Pioxu.live Ads Virus. How to delete?

Written by Valdis Koks

Pioxu.live search hijacker is a type of malware that injects into your PC, and afterwards switches the browser search engine settings in your internet browser to one which it wants. It also makes different undesirable changes that may trigger private information leakages, as well as to other malware penetration. In this article, you will see the manual of Pioxu.live hijacker elimination in a couple of strategies, as well as also the procedure of making your web browser as good as new.

icon hijacker - Do I really need it?

Pioxu.live Info

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

The methods of injection of Pioxu.live search hijackers are numerous. Many of them belong to the malware spreading via the malvertising or evil-minded web links of different sites. Frequently, your personal computer may be contaminated with this malware via the trojan-downloader, which is put into action to disperse numerous other malware. There is a solitary kind of this unwanted program – browser plugin that might build into any type of web browser which supports the add-on installment2.

You will not likely install this plugin on your own, since their names are quite dubious, and also the capability is extremely debatable. The “developers” of Pioxu.live hijacker normally specify that it can save the .doc/.docx documents from the web pages already to .pdf format, or to save the entire web site on your disk. It is quite difficult to picture if somebody can be needed in such features in 2023, when the Internet access is not time-limited as well as every computer is able to start the needed .docx documents at Google Docs.

Nevertheless, besides their uselessness, they may effortlessly be found in the Chrome Web Store. Naturally, virus experts sound the alarm regarding such spam into the official source of browser extensions, asking for the Google response – removing these extensions from their site. But they are still not hurrying to deal with that security issue.

Icon - Your PC hijacker

Is the Pioxu.live virus?

At the first blush, you may believe that these redirects are only bothersome, but not harmful. Because of this reason a number of users are simply playing for time as opposed to getting rid of this malware, obtaining increasingly more possibilities of being contaminated with different other infections, which are far more harmful than Pioxu.live is.

Besides the changed browser search engine or search engine result, you can likewise see various advertisements even on those sites that do not have any type of ads on it by default. And you can easily misclick while turning off the promotion, and begin the downloading of an unfamiliar file, which may be a malware, or a potentially unwanted program, or even ransomware – whatever the maintainers of this hijacker want.

If your web browser is damaged because of the Azorult trojan task, the system can begin malfunctioning in a short time – this symptome is just one of the most usual in case of trojan penetration.

Icon - remove Pioxu.live hijacker

How to remove Pioxu.live?

First, let me say several words about prevention the Pioxu.live malware infiltration. It is really easy to speak about the tactics of shielding your computer from such annoying items as browser hijackers, but it is really easy to be caught on this bait even being a skilled user. As it was specified above, this unwanted program can hide after the attractive (at the first sight) ad, or in packs with various other adware you can get in dozens of ways. But regardless of the typical difficulty of the injection methods, it is very easy to stay clear of the Pioxu.live 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 Pioxu.live.

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

  • See to it you have this manual tutorial always ready to use.
  • Carry out a backup of all of your data, consisting of the kept logins, passwords as well as various other credentials. You need to support your information with a cloud back-up service and also make sure your documents are shielded from any sort of loss, even from the most serious infections.
  • Wait until the lasting backup process mores than.

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

Here is a technique in few easy stages that ought to 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 Pioxu.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 Pioxu.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 Pioxu.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 Pioxu.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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