Topchartslist.com virus (Improved Guide) - Simple Removal Guide
Topchartslist.com virus Removal Guide
What is Topchartslist.com virus?
Reasons not to trust Topchartslist.com search site and stay away from it
Topchartslist.com is a deceptive search tool that serves corrupt search results instead of organic ones. It praises itself to be the No.1 search engine in the world; however, that is not a grain of truth in this statement. This suspicious search engine typically sets itself as homepage and default new tab page in all web browsers installed on victim’s PC and urges the victim to search the web via it. What is even worse is that it is nearly impossible to remove Topchartslist.com without knowing that it is controlled by a browser hijacker[1] that falls into potentially unwanted programs’ list. In other words, you have to check Control Panel and delete shady extensions[2] from your browsers in order to get rid of it.
Keeping Topchartslist redirect virus in your browser won’t do you any good. This suspicious tool slows down the computer, sometimes fails to deliver search results, triggers redirects to possibly hazardous external sites and poses a threat to your privacy because it doesn’t disclose how it collects information about the user and whether it gathers personally identifiable information or not. Besides, the site doesn’t have a security certificate, and that means your connection to it is not private (unencrypted).
The website uses more or less 14 cookies to gather information about the visitor but fails to explain what kinds of data it records and for what purpose. It looks, to say at least, suspicious to us. Besides, how can you know whether such information is stored privately? Remember that it might be trying to gather personal information as well. Misusing such information can have serious consequences, so we suggest you to consider possible Topchartslist.com removal options and take care of this virtual pest right away. Our team decided to compose a comprehensive guide on how to uninstall this program manually – you can find it down below. Although such step is optional, we highly recommend you to complete the removal using automatic spyware removal tool like FortectIntego.
Topchartslist.com virus takes control of certain browser settings and keeps redirecting user to highly untrustworthy sites until it gets removed from the system.
Users install potentially unwanted programs without realizing it
Users tend to rush during the installation of free software, and that leads to unexpected installation of potentially unwanted programs such as adware and browser-hijacking software. If you would like to keep such programs away from your home or work computer, never install unknown programs from various file sharing websites. Free programs need to monetize their services somehow, so they promote various ad-supported programs to get pay-per-install revenue.
If you want to opt out unexpected additions and install only the software that you truly need, we suggest choosing Custom/Advanced settings in the software setup and then getting rid of check marks next to statements agreeing with the installation of promoted optional software.
Remove Topchartslist.com and associated spyware from your PC
A quick and easy way to remove Topchartslist.com virus and all other junkware from your PC is to allow an anti-spyware software swipe them all out automatically. If you’re determined to fight with spyware on your own, you should take a look at Topchartslist.com removal guidelines presented right below the article. Please let us know if you have any questions about this browser hijacker or if you encountered some difficulties when trying to remove it.
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 Topchartslist.com virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
Start cleaning the infected system by uninstalling suspicious, unknown, and dangerously looking software from your PC:
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
Now that you have already deleted unwanted software, it is time to obliterate all shady extensions hiding in Chrome's Extensions' panel.
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
If Safari opens the described search tool for you automatically, perform a quick browser cleanup:
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 Topchartslist.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
Stream videos without limitations, no matter where you are
There are multiple parties that could find out almost anything about you by checking your online activity. While this is highly unlikely, advertisers and tech companies are constantly tracking you online. The first step to privacy should be a secure browser that focuses on tracker reduction to a minimum.
Even if you employ a secure browser, you will not be able to access websites that are restricted due to local government laws or other reasons. In other words, you may not be able to stream Disney+ or US-based Netflix in some countries. To bypass these restrictions, you can employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN, which provides dedicated servers for torrenting and streaming, not slowing you down in the process.
Data backups are important – recover your lost files
Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to personal data. Once it is executed on a machine, it launches a sophisticated encryption algorithm that locks all your files, although it does not destroy them. The most common misconception is that anti-malware software can return files to their previous states. This is not true, however, and data remains locked after the malicious payload is deleted.
While regular data backups are the only secure method to recover your files after a ransomware attack, tools such as Data Recovery Pro can also be effective and restore at least some of your lost data.
- ^ Watch out for the latest in browser hijackers – Qtipr.com, Motious.com and Launchpage.org. eSolutions. Information about Latest Cyber Threats.
- ^ Eric Limer. Reminder: Your Browser Extensions Have Absurd Access To Everything You Do Online. Popular Mechanics. How Your World Works.