker1
Short Description The unwanted software that amends important browser settings without the user’s permission.
Symptoms The Fathodloss.com 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 Fathodloss.com hijacker.

The methods of injection of Fathodloss.com search hijackers are different. The majority of them come from the malware spreading with the malvertising or evil-minded web links of various internet sites. In some cases, your computer might be infected with this malware via the trojan-downloader, which is put to use to disperse different other malware. There is a single kind of this undesirable program – web browser plugin that can build right into any type of internet browser which supports the add-on installment2.

You will not likely setup this plugin by yourself, due to the fact that their names are highly suspicious, and also the capability is really questionable. The “creators” of Fathodloss.com hijacker typically state that it can save the .doc/.docx files from the web pages already to .pdf format, or to download the whole site on your disk. It is pretty tough to imagine if someone may be needed in such functions in 2023, when the Web access is not time-limited and every PC is able to open the needed .docx files at Google Docs.

Nonetheless, besides their impracticality, they may easily be located in the Chrome Web Store. Certainly, virus analysts sound the alarm concerning such spam into the legit source of web browser extensions, demanding the Google response – getting rid of these extensions from their site. However, they are still not hurrying to repair that protection problem.

Icon - Your PC hijacker

Is the Fathodloss.com virus?

At the first sight, you may think that these redirects are just aggravating, but not harmful. Due to this reason a lot of users are simply playing for time instead of removing this malware, obtaining more and more possibilities of being contaminated with different other viruses, which are much more harmful than Fathodloss.com is.

Besides the changed browser search engine or search engine result, you may additionally see various ads even on those internet sites that do not have any promotions on it by default. And you can unintentionally misclick while closing the promotion, and initiate the downloading of an unrecognized file, which can be a virus, or a potentially undesirable application, or even ransomware – whatever the maintainers of this hijacker want.

If your web browser is corrupted due to the Azorult trojan task, the system can start malfunctioning quickly – this symptome is among the most usual in case of trojan infiltration.

Icon - remove Fathodloss.com hijacker

How to remove Fathodloss.com?

First, let me say several words about prevention the Fathodloss.com malware penetration. It is very simple to refer to the techniques of protecting your system from such frustrating things as browser hijackers, however, it is quite easy to be caught on this bait perhaps even being a qualified user. As it was mentioned above, this virus can hide after the attractive (at the first sight) ad, or in packs with various other adware you may get in dozens of ways. However, no matter the usual complexity of the injection methods, it is very simple to stay away from the Fathodloss.com 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 Fathodloss.com.

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

  • Ensure you have this hands-on tutorial constantly prepared to use.
  • Carry out a back-up of all of your data, including the kept logins, passwords as well as various other credentials. You should back up your info with a cloud back-up solution and also see to it your documents are protected from any type of type of loss, even from the most serious infections.
  • Wait till the long-lasting back-up procedure is over.

Step 1: Uninstall Fathodloss.com and related software from Windows

Here is a method in few very easy 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 Fathodloss.com 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 Fathodloss.com 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 Fathodloss.com. 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 Fathodloss.com 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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