Hotwebfree.com Redirect Removal Guide

I think my computer has been infected by a redirect virus. Whenever I do a search and click on any link of the search results, I will be redirected to a website unrelated to my search query. Like I clicked on a link to open an amazon page, and it brought me to something called Hotwebfree.com . That really annoys me. I have run a full system scan with my antivirus program but it cannot detect anything. How can I remove it effectively?

What is Hotwebfree.com?

Hotwebfree.com is a website which is related to browser hijacker or adware that hijacks the web browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It pretended to be a useful platform so that to satisfy user’s shopping demand but in fact was with the evil purpose of coaxing the masses of innocent users to make transactions and defraud their money. It can help Trojan and other unfriendly objects to get into system, and third party malware such as commercial adware and spyware also can insert into system and change homepage and modify browser settings without your consent. As a consequence, all the information collected by it could be sent to the cookie’s host site. Then users’ sensitive information could be transmitted to unknown cyber criminals; therefore, it is dangerous for a user to open this website or put it into the favorites.

By misleading users to open Hotwebfree.com, criminals can boost the traffic of the website and earn money from the ads it promotes. The creators take advantage of this technique to generate traffic to their site, forcibly capturing user’s browser search service and change it to its own. The sponsored links in the website may redirect you to blank pages, advertising sites, or the websites containing malicious codes which can attack your computer. In addition, it brings a toolbar that cannot be removed through normal uninstall processes. This redirect virus has no built-in uninstaller and it can deeply hide in the infected computer in order to evade detection and removal by antivirus programs. The redirect virus should be removed from the infected system as soon as possible, or it will cause endless trouble to the infected computer.

The following manual removal is recommended only for users with good computer skills. If you are not clearly how to perform the manual removal, please do not try it in case of any system damage.

Infected Symptoms:

1 It hijacks your browsers to unknown websites which are full of various misleading ads.

2 It runs in the background of the system and consumes lots of system resources, making your computer run extremely slowly.

3 It may drop other types of threats like virus, Trojan and spyware onto your computer to do more harmful actions.

4 It would help the hackers to record your online activities and steal sensitive personal information and data.

5 It will fail to response quickly as they usually do because the infection changes some settings of the Registry.

6 It forcibly customizes the default homepage, search engine and bookmarks of your computer.

Helpful ways to remove Hotwebfree.com Redirect Virus

Usually, you may scan your computer with antivirus programs after the web browser works weirdly, but you may feel disappointed to find that there is nothing dubious detected on the PC. You need to understand that there is no omnipotent antivirus program on the world because new viruses are produced daily. It should be removed because it will take advantage of system loopholes to install additional malware onto computer for further more damage. That’s because people need time to recognize the new virus and improve the current antivirus software. This makes it very difficult to remove the infection with a standard antivirus application. Thus, sometimes it seems not workable to use an antivirus program to remove the redirect virus from your computer – in this case, you have to manually delete the malicious files and registry entries related to the redirect virus from your computer.

Guide to Manually Remove Hotwebfree.com

Hotwebfree.com browser redirect can attack browsers and modify the settings to cause a lot of problems. Two of the most obvious symptoms of being infected by this redirect virus are that the default homepage is modified and browsers are always redirected to Hotwebfree.com and some undesired websites. With this redirect virus inside, your computer will probably be attacked by other types of threats like adware, Trojan and spyware. The Hotwebfree.com redirect virus should be removed from the victimized computer immediately in case of further damages.

Step 1: Terminate all the malicious extensions in the browser

Internet Explorer
1. Start the Internet Explorer and click on Tools in the browser menu, choose the Manage Add-ons in the drop-down list.
2. Select the Hotwebfree.com in the showing window and disable it.
3. Restart the Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome
1. Launch Google Chrome and click on its wrench icon.
2. Choose the Tools in the list then select the Extensions.
3. In the showing window, click on the Extensions, then find out the Hotwebfree.com and disable it.
4. Restart Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox
1. Run the Mozilla Firefox, click on Tools in the Firefox menu and choose the Add-ons, then click on the Extensions.
2. Then select the Hotwebfree.com in the list and click on Remove button.
3. Restart Mozilla Firefox.

Step 2: Remove the added programs of the redirect virus in the Control Panel

1. Click Start to open the menu and click on the Control Panel.
2. Double-click on Uninstall a program under the Programs.
3. Find Hotwebfree.com in the programs list and locate it, then click on the Uninstall.
4. Follow the wizard to accomplish the removal.

Step 3: Reset the browser

Internet Explorer
1. Start the Internet Explorer, click on Tools then choose the Internet Options.
2. Click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button.
3. Click on the General tab, put a new address in the homepage box.
4. Click OK button to save the changes.
5. Restart the Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome
1. Launch the Google Chrome and click on the Settings in the list.
2. Click on Show advanced settings.
3. Click on Reset browser settings button.
4. In the Settings windows, click on the Show Home button in the Appearance section.
5. Click on the Change link, type a new address in the box then click on OK.
6. Restart Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox
1. Open the Mozilla Firefox, click on the Firefox menu button. Locate the Help then click on the Troubleshooting Information.
2. In the showing Troubleshooting Information page, click on the Reset Firefox button.
3. Confirm the reset request after that.
4. Click the Firefox button and choose the Options.
5. Click the General tab, type a new address as the homepage in the box, then click OK.
6. Restart the Mozilla Firefox.


Note: If you are not a computer wiz and have no idea how to perform the removal, please download to use a redirect virus remover to do the removal for you.

You can get more information here: http://guides.uufix.com/how-do-you-remove-hotwebfree-com-from-pc-entirely