The preferred target of malware, adware and intrusive programs are the Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer web browsers that are used by 90% of people around the world to surf the internet. Unfortunately it is difficult to divert these annoying programs because they often accompany, as sponsor, the installation of free normal software.
The effects of these adware or malware can be simple tampering with the basic settings or hijacking the navigation.
In practice, it may be that unnecessary toolbar bars appear, that the home page is changed, the search engine or that by surfing the internet, various types of advertising sites open themselves.
So if the browser had an anomalous behavior, if you open advertisements, if opening websites like Facebook or Google appear strange advertising banners more, if when you open the home page instead of Google an unknown search site appears that only gives sponsored results, if under the navigation bar there is a toolbar of unnecessary buttons, then you need to make some corrections as explained by this short guide valid for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.
1) Uninstall the program or toolbar or extension that changed the settings
Most of the time these programs that go on self-promotion on computers and feed on advertising can still be uninstalled normally, by the Windows installation manager located in the Control Panel .
In case you don't know the name of the program, you can use an external automatic tool that does the complete cleaning of the adware.
In the guide on how to remove the Incredibar, Babylon, Ask or other adware toolbars, the ADWcleaner program is identified which identifies and removes all these annoying software.
There are also other useful programs to remove all browser toolbars like Junkware Removal Tool.
ADWCleaner 5 is also capable of restoring network settings changed by adware and malware.
Sometimes removing the program is not enough so you also need to open the browser extensions and plugins page to remove those that are not used and that are strange.
Keep in mind that the notorious toolbars that were once installed only on Internet Explorer, find their way today also in Firefox and Chrome.
- On Internet Explorer open the gear menu, select Manage add-ons and open the category Toolbars and extensions .
Then disable the toolbar or add-on to be removed.
If you don't see the add-on to be deleted, click on Show to see all the extensions installed.
- With Mozilla Firefox, press the orange button on the main menu and select the extensions.
Select and disable or remove the add-on
- Google Chrome : press the menu button, go to settings> Extensions and disable or remove the unwanted one.
2) Search engine
If a program is able to change the default search engine of the browser, it means that searching from the address bar instead of opening Google opens results from another site.
These alternative search engines are always based on Google but show a slew of sponsored results and advertisements that make it difficult to find what you are looking for.
In another article, the guide to setting Google as a search engine in Chrome, Firefox and IE.
3) Home page
Some annoying programs change their personal home page with a sponsored, often chock full of advertisements that brings them a lot of money every time you open your browser or do a search.
Restoring the browser home page is quite easy:
- Internet Explorer : press the gear button, go to Internet Options and select the General tab where you can change the address of the start page.
- Firefox : press the main menu button, go to the Options and, in the General tab, edit the home page.
- Chrome : from the main menu, go to Settings and then, in the Appearance section, change the home page and make the button appear.
4) Websites redirected to other pages
Some programs that, in this case are really malware, can modify internal internet settings to make sure that, for example, if you write facebook.com, the browser leads to a different site instead.
This can be corrected first of all by uninstalling the culprit extension of this behavior.
If the problem is not resolved, two things must be looked at: the proxy and the hosts file .
First of all then go to Internet Explorer settings, then in the Connections tab -> press the LAN Settings button and delete any Proxy .
In Firefox go to Options -> Advanced -> Network to see if there is any strange proxy to remove.
In another article, however, it is written how to check and modify the hosts file.
By default, the Windows hosts file should not have any entries written under the commented lines (those starting with the # character).
If you find other lines, remove them.
5) If each setting changes automatically even after manual modification.
Some malware may run on Windows and change browser settings every time you turn on your computer.
So be sure to recognize and remove all types of viruses and malware .
For specific guidance, see here how to remove viruses and malicious components in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer
6) Reset the browser
Resetting the browser means returning it to its original settings and removing any customization and extension, also deleting all old stored data, including history.
In another article the guide to restore Firefox, Chrome and IE to the default settings
