Optwentlock.live search hijacker is a sort of malware that squeezes into your PC, and after that alters the browser search engine settings in your browser to one which it is paid for. It likewise makes different unwanted modifications that may result in personal data leakages, in addition to various other malware injection. In this article, you will read the manual of Optwentlock.live hijacker clearing in various techniques, as well as also the solution of making your web browser just as good as new.
Optwentlock.live Info
| Name | Optwentlock.live extension |
| Type | Browser hijacker1 |
| Short Description | The unwanted software that amends important browser settings without the user’s permission. |
| Symptoms | The Optwentlock.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 Optwentlock.live hijacker. |
The ways of injection of Optwentlock.live search hijackers are various. Most of them come from the malware dispersing via the malvertising or malicious web links of different sites. Occasionally, your computer might be infected with this virus through the trojan-downloader, which is put into action to distribute numerous other malware. There is a solitary kind of this undesirable program – web browser plugin that may build right into any type of web browser which supports the add-on installment2.
You will not likely setup this plugin on your own, due to the fact that their names are really dubious, and the usefulness is really questionable. The “creators” of Optwentlock.live hijacker usually state that it can save the .doc/.docx files from the sites already to .pdf format, or to download the whole website on your disk. It is quite hard to imagine if someone can be needed in such operations in 2023, when the Internet access is not time-limited as well as every PC has the ability to start the needed .docx documents at Google Docs.
Nevertheless, besides their impracticality, they may easily be found in the Chrome Web Store. Certainly, virus analysts sound the alarm about such spam right into the official source of browser extensions, asking for the Google response – getting rid of these extensions from their site. However, they are still not hurrying to take care of that protection problem.
Is the Optwentlock.live virus?
At the first blush, you may think that these redirects are only irritating, but not harmful. As a result of this reason a great deal of users are simply playing for time rather than getting rid of this malware, getting increasingly more possibilities of being infected with various other viruses, which are much more major than Optwentlock.live is.
Besides the modified search engine or search engine result, you may also see different promotions even on those internet sites that do not have any advertisements on it by default. And you can easily misclick while turning off the promotion, and launch the downloading of an unknown file, which may be a virus, or a potentially unwanted application, or perhaps ransomware – whatever the maintainers of this hijacker desire.
If your browser is corrupted because of the Azorult trojan activity, the system can begin malfunctioning quickly – this symptome is just one of the most usual in case of trojan injection.
How to remove Optwentlock.live?
First, let me say several words about prevention the Optwentlock.live malware injection. It is very easy to speak about the techniques of securing your system from such frustrating things as browser hijackers, however, it is extremely simple to be caught on this lure even being a skilled user. As it was mentioned above, this malware can hide after the attractive (at the first sight) promotion, or in packs with other adware you may get in dozens of manners. However, no matter the usual complexity of the infiltration approaches, it is very easy to stay away from the Optwentlock.live hijacker presence 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 Optwentlock.live.
Before starting the actual uninstall procedure, we recommend that you do the following introductory milestones.
- Make sure you have this hand-operated tutorial constantly prepared to use.
- Carry out a back-up of all of your information, including the kept logins, passwords and also other credentials. You must support your details with a cloud backup service and ensure your data are secured from any kind of type of loss, even from the most extreme infections.
- Wait till the long-lasting back-up procedure is over.
Step 1: Uninstall Optwentlock.live and related software from Windows
Right here is a technique in few 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.
2. In the field that appeared, type in “appwiz.cpl” -1 and choose OK – 2.
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 Optwentlock.live from all your available browsers.
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“
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
2. Click on “Tools” and then in the extended menu select “Extensions“
3. In the “Extensions” menu find the unwanted extension and apply the “Remove” button related to it.
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’
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”.
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”.
4. Locate the suspected dangerous extension you want to delete and then click on the Remove button.
Step 3: Clean any registries that could be added by Optwentlock.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 Optwentlock.live. Follow the steps below:
- Start the Run Window command once again, type “regedit” and click OK.
- As soon as you open it, you can freely go to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are displayed above.
- You can delete the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and deleting it.
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 Optwentlock.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 Agreement, Privacy Policy.
2. Click “Install” to start.
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’.
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.
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.
If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.
- About browser hijackers on Wikipedia
- Possible danger of free browser extensions
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