OFFER*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Grand Explorer
Grand Explorer is unwanted software of the browser hijacking type, and it can infect most popular web browsers. Grand Explorer installs ad-generating components in the host browser and exposes users to myriads of online ads. The rogue app itself is probably not causing any harm to the computer it’s installed on, but the aggressive advertisements, redirects, and pop-ups it may redirect can serve as a gateway for more problematic software. For this reason, we strongly recommend deleting Grand Explorer from your system along with any items that may be linked to it. In this post, we’ll explain more about the dangers associated with this undesirable app and also provide you with methods that will help you get rid of it.
The Grand Explorer Virus
Software like the Grand Explorer virus certainly won’t ask you permission for the replacement of your browser homepage and/or its default search engine with new ones. Furthermore, once these elements have been changed by the hijacker, you won’t even be allowed to change them back. The moment you restart your browser, all configurations that you tried to reset will return back to the state determined by the Grand Explorer virus. The only way to regain control of your browser settings is to fully delete this Grand Explorer alongside any additional elements that it may have installed in your system and browser. Keep in mind that, if you have multiple browsers, you’ll need to clean them all.
The Grand Explorer software
Programs like the Grand Explorer software rarely come with a designated removal option that you’d find in most regular applications. Here, you have to manually locate and delete the separate components of the browser hijacker and that can often be very frustrating, because there always seems to be something left over. That’s why we would like to offer you our free removal guide below, which will take you through the steps necessary to get rid of the Grand Explorer software once and for all. And in case the guide isn’t enough to rid you of the undesirable software, our other recommendation is the professional anti-malware tool included on this page, which can make quick work of Grand Explorer.
Grand Explorer app
The Grand Explorer app is usually included in the setup of other programs. This is a process known as program bundling. And it’s the most common way to ensure that the browser hijacker does actually reach the end user, because nobody will want to download and install the Grand Explorer app willingly.
Thus, if you recently downloaded some application and ran the default setup, then that’s probably how Grand Explorer got installed as well. This could have easily been avoided if you had customized the setup manually by selecting that respective option.
And on that note, it would also be a good idea to stay away from spam messages and try not to click on any online advertising materials such as Sensiblemoth.com, New Captcha Here, including those displayed by Grand Explorer. Those can also be used as transmitters for PUPs and malware.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Grand Explorer |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Symptoms | Changes made to the browser’s interface, including added elements such as toolbars, buttons, plug-ins, a new homepage and default search engine. |
| Distribution Method | Spam messages, clickbait ads, other browser hijackers or similar pieces of advertising software, and program bundles. |
| Detection Tool | We tested that SpyHunter successfully removes parasite*, and we recommend downloading it. Manual removal may take hours, it can harm your system if you re not careful, and parasite may reinstall itself at the end if you don't delete its core files. |
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Grand Explorer!
How to remove Grand Explorer
- First, click the Start Menu on your Windows PC.
- Type Programs and Settings in the Start Menu, click the first item, and find Grand Explorer in the programs list that would show up.
- Select Grand Explorer from the list and click on Uninstall.
- Follow the steps in the removal wizard.
If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.
If you have an Android virus, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.
If you have an iPhone virus, please use our iPhone Virus Removal guide.
Read more…
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 Grand Explorer.
- If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Grand Explorer.
- 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 Grand Explorer from Chrome
- Click on the three dots in the right upper corner
- Go to more tools
- Now select extensions
- Remove the Grand Explorer extension
Read more…
- 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 malware 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 Grand Explorer on FF/Edge/etc.
- Open the browser and select the menu icon.
- From the menu, click on the Add-ons button.
- Look for the Grand Explorer extension
- Get rid of Grand Explorer by removing it from extensions
Read more…
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 the malicious program or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.
How to Delete Grand Explorer
- Open task manager
- Look for the Grand Explorer process
- Select it and click on End task
- Open the file location to delete Grand Explorer
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- 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 malicious 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 accuracyThis 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.
Drag and Drop File Here To Scan
Analyzing 0 sEach file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracyThis scanner is based on VirusTotal's API. By submitting data to it, you agree to their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and to the sharing of your sample submission with the security community. Please do not submit files with personal information if you do not want them to be shared. - 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 Grand Explorer
- Click on the home button
- Search for Startup Apps
- Look for Grand Explorer in there
- Uninstall Grand Explorer from Startup Apps by turning it off
Read more…
- Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Grand Explorer-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 Grand Explorer 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 Grand Explorer?
One of the very first and most obvious symptoms of a browser hijacker such as Grand Explorer is usually the presence of vast numbers of banners, popups, box messages and various other forms of online advertising. In addition, another sure sign that your system has been infected by a rogue app such as Grand Explorer is that your Chrome, Firefox or other browsing program may begin to initiate page redirects on its own. In other words, it may start sending you to various web locations right in the middle of your browsing session – whether you like it or not. This can be quite dangerous as such redirects may land you on rogue sites with phishing elements or even malware downloads.
Is Grand Explorer dangerous?
This is something to keep in mind for future software installations as well, because program bundles can be used to distribute far more serious threats, even viruses. Also, be mindful of the download sources you use. Sketchy and unsafe open source download platforms and similar sites can be hubs for viruses like ransomware, Trojans, rootkits, spyware and other nasty forms of malicious code. So be sure to only use reliable sources for your software downloads from now on.
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