Vivid Captcha Virus

Browser Hijacker
by Lidia Howler
December 11, 2022
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Vivid Captcha

Vivid Captcha is a browser hijacking program that modifies the settings of a web browser in order to insert unwanted ads into the browser’s search results. Vivid Captcha can replace the original homepage, the new tab page, or the default search engine with a different one, without requesting permission.

Vivid Captcha
The Vividcaptcha.top virus will display pop up ads and notifications

Whether it’s the annoying stream of pop-up ads, banners, and box messages which have started to appear on your screen, or the new homepage or search engine app which Vivid Captcha has imposed on your web browser, we have a solution for you on this page. Our “How to remove” team has prepared a detailed removal guide, suitable for removing Vivid Captcha from popular web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and IE. Just read through the article and follow the steps in the removal guide at the end and you’ll be able to uninstall the unwanted program and remove all of its annoying components.

The Vividcaptcha.top Virus

As noted, the Vividcaptcha.top virus is a browser hijacker, and one of its most noticeable characteristics is its ability to deliver multiple advertisements during your web browsing sessions. The ads that the Vividcaptcha.top virus generates may come in different forms and shapes such as banners, pop-ups, box messages, etc.

Vivid Captcha top

You can often see that the advertisements are labeled as “generated by Vivid Captcha top” or “delivered by Vivid Captcha top” which is a clear indication that they are not generated by the web page you are visiting, but by an add-on to your browser. In fact, programs like Vivid Captcha top and Lookaside.fbsbx.com often make some changes to the users’ browsers, such as replacing the homepage and changing the default search engine.

Often these changes cannot be uninstalled within the settings of the browser, and they are automatically reintroduced regardless of your attempts to remove them. This can be quite annoying , leading many web users to suspect that they are dealing with a virus or malware such as a Trojan Horse or a Ransomware.

SUMMARY:

NameVivid Captcha
Type Browser Hijacker
Detection Tool

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Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Vivid Captcha!

How to remove Vivid Captcha Virus

  1. First, click the Start Menu on your Windows PC.
  2. Type Programs and Settings in the Start Menu, click the first item, and find Vivid Captcha in the programs list that would show up.
  3. Select Vivid Captcha from the list and click on Uninstall.
  4. Follow the steps in the removal wizard.

What we suggest you do first is, check the list of programs that are presently installed on the infected device and uninstall any rogue software that you find there:

  • From the Start Menu, navigate to Control Panel ->>> Programs and Features ->>> Uninstall a Program.
  • Next, carefully search for unfamiliar programs or programs that have been installed recently and could be related to Vivid Captcha.
  • If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Vivid Captcha.
  • If a notification appears on your screen when you try to uninstall a specific questionable program prompting you to just alter it or repair it, make sure you choose NO and complete the steps from the removal wizard.

Remove Vivid Captcha from Chrome

  1. Click on the three dots in the right upper corner
  2. Go to more tools
  3. Now select extensions
  4. Remove the Vivid Captcha extension
  • Once you open Chrome, click on the three-dots icon to open the browser’s menu, go to More Tools/ More Options, and then to Extensions.
  • Again, find the items on that page that could be linked to Vivid Captcha and/or that might be causing problems in the browser and delete them.
  • Afterwards, go to this folder: Computer > C: > Users > *Your User Account* > App Data > Local > Google > Chrome > User Data. In there, you will find a folder named Default – you should change its name to Backup Default and restart the PC.
  • Note that the App Data folder is normally hidden so you’d have to first make the hidden files and folders on your PC visible before you can access it.

How to get rid of Vivid Captcha on FF/Edge/etc.

  1. Open the browser and select the menu icon.
  2. From the menu, click on the Add-ons button.
  3. Look for the Vivid Captcha extension
  4. Get rid of Vivid Captcha by removing it from extensions

If using Firefox:

  • Open Firefox
  • Select the three parallel lines menu and go to Add-ons.
  • Find the unwanted add-on and delete it from the browser – if there is more than one unwanted extension, remove all of them.
  • Go to the browser menu again, select Options, and then click on Home from the sidebar to the left.
  • Check the current addresses for the browser’s homepage and new-tab page and change them if they are currently set to address(es) you don’t know or trust.

If using MS Edge/IE:

  • Start Edge
  • Select the browser menu and go to Extensions.
  • Find and uninstall any Edge extensions that look undesirable and unwanted.
  • Select Settings from the browser menu and click on Appearance.
  • Check the new-tab page address of the browser and if it has been modified by “Vivid Captcha” or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.

How to Delete Vivid Captcha

  1. Open task manager
  2. Look for the Vivid Captcha process
  3. Select it and click on End task
  4. Open the file location to delete Vivid Captcha
  • Access the Task Manager by pressing together the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys and then selecting Task Manager.
  • Open Processes and there try to find a process with the name of the unwanted software. If you find it, select it with the right button of the mouse and click on the Open File Location option.
  • If you don’t see a “Vivid Captcha” process in the Task Manager, look for another suspicious process with an unusual name. It is likely that the unwanted process would be using lots of RAM and CPU so pay attention to the number of resources each process is using.
  • Tip: If you think you have singled out the unwanted process but are not sure, it’s always a good idea to search for information about it on the Internet – this should give you a general idea if the process is a legitimate one from a regular program or from your OS or if it is indeed likely linked to the adware.
  • If you find another suspicious process, open its File Location too.
  • Once in the File Location folder for the suspicious process, start testing all of the files that are stored there by dragging them to our free online scanner available below.
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    • If the scanner finds malware in any of the files, return to the Processes tab in the Task Manager, select the suspected process, and then select the End Process option to quit it.
    • Go back to the folder where the files of that process are located and delete all of the files that you are allowed to delete. If all files get deleted normally, exit the folder and delete that folder too. If one or more of the files showed an error message when you tried to delete them, leave them for now and return to try to delete them again once you’ve completed the rest of the guide.

    How to Uninstall Vivid Captcha

    1. Click on the home button
    2. Search for Startup Apps
    3. Look for Vivid Captcha in there
    4. Uninstall Vivid Captcha from Startup Apps by turning it off
    • Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Vivid Captcha-related entries from the Registry. The easiest way to do this is to open the Registry Editor app (type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter) and then open a Find dialog (CTRL+F key combination) where you have to type the name of the threat. 
    • Perform a search by clicking on the Find Next button and delete any detected results. Do this as many times as needed until no more results are found. 
    • After that, to ensure that there are no remaining entries lined to Vivid Captcha in the Registry, go manually to the following directories and delete them:
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Random Directory. 
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run/Random
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Main/Random


    Is Vivid Captcha a virus?


    However, browser hijackers may be many things but they aren’t viruses. They cannot damage your device or the information stored on it, which is exactly what separates them from the above-mentioned Trojans and Ransomware infections. However, this is not a reason to lower your guard. The browser hijackers may sometimes indirectly contribute to your exposure to such threats. For instance, this can happen if you accidentally click on a misleading link or a malvertisement. If you’ve ever heard of the term “malvrertisements” before, then you know that you can find them almost anywhere on the web. These are regular advertisements that cyber criminals have secretly infected with a virus that the user would unknowingly install when they click on the given advert. Sadly, there’s no way surefire to tell the difference between a regular ad and a malvertisement. So it’s best to avoid interacting with any of the ads displayed on your screen for the sake of your safety. If the browser hijacker turns out to be a source of unstoppable commercials, or if its constant page-redirects land you on unfamiliar sites witch questionable content, your best option is to completely uninstall it from your system. Besides, doing so will allow you to reset your previous browser settings and have full control over your web browsing sessions which is very important for a safe web browsing experience.


    About the author

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    Lidia Howler

    Lidia is a web content creator with years of experience in the cyber-security sector. She helps readers with articles on malware removal and online security. Her strive for simplicity and well-researched information provides users with easy-to-follow It-related tips and step-by-step tutorials.

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