Goog.qmentranding.xyz Virus

Browser Hijacker
by Violet George
November 5, 2022

Goog.qmentranding.xyz

Goog.qmentranding.xyz has been infecting the browsers of unsuspecting users and causing them to generate vast quantities of online ads. Goog.qmentranding.xyz therefore falls into the category of browser hijackers and it’s recommended that you see to its removal.

Goog.qmentranding.xyz

Browser hijackers are not a dangerous software type, however. And with that in mind, they shouldn’t be confused with viruses and malware (e.g. Trojans, ransomware, etc), which is often the case with hijackers like Goog.qmentranding.xyz. But the truth is that software like this may compromise your system in many ways, and that should already serve as reason enough to have it removed from your PC.

That’s aside from the impact that Goog.qmentranding.xyz may have on your overall browsing experience. Surely, you’ve already been annoyed by the numerous popups and banners that just keep jumping at you while you’re trying to browse the web in peace. And if you have already started to experience page redirects, too, then you’ve likely already had enough of Goog.qmentranding.xyz and are more than eager for it to be gone.

SUMMARY:

NameGoog.qmentranding.xyz
TypeBrowser Hijacker
Detection Tool

Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Goog.qmentranding.xyz!

How to remove Goog.qmentranding.xyz

  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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz in the programs list that would show up.
  3. Select Goog.qmentranding.xyz 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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz.
  • If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Goog.qmentranding.xyz.
  • 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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz 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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz 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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz 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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz 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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz extension
  4. Get rid of Goog.qmentranding.xyz 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 “Goog.qmentranding.xyz” or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.

How to Delete Goog.qmentranding.xyz

  1. Open task manager
  2. Look for the Goog.qmentranding.xyz process
  3. Select it and click on End task
  4. Open the file location to delete Goog.qmentranding.xyz
  • 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 “Goog.qmentranding.xyz” 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.
  • Each file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracy
    This scanner is free and will always remain free for our website's users.
    This file is not matched with any known malware in the database. You can either do a full real-time scan of the file or skip it to upload a new file. Doing a full scan with 64 antivirus programs can take up to 3-4 minutes per file.
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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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz

    1. Click on the home button
    2. Search for Startup Apps
    3. Look for Goog.qmentranding.xyz in there
    4. Uninstall Goog.qmentranding.xyz from Startup Apps by turning it off
    • Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Hostingcloud. racing-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 Goog.qmentranding.xyz 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

    What is Goog.qmentranding.xyz?

    Irritating effects that Goog.qmentranding.xyz tends to bring about in one’s browser include the changes made to your default search engine and browser homepage. These are often facilitated with the intention of promoting certain web locations and driving more traffic to them. But that of course doesn’t justify the fact that these browser configurations are basically enforced upon the end user without any benefit for them.
    Thus, if you would like to be able to recover the configurations of your Chrome, Firefox or other popular browser, you will need to remove Goog.qmentranding.xyz from your OS. And this needs to be done in a specific way, as missing to delete certain components of this hijacker will render your efforts fruitless. On this page you will find a detailed removal guide that will show you exactly how to remove this browser hijacker from your computer, so please be sure to follow the instructions exactly as described.

    Is Goog.qmentranding.xyz dangerous?

    Most times, users have absolutely no clue as to how they contracted a browser hijacker like the Goog.qmentranding.xyz virus. And normally this is because the developers of the Goog.qmentranding.xyz virus rely on shady, underhanded techniques to ensure that it gets distributed and actually reaches the end user. And in the most common case, we’re referring to program bundling. This is a way of packaging together various pieces of software, where there is usually one main install, and the rest are added in its setup as optional ones. Thus, if you were to run the automatic or default installation of a given program that you downloaded recently, then you would automatically also install whatever added components the developers had included in it.
    The way to prevent this from happening is to always opt for the more detailed advanced settings (sometimes also labeled as custom). This will usually give you more steps in the installation process, one of which is bound to disclose what extra components have been included in the setup. And there you should also be allowed the choice of politely declining their installation.


    About the author

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    Violet George

    Violet is an active writer with a passion for all things cyber security. She enjoys helping victims of computer virus infections remove them and successfully deal with the aftermath of the attacks. But most importantly, Violet makes it her priority to spend time educating people on privacy issues and maintaining the safety of their computers. It is her firm belief that by spreading this information, she can empower web users to effectively protect their personal data and their devices from hackers and cybercriminals.

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