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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Adware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Apr 2017

How to remove BikaQ RSS Reader

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Lucia Danes · Virus researcher

Things to know about BikaQ RSS Reader adware and why you should remove it

BikaQ RSS Reader virus is a highly untrustworthy freeware that is also known under WizzRSS name. It usually infiltrates the system using tricky distribution techniques such as software bundling[1], which helps to convince the user to install it without realizing it. This program seems to be associated with infamous adware-type parasites like Winsnare or aMuleC, so it goes without saying that its presence on the system should be undesirable. The mission of this piece of software is to interfere with user’s browsing and force him to encounter numerous annoying advertisements that promote third-party products and services. Clearly, such activity diminishes browsing experience, because the victim needs to waste time by trying to close these ads, which sooner or later reappear. In other words, if you try to fight and get rid of BikaQ RSS Reader ads just by closing them, you are going to fall into an endless loop without any positive results. Therefore, a full removal of the adware[2] and related components is required. You might want to use FortectIntego software for that.
BikaQ RSS Reader

It is important to understand that BikaQ adware is not a virus and so far there are no proofs that it can be assigned to malware category[3]. Despite that, it can pose a threat to your computer system. As we said, the described adware seeks to incorporate third-party ads into every website you visit, which is not only annoying but dangerous as well. While some users recognize ads that do not originate from sites they visit, others might not understand that and click on them. Such vague ads can unexpectedly throw you onto websites that can be dangerous, so do not act blindly and do not rush to interact with content provided by these external websites. We strongly advise you to stay away from sites that provide fake download buttons[4], loads of ads, surveys, and similar shady content. If you act inattentively, you can quickly catch a virus infection and mess up the computer system without even realizing what happened. Another drawback of the described adware is that it might attempt to collect information about your browsing preferences silently. Be careful, because it might try to find out what websites do you like to visit, what search terms do you typically input into search engines, and similar data. Based on collected information, this shady adware is likely to start sending you dozens of pop-ups on a daily basis. Aside from that, the shady software can slow down your PC and influence the activity of other programs, and consequently, other programs can start to crash or not respond at random times. All of these arguments should convince you to remove BikaQ RSS Reader adware finally.

I did not install this program – so how did it sneak into my PC?

The described adware can be transmitted to your computer via software bundling technique, which allows software developers silently group a pack of programs and hide them behind one well-known piece of freeware. So, if you decided to download a popular free program to ease your daily tasks, be careful when installing it because it is likely to silently offer you additional programs that you weren’t expecting to get. You can unveil all bundled software by choosing Custom or Advanced settings and also reading software’s Privacy Policy. If you can see some mentions of additional programs, drop these off by deselecting checkboxes next to them.

BikaQ RSS Reader keeps coming back – how to remove it completely?

Unfortunately, researchers report that BikaQ RSS manages to alter Windows Registry[5] to keep itself on the computer system longer. Therefore, attempts to remove this potentially unwanted program can be unsuccessful. To remove BikaQ RSS Reader virus for good, you might need to use anti-spyware software. Please, do not try to make modifications in Windows Registry because if you accidentally modify something in a wrong way, you will have to suffer consequences such as instability of the computer system and encounter various error messages. However, if you want to try and eliminate this questionable program on your own, try to follow BikaQ RSS Reader removal instructions that we provided below.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

  1. In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
  2. If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.Uninstall the unwanted program from Windows

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

  1. Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
  2. Pick Manage Add-ons.
  3. You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.Remove add-ons from Internet Explorer

Change your homepage if it was altered:

  1. Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
  2. Select Internet Options.
  3. In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
  4. Click Apply and then select OK.Reset IE homepage

Delete temporary files:

  1. Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
  2. Under Browsing history, click Delete...
  3. Select relevant fields and press Delete.Clear temporary files from Internet Explorer

Reset Internet Explorer:

  1. Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
  2. Select Reset.
  3. In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.Reset Internet Explorer

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

  1. Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
  2. From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
  3. Click Remove.Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. On the left side, pick Reset settings.
  3. Select Restore settings to their default values.
  4. Confirm with Reset.
  5. This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.Reset Chromium Edge

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
  2. Select Add-ons.
  3. In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

  1. Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
  2. In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
  2. Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.Remove extensions from Safari

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  3. From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.Reset Safari

Did this guide help?

4 comments

  1. help

    My antivirus blocked bikaq process today! i have no idea how did this program enter my system!

  2. Grande

    I cant remove BikaQ RSS Reader! My antivirus simply doesnt detect it, should I install a different antivirus?

  3. sil

    Removed the virus. However, my antimalware detected a lot more dangerous processes and files on the system alongside it. I am scared, gotta say. I hope that this adware wasnt spying on me or something...

  4. Faust1a

    yeah go ahead! I always scan my computer with several antivirus or antimalware programs just to be sure...

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