Genius Box (Removal Instructions) - Jun 2017 update
Genius Box Removal Guide
What is Genius Box?
Genius Box is an intrusive adware program that seeks to control your searches
Genius Box is a suspicious free program that aims to inject sponsored content above regular search results. It was developed by TGF Interactive, LLC. This spyware variant is set to modify search results delivered by regular search engines and integrate sponsored content into them. Ads by GeniusBox are going to appear above all search results. It is recommended that you stay away from these results because clicking them can trigger redirects to highly untrustworthy or even malicious websites[1].
Adware drops its own extension on all web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome to settle the changes and prevent the user from modifying them. Despite promises to enhance user's search experience, this ad-supported program can only pose a threat to the system and user's privacy. Due to these issues, we suggest you remove Genius Box for good. FortectIntego software can complete this task safely.
You should be aware that the only goal of this obscure search tool is to serve promotional content, make users click on it, cause URL redirections to predetermined sites and increase their popularity. Each of the redirects generates pay-per-click revenue for the suspicious developer of this junkware but poses a threat to the user at the same time. External websites that can be accessed via this search engine are likely to be dangerous or simply untrustworthy, so our team recommends performing a complete Genius Box removal ASAP.
Another issue is that this adware program collects some information about the user or his/hers browsing activities. While this virtual pest doesn't collect personal user information purposely, it can collect it after the user contacts the company. The adware also collects URLs visited by the user, search queries and such pieces of data can contain personally identifiable information. The potentially unwanted program also collects such anonymous information during victim's browsing sessions:
- Type of the browser used by the user;
- Operating system type;
- IP address;
- Geographic location;
- ISP;
- Browsing history;
- Search queries.
Collected data is shared with third-party advertising networks that use it to select and deliver targeted ads to the user. On top of that, these ad networks are allowed to use tracking cookies[2] as well. We highly suggest you reconsider if it is worth using this ad-supported program because you can never know if it stores your information securely and how it is being manipulated. If you want to prevent it from collecting and storing such data, remove Genius Box immediately.
Genius Box virus injects sponsored entries above regular search results no matter what search engine the victim uses.
In addition, this browser add-on may start acting like a traditional adware that serves ads in a form of pop-ups or banners. Soon enough you may start noticing annoying ads that may link you to unknown websites. You won't miss its continuous pop-up ads that are labeled “About this Genius Box ad”, “GeniusBox ads” and “brought to you by TGF Interactive.” These are the ones that pay for promoting them because they want to increase their page rank or sales. Beware that you can't be sure that such ads won't redirect you to an infected website that promotes malware. If you haven't installed this program consciously and now you see continuous pop-up ads, please check your computer with the reputable anti-spyware.
GeniusBox is promoted using deceptive means
This potentially unwanted application has been promoted via its official website as a useful tool for personalized search sessions. However, it has been distributed even more actively as an optional component of the freeware[3] and shareware. Despite that, you should understand that adware is not a critical virus and therefore it can't be installed on your computer without user's interaction. What programs could lead you to the installation of this browser extension? Beware that you can easily install it in a bundle with some converter, download manager, video player and similar freeware.
If you still want to install a free program on your computer, you have to monitor each of its installation steps because it may be filled with optional components. We highly recommend you to select Custom or Advanced installation of the freeware and then uncheck pre-checked check boxes that report about this or other browser add-ons, extensions and plugins. This is supposed to help you to avoid continuous pop-up ads that are labeled as “About this Genius Box ad” and “TGF Interactive”, and similar issues that are typically caused by potentially unwanted programs.
The right way to remove Genius Box
It is not hard to remove Genius Box virus from the system. If this browser parasite showed up on your computer right after installing other application, 2spyware security experts recommend removing it from the system along with the software that brought this spyware variant into the system. For that, you can either scan your computer with the reputable anti-spyware (all tools that were used for testing this app are given below) or follow Genius Box removal instructions given below.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of Genius Box. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
Open Control Panel using instructions given below and uninstall whatever version of GeniusBox is installed on your system. It might be 2.0, 3.0 or further version of the adware.
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)
To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.
Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- 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.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.
Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Firefox can be cleaned manually. All that you need to do its to get rid of Firefox add-ons related to it.
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data…
- Select Cookies and Site Data, as well as Cached Web Content and press Clear.
Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox…
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.
Remove from Google Chrome
Check Chrome and delete extension associated with the described adware.
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all the suspicious plugins that might be related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.
Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- 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:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.
Delete from Safari
Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of Genius Box registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting adware
Do not let government spy on you
The government has many issues in regards to tracking users' data and spying on citizens, so you should take this into consideration and learn more about shady information gathering practices. Avoid any unwanted government tracking or spying by going totally anonymous on the internet.
You can choose a different location when you go online and access any material you want without particular content restrictions. You can easily enjoy internet connection without any risks of being hacked by using Private Internet Access VPN.
Control the information that can be accessed by government any other unwanted party and surf online without being spied on. Even if you are not involved in illegal activities or trust your selection of services, platforms, be suspicious for your own security and take precautionary measures by using the VPN service.
Backup files for the later use, in case of the malware attack
Computer users can suffer from data losses due to cyber infections or their own faulty doings. Ransomware can encrypt and hold files hostage, while unforeseen power cuts might cause a loss of important documents. If you have proper up-to-date backups, you can easily recover after such an incident and get back to work. It is also equally important to update backups on a regular basis so that the newest information remains intact – you can set this process to be performed automatically.
When you have the previous version of every important document or project you can avoid frustration and breakdowns. It comes in handy when malware strikes out of nowhere. Use Data Recovery Pro for the data restoration process.
- ^ What Are Malicious Websites and Drive by Downloads?. Norton Internet Security Center. Tips, Education & Answers.
- ^ Tracking cookie. Symantec - Security Response. Unparalleled Analysis of and Protection from IT Security Threats.
- ^ Liam Tung. Google: Unwanted bundled software is way more aggressive than malware. ZDNet. Technology News, Analysis, Comments and Product Reviews.