Search.aquatoria.net virus (Removal Guide) - Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
Search.aquatoria.net virus Removal Guide
What is Search.aquatoria.net virus?
Things to know if Search.aquatoria.net PUP hijacked your homepage settings
Search.aquatoria.net virus is a suspicious free application that can install itself on the computer system without user’s permission. In fact, it spreads with the help of software bundling technique[1], which means that technically the user has to give the permission to install it, although it usually happens without user’s knowledge. Search.aquatoria.net hijack immediately changes browser’s homepage and new tab page settings[2] in Chrome, Firefox, Safari and possibly other web browsers such as IE or Microsoft Edge. After the attack, compromised web browsers start redirecting the user to Search.aquatoria.net page, which provides a search engine. It belongs to Search Engines | News Search browser hijacker category, and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) that fall into it typically promote a specific search engine that seeks for monetary revenue by promoting suspicious links incorporated into search results[3].
This search engine can become the bane of your life because you won’t find a way to get rid of it so easily since it manages to hide its components deeply in the system. Users who start using this search engine typically complain about packs of sponsored search results that reach them. These search results are likely to contain suspicious links that can create a route to dangerous Internet websites, and visiting them can pose a threat to your PC. These redirects are what generates the pay-per-click revenue[4] for Search.aquatoria.net redirect virus developers, but they are not needed in your daily life at all. Therefore, if you are looking for a search engine that would deliver you relevant search results and not an array of ads, we suggest you remove Search.aquatoria.net hijacker right away. For that, you can use FortectIntego or Malwarebytes software.
Researcher shows the search results delivered by Search.aquatoria.net virus. As you can see, most of them are ads.
Another concern that bothers us is that the described browser hijacker might try to sneakily track your activities online. We must, however, emphasize the fact that it does not target your personal information, but mostly browsing-related data, for example, your search queries, browsing history, IP address, time spent on particular websites and more. All collected data can be used to deliver you targeted advertisements, which can be very annoying. We believe that users are forced to encounter enough ads that originate from websites they’re visiting already – so there’s no need to receive even more advertisements on a daily basis. To improve the situation and make your computer function a little bit faster, we suggest completing Search.aquatoria.net removal procedure.
How did this suspicious application get into my PC?
Computer programs can be grouped and distributed together. Such software packets are also known as software bundles, but surprisingly, one cannot simply identify a software pack by looking at it. Therefore, we highly recommend you to be careful when installing freeware downloaded from the Internet. Once you open program’s setup, look for suspicious statements provided under Custom/Advanced installation option[5]. These descriptions usually claim that you agree to install “recommended” third-party software alongside your chosen program. Deselect these suggestions and proceed with the installation. Another fact that you should remember is that Default/Standard software installation settings mostly hide the aforementioned agreements, therefore by choosing these settings you automatically agree to install all bundled programs along with your download. Do not let it happen – decompose the software packs using Custom and Advanced settings!
How can I delete Search.aquatoria.net hijacker and improve my computer’s performance?
Potentially unwanted programs like Search.aquatoria.net virus tend to slow down the computer system and make web browsers lag. Such programs seek to convince victims to click on sponsored links and search results in order to make them visit affiliate websites and generate pay-per-click revenue for the developers of such PUPs. However, you do not have to take part in this scheme because you get nothing useful from it. To remove Search.aquatoria.net virus, we highly suggest using anti-spyware or anti-malware programs; however, manual Search.aquatoria.net removal instructions can help you to eliminate this computer threat as well. Follow them carefully!
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 Search.aquatoria.net virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
Clean your PC from suspicious programs by opening Programs and Features panel in your PC. Here, you can quickly uninstall all unwanted programs using their uninstallers. We suggest looking for programs that you cannot remember installing, for instance, Aquatoria or Search Aquatoria.
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)
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
To fix the hijacked Chrome browser, find Aquatoria extension or other shady add-ons that managed to hijack your web browser without your knowledge. Delete them ASAP.
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 Search.aquatoria.net 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 stealing programs
Access your website securely from any location
When you work on the domain, site, blog, or different project that requires constant management, content creation, or coding, you may need to connect to the server and content management service more often. The best solution for creating a tighter network could be a dedicated/fixed IP address.
If you make your IP address static and set to your device, you can connect to the CMS from any location and do not create any additional issues for the server or network manager that needs to monitor connections and activities. VPN software providers like Private Internet Access can help you with such settings and offer the option to control the online reputation and manage projects easily from any part of the world.
Recover files after data-affecting malware attacks
While much of the data can be accidentally deleted due to various reasons, malware is one of the main culprits that can cause loss of pictures, documents, videos, and other important files. More serious malware infections lead to significant data loss when your documents, system files, and images get encrypted. In particular, ransomware is is a type of malware that focuses on such functions, so your files become useless without an ability to access them.
Even though there is little to no possibility to recover after file-locking threats, some applications have features for data recovery in the system. In some cases, Data Recovery Pro can also help to recover at least some portion of your data after data-locking virus infection or general cyber infection.
- ^ Eric Chien. Techniques of Adware and Spyware. Symantec. Security Response White Paper.
- ^ How to Open a New Tab to a Specific Webpage in Your Browser. How-To Geek. For Geeks, By Geeks.
- ^ Search advertising. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
- ^ An Introduction to Pay-Per-Click Search Marketing Part 1. Kissmetrics Online Marketing Blog. The Latest in Online Marketing Tactics and Strategy from Leading Industry Experts.
- ^ How to Avoid Installing Junk Programs When Downloading Free Software. How-To Geek. For Geeks, By Geeks.