Hide My History Virus

Hide My History

Hide My History is an undesirable extension app for Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers that takes over the browsing program, and modifies its settings. Hide My History will add its own search engine and homepage address to the browser, replacing the ones chosen by you.

Hide My History

The Hide My History Virus will display pop up ads and redirect your searches

If a sudden generation of obtrusive ads and page-redirects is bothering you each time you start using your browser, and if the browser has had some of its settings changed without your permission, you should know that you probably have what experts define as a browser hijacker in your computer. The browser hijackers are small apps similar to browser extensions that operate from within the user’s browser. They are known for replacing the addresses of the new tab page and/or of the homepage, as well as for installing new elements in the browser such as a new search engine and new toolbar buttons. A page-redirecting service may also get installed in the browser and then redirect you to sites that the hijacker seeks to promote on your screen. It doesn’t matter how secure your browser is because even some of the safest browsers – Chrome, Firefox, and Safari – commonly get infected by such unwanted apps. And while the presence of a hijacker inside your browser won’t directly harm your system or cause any serious problems, it is still important to uninstall this app so that it doesn’t interfere with your browsing activities. Also, though the hijackers aren’t typically capable (or supposed to) of damaging anything in the computer they are installed in, their presence there may still be considered a security weakness that more serious forms of malware like Trojans, Worms, and Ransomware could exploit. That is why you must make sure that Hide My History isn’t allowed to reside in your computer any longer.

The Hide My History Virus

A difficulty that almost all users who have hijackers in their computers face is the successful uninstallation of the invasive app. This is because, even though these apps aren’t real viruses, they can still be quite tricky to fully remove. For one, they often leave helper elements in the system that allow them to return after the user has seemingly uninstalled them. It is not uncommon for people to think that they have managed to get rid of a hijacker just to see the pesky application return to their browser the next time they go online. Also, you are unlikely to find an actual uninstallation executable for this program, not to mention that it will probably not be listed in the Control Panel’s Uninstall a program list, or in the browser’s extensions manager. So what can one do in order to remove Hide My History then? Well, you will learn more about that after you check out the guide posted right below this article. There you will find the necessary instructions for the hijacker’s removal – after completing them, there should be nothing left from the unwanted software on your computer. And in the off chance that the manual steps aren’t quite enough to rid your browser of the invasive hijacker, you can also try the recommended and tested professional anti-malware tool that’s linked below. Just remember to take care of this hijacker as soon as possible in order to avoid encountering any more serious risks like Trojans, Worms, Spyware, and Ransomware, because the ads and the redirects triggered by hijackers like this one may sometimes lead you to shady sites with hazardous content.

SUMMARY:

Name Hide My History
Type Browser Hijacker
Danger Level Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
Symptoms  A browser hijacker would change the starting page of the main browser, and introduce a new search engine service.
Distribution Method File bundles are the most commonly used browser hijacker distribution technique.
Detection Tool

How to Get Rid of Hide My History Virus

To try and remove Hide My History quickly you can try this:

  1. Go to your browser’s settings and select More Tools (or Add-ons, depending on your browser).
  2. Then click on the Extensions tab.
  3. Look for the Hide My History extension (as well as any other unfamiliar ones).
  4. Remove Hide My History by clicking on the Thrash Bin icon next to its name.
  5. Confirm and get rid of Hide My History and any other suspicious items.

If this does not work as described please follow our more detailed Hide My History removal guide below.

If you have a Windows virus, continue with the guide below.

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


Step1

Some of the steps will likely require you to exit the page. Bookmark it for later reference.

Reboot in Safe Mode (use this guide if you don’t know how to do it).

Step2

WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC at the same time and go to the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10). Try to determine which processes are dangerous. 

malware-start-taskbar

Right click on each of them and select Open File Location. Then scan the files with our free online virus scanner:

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    After you open their folder, end the processes that are infected, then delete their folders. 

    Note: If you are sure something is part of the infection – delete it, even if the scanner doesn’t flag it. No anti-virus program can detect all infections. 

    Step3

    Hold together the Start Key and R. Type appwiz.cpl –> OK.

    appwiz

    You are now in the Control Panel. Look for suspicious entries. Uninstall it/them.

    Type msconfig in the search field and hit enter. A window will pop-up:

    msconfig_opt

    Startup —> Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer or otherwise look suspicious.

    Step4

    Hold the Start Key and R –  copy + paste the following and click OK:

    notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts

    A new file will open. If you are hacked, there will be a bunch of other IPs connected to you at the bottom. Look at the image below:

    hosts_opt (1)

    If there are suspicious IPs below “Localhost” – write to us in the comments.

    Open the start menu and search for Network Connections (On Windows 10 you just write it after clicking the Windows button), press enter.

    1. Right-click on the Network Adapter you are using —> Properties —> Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP), click  Properties.
    2. The DNS line should be set to Obtain DNS server automatically. If it is not, set it yourself.
    3. Click on Advanced —> the DNS tab. Remove everything here (if there is something) —> OK.

    DNS

    Step5

    • After you complete this step, the threat will be gone from your browsers. Finish the next step as well or it may reappear on a system reboot.

    Right click on the browser’s shortcut —> Properties.

    NOTE: We are showing Google Chrome, but you can do this for Firefox and IE (or Edge).

    browser-hijacker-taskbar-properties

    Properties —–> Shortcut. In Target, remove everything after .exe.

    Browser Hijacker Removal Instructions

    ie9-10_512x512  Remove Hide My History from Internet Explorer:

    Open IE, click  IE GEAR —–> Manage Add-ons.

    pic 3

    Find the threat —> Disable. Go to IE GEAR —–> Internet Options —> change the URL to whatever you use (if hijacked) —> Apply.

    firefox-512 Remove Hide My History from Firefox:

    Open Firefoxclick  mozilla menu  ——-> Add-ons —-> Extensions.

    pic 6


    chrome-logo-transparent-backgroundRemove Hide My History from Chrome:

    Close Chrome. Navigate to:

     C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data. There is a Folder called “Default” inside:

    Rename the Folder to Backup Default

    Rename it to Backup Default. Restart Chrome.

    Step6

    Type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.

    Inside, press CTRL and F together and type the threat’s Name. Right click and delete any entries you find with a similar name. If they don’t show up this way, go manually to these directories and delete/uninstall them:

    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory. It could be any one of them – ask us if you can’t discern which ones are malicious.
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random

    If the guide doesn’t help, download the anti-virus program we recommended or try our free online virus scanner. Also, you can always ask us in the comments for help!


    About the author

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    Brandon Skies

    Brandon is a researcher and content creator in the fields of cyber-security and virtual privacy. Years of experience enable him to provide readers with important information and adequate solutions for the latest software and malware problems.

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