How to remove Orbitum virus

What is Orbitum?

Created by Orbitum Software LLC, Orbitum is a quite popular web browser that is based on Chronium open source community. It's developers claim that it is similar to other browsers; however, it supports Facebook and VK social networks and allows obtaining information from social networks. If you find such service useful and appealing, you may install this web browser and use it freely. However, security experts do not recommend thinking twice before doing so and warn that this program has been categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and a browser hijacker. That's because it may infiltrate the system without being noticed and set orbitum.com as a default homepage and search engine. Orbitum virus claims to be powered by Yahoo; however, do not fall for believing it fully. It seems that this search engine is sponsored by third parties and used for promoting third-party websites. For that, it may deliver altered search results and you can never known whether Orbitum redirects will make you visit reliable websites or not. Keeping in mind that some websites that it promotes may be associated with virus distribution or scam, we highly recommend you to stay away from this web browser and search engine. In addition to that, Orbitum redirect virus needs to be eliminated as soon as possible due to privacy-related issues. It may collect information, such as search terms, websites visited, data entered in them, IP address and PC's location, email address and so on. Probably you already know that such and similar information is mainly used for preparing affiliate marketing; however, you can never be sure that it won't be used for deceiving you. Thus, eliminate Orbitum virus as soon as possible. The easiest way to do that is to run a full system scan with a reputable anti-spyware, such as Fortect Intego.

How can Orbitum hijack my computer?

Orbitum is promoted on its official website and can be downloaded there. Do not get confused after reading our article. We do not want to convince you that this web browser and search engine are malicious. However, we want to warn you that they may infiltrate your machine without permission asked and may disrupt your daily web browsing activities. If you want to prevent installing Orbitum, you should carefully select and install free programs. Make sure that you read all accessible information about the freeware that you have selected. Beware that third-party download websites (softonic.com, soft32.com, download.com, etc.) are by far the most frequently spreading 'additional components'. Therefore, whenever you decide to install a freeware make sure that you select Advanced or Custom installation option and carefully monitor the entire installation process. If you find suspicious check boxes claiming that you accept to install browser add-ons, plug-ins, toolbars, or extensions, make sure that uyou opt out of them. Otherwise, you may accept to install such potentially unwanted programs as Dyzap, Sweet Tunes Toolbar, Taplika Search, Vosteran Search and so on. Make sure that you unmark ticks that notify your agreement to install unwanted programs.

How to remove Orbitum virus?

Delete Orbitum virus manually or automatically. For that, follow the guide:

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

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

Remove the unwanted program:

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

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

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

Delete leftover files and folders:

Select Go > Go to Folder.
Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.
Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

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 Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:

Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
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.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

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

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.

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.
This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

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 the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:

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

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 and Temporary cached files and pages, then click 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

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 suspicious extensions 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