Zhinku.info redirects – how can you stop them?
If you want to halt the activity of Zhinku.info virus, you need to remove it. Although you can notice a suspicious website in your browser, you should know that the computer is infected with a certain program that controls your browser’s settings and keeps redirecting you to Zhinku.info again and again. Once installed, this hideous parasite adds zhinku.info/i/home.html to browser’s homepage and new tab page settings, making it the default start page on the target browser. Reportedly, this browser hijacker-type infection can compromise Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and other major Internet browsers. At first, you won’t notice any suspicious signs, but later on, you will start to encounter negative effects of Zhinku.info hijack[1]. It is likely that you will realize that this browser hijacker is trying to reroute you to its sponsors’ websites, even when you click on a safe-looking search result. The problem is that this search engine is designed to generate pay-per-click revenue[2], but not to be useful for the computer user. It just pretends to be helpful meanwhile it simply tries to direct users to websites that need higher web traffic rates.

Sadly, the type of content some of the third-party sites share can shock you. A lot of them welcome visitors with aggressive banners and pop-ups urging to install worthless programs, updates, or asking to answer questions of suspicious surveys[3], offering to install a free program as a “prize” at the end. Sounds familiar? If so, we want to warn you that such sites are not trustworthy at all, and failure to identify such vague content can lead to sad consequences. In the best scenario, you might install a harmless spyware-type application or plug-in that will send you annoying pop-up ads, and in the worst case, you can install a piece of malware that can severely damage your computer or data you store on it. Therefore, Zhinku.info removal is highly recommended. We suggest you to remove Zhinku.info hijacker with an anti-spyware or anti-malware program like FortectIntego because such program can check the entire computer system and bring you a comprehensive report about all hazardous files, programs, and tracking cookies[4] on your system. Obviously, such program can wipe them all from your computer at once.
What if I don’t remember installing a browser hijacker?
There is no surprise because people who spread browser hijackers do not choose straightforward distribution techniques. In most cases, they rely on software bundling method, which helps to pack two or more freeware applications together. Such software box looks like a single program, but its installation wizard suggests installing all programs that are bundled[5] with it. Numerous PC users make the same mistake and choose or do not change pre-selected Default or Standard settings, which typically contain hidden statements granting permission to install additional programs. You have to refuse to install them via Custom or Advanced settings. All that you need to do is to deselect ticks from suggestions to install third-party software such as browser toolbars, weather apps, games, or file converters. Such programs are known to be unreliable and in most cases they appear to be worthless ad-supported apps.
How can I delete Zhinku.info hijacker?
If you have decided to remove Zhinku.info virus, we can only congratulate you on your decision. This program hardly has any value and simply brings numerous problems including system slowdowns, browser crashes, and annoying redirects to strange third-party pages. Therefore, we present two Zhinku.info removal options – the automatic and the manual methods. Both of them are described below.
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.
Reset Internet Explorer
Remove dangerous add-ons:
- Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
- Pick Manage Add-ons.
- You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:
- Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
- Select Internet Options.
- In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
- Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:
- Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
- Under Browsing history, click Delete...
- Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:
- Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
- Select Reset.
- In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

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
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
- Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:
- Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
- Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:
- Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
- Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

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