Search.lotoboyz.com virus (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge) - Removal Instructions
Search.lotoboyz.com virus Removal Guide
What is Search.lotoboyz.com virus?
Search.lotoboyz.com – browser hijacker that spreads together with Lotoboyz downloader
Search.lotoboyz.com is another deceptive search engine that promotes itself with the help of Lotoboyz downloader. Similarly to other hijackers, it tracks users to know their interests and then displays related ads. In the beginning, you may be convinced that this search tool is ready to improve your browsing activity. However, these misleading claims are used only to trick users into believing that search.lotoboyz.com is a legit search engine. Unfortunately, it is not.
Lotoboyz virus has been actively promoted using browser-hijacking technologies. That means you can download it as an optional component of other software. Soon after the infiltration, the deceptive search engine hijacks Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and other web browsers. Immediately after that, it modifies the above-mentioned browsers and assigns Search.lotoboyz.com to the default search engine, the homepage, and a new tab page.
Additionally, the virus can stealthily install potentially unwanted components on the system which are used to prevent its removal. For example, after adding browser helper objects[1] and similar components to the system, they reassign browser’s settings every time a user makes an attempt to change them back to normal. If you are dealing with such problem, use FortectIntego for search.lotoboyz.com removal from your computer.
As we have already warned you, Lotoboyz virus has also been noticed to gather users' personal information, such as email address, computer’s IP address, visited websites, and so on. There is no guarantee that this information isn’t sold to unknown third parties that are trying to use it for their own needs.
Therefore, if you don’t want to put yourself at the risk, you should initiate search.lotoboyz.com removal right after it starts causing redirects on your web browser. Technically, it is not a significant virus, so you can remove it using manual guidelines that are posted at the end of this guide.
Recognizing this deceptive search engine on your computer
This virus is very similar, even identical, to many other deceptive websites. These websites all share the same feature – they claim that they are created to improve users’ search results by providing “useful” features, such as quick access to favorite websites or programs, weather forecasts, etc.
However, as soon as they are added to the system, these websites start accumulating needed information about their users instead of providing the real value. Furthermore, The most of them are spread with the help of a deceptive marketing method known as “bundling”.[2] In this case, unwanted third-party applications can be installed together with the regular software as optional components that can be prevented by selecting right installation modes.
The security team from Los Virus[3] note that when users rush to install or download a wanted program, they often tend to skip some of the installation steps and end up with the deceptive program.
To prevent this, make sure you carefully monitor every software’s download and uncheck check marks that allow system changes and similar alterations. For that, make sure you select Advanced or Custom installation mode. If your web browser is hijacked, you need to proceed to virus removal guide.
Lotoboyz virus removal from the system
To remove Lotoboyz downloader and a browser hijacker that spreads in a bundle, make sure you carefully use a guide presented by our experts. In this case, you will have to uninstall all related programs from the system and then fix all web browsers that were hijacked by this PUP. For that, you can either remove all suspicious extensions, toolbars and search engines from each web browser.
You can also perform Search.lotoboyz.com removal automatically by selecting one of the programs recommended on this website. Make sure you update these programs before a scan to make sure that their database is full and your virus is included.
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.lotoboyz.com virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
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
To remove browser hijacker from Mac OS X, you have to find and uninstall all suspicious applications by following these steps:
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
[GI=mozilla-firefox]You will be able to remove Search.lotoboyz.com from Firefox homepage once you uninstall suspicious extensions and reset the browser.
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 Google Chrome
Lotoboyz virus will stop interfering your browsing sessions once you reset 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 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
Uninstall questionable add-ons and reset Safari to remove the potentially unwanted program entirely:
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.lotoboyz.com 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
Choose a proper web browser and improve your safety with a VPN tool
Online spying has got momentum in recent years and people are getting more and more interested in how to protect their privacy online. One of the basic means to add a layer of security – choose the most private and secure web browser. Although web browsers can't grant full privacy protection and security, some of them are much better at sandboxing, HTTPS upgrading, active content blocking, tracking blocking, phishing protection, and similar privacy-oriented features. However, if you want true anonymity, we suggest you employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN – it can encrypt all the traffic that comes and goes out of your computer, preventing tracking completely.
Lost your files? Use data recovery software
While some files located on any computer are replaceable or useless, others can be extremely valuable. Family photos, work documents, school projects – these are types of files that we don't want to lose. Unfortunately, there are many ways how unexpected data loss can occur: power cuts, Blue Screen of Death errors, hardware failures, crypto-malware attack, or even accidental deletion.
To ensure that all the files remain intact, you should prepare regular data backups. You can choose cloud-based or physical copies you could restore from later in case of a disaster. If your backups were lost as well or you never bothered to prepare any, Data Recovery Pro can be your only hope to retrieve your invaluable files.
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- ^ Tony Bradley. What Is A BHO (Browser Helper Object)?. Lifewire. The website about technology.
- ^ Bundled software. Webopedia. Tech terms dictionary.
- ^ Los Virus. Los Virus. Cyber security news.