Link2captcha.top Ads Removal. How to stop pop-up?

Written by Valdis Koks

Link2captcha.top search hijacker is a kind of malware that injects into your computer system, and afterwards modifies the search engine settings in your browser to one which it desires. It also makes different unwanted modifications that might provoke personal data leakages, as well as to various other malware delivery. In this article, you will read the tutorial of Link2captcha.top hijacker removal in several options, and additionally the technique of making your browser as good as new.

icon hijacker - Do I really need it?

Link2captcha.top Info

Name Link2captcha.top extension
Type Browser hijacker1
Short Description The unwanted software that amends important browser settings without the user’s permission.
Symptoms The Link2captcha.top 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 Link2captcha.top hijacker.

The ways of injection of Link2captcha.top search hijackers are assorted. Many of them come from the malware spreading via the malvertising or malicious links of different internet sites. In some cases, your PC can be contaminated with this virus through the trojan-downloader, which is used to disperse different other malware. There is a single kind of this unwanted program – web browser plugin that may build right into any kind of web browser which supports the add-on setup2.

You will not likely mount this plugin by yourself, because their names are really suspicious, and also the functionality is really debatable. The “developers” of Link2captcha.top hijacker usually specify that it can save the .doc/.docx documents from the websites already to .pdf format, or to download the whole web site on your disk. It is very tough to imagine if somebody can be needed in such features in 2023, when the Internet access is not time-limited and every system has the ability to open the needed .docx documents at Google Docs.

However, besides their impracticality, they may easily be found in the Chrome Web Store. Certainly, virus experts sound the alarm about such spam into the legitimate source of web browser extensions, requiring the Google reaction – getting rid of these extensions from their place. But they are still not hurrying to fix that protection problem.

Icon - Your PC hijacker

Is the Link2captcha.top virus?

At the first blush, you may think that these redirects are just annoying, but not dangerous. Because of this reason a great deal of users are just playing for time rather than eliminating this malware, getting much more chances of being infected with different other infections, which are a lot more severe than Link2captcha.top is.

Besides the modified browser search engine or search engine result, you may additionally see various advertisements even on those websites that do not have any ads on it by default. And you may just misclick while turning off the promotion, and start the downloading of an unrecognized file, which may be a virus, or a potentially unwanted program, or perhaps ransomware – whatever the maintainers of this hijacker want.

If your browser is damaged because of the Azorult trojan task, the system can begin malfunctioning quickly – this symptome is one of the most usual in case of trojan injection.

Icon - remove Link2captcha.top hijacker

How to remove Link2captcha.top?

First, let me say several words about prevention the Link2captcha.top virus infiltration. It is really easy to refer to the options of protecting your computer from such irritating items as browser hijackers, but it is quite easy to be caught on this bait perhaps even being a skilled user. As it was pointed out above, this unwanted program may hide after the eye-catching (at the first sight) promotion, or in packs with other adware you may get in dozens of means. However, regardless of the typical difficulty of the penetration approaches, it is very easy to avoid the Link2captcha.top hijacker appearing 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 Link2captcha.top.

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

  • Ensure you have this manual tutorial always ready to utilize.
  • Carry out a backup of all of your data, consisting of the stored logins, passwords and other credentials. You need to support your details with a cloud back-up option and see to it your files are shielded from any sort of loss, even from one of the most extreme infections.
  • Wait until the durable back-up procedure mores than.

Step 1: Uninstall Link2captcha.top and related software from Windows

Here is a method in few very easy steps that ought to have the ability 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 Link2captcha.top 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 Link2captcha.top 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 Link2captcha.top. 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 Link2captcha.top 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

Leave a Comment