Holtoakie Virus

Browser Hijacker
by Lidia Howler
March 11, 2023

Holtoakie

If your web browser is constantly being redirected to Holtoakie, or advertisements are popping up while you browse the Internet, then your computer may be infected with browser hijacker.

Holtoakie Com

Holtoakie  Virus is a special type of program that aims to alter the main configurations of the default browser (be it Chrome, Firefox, Explorer or another one) and to use it as a tool for aggressive online advertising. When it is installed, Holtoakie typically may change the home page and the search engine and to install some additional components that initiate automatic page-redirect to specific sites. The program may also display ads, pop-ups, banners, and different promotions during the regular web browsing and redirect the users to third-party sites with a questionable reputation. Due to these activities, Holtoakie falls under the category of Browser Hijackers and is considered as a potentially unwanted program. If you have this program on your system and you struggle to effectively uninstall it or you don’t know how to remove its changes, our “How to remove” team has prepared a detailed removal guide on that. The good news is you don’t need to be an expert to follow the instructions because Holtoakie is not some harmful virus, a Ransomware, a Trojan or another nasty threat that require professional assistance. Yet, for faster and effective uninstallation, you may like to use the suggested Holtoakie  removal tool. Before you scroll down, however, let us tell you a few more words about the specifics of the Browser Hijackers in general and the potential negative effects of keeping them on your computer.

The Holtoakie Virus

The Holtoakie virus is a piece of software which can commonly be mistaken for malware. In fact, many web users, who have never encountered a page-redirecting and ad-generating program of this kind, can get quite intimidated when they notice how the Holtoakie virus alters their computer’s browser settings and redirects them to websites they did not intend to visit.

SUMMARY:

NameHoltoakie
TypeBrowser Hijacker
Detection Tool

Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Holtoakie!

How to remove Holtoakie

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

How to Delete Holtoakie

  1. Open task manager
  2. Look for the Holtoakie process
  3. Select it and click on End task
  4. Open the file location to delete Holtoakie
  • 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 “Holtoakie” 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.
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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 Holtoakie

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


    Many forums different web users may refer to programs like Holtoakie or Tinyurl4.ru as a virus and may desperately seek help to remove them. In reality, however, the Browser Hijackers are not malicious programs and have nothing in common with real threats such as Trojans, Spyware or Ransomware. They are just tools of the online advertising industry which use a rather aggressive approach to promote certain products, services, and web pages.
    Many Browser Hijackers come in the form of add-ons, also known as browser extensions, navigational aids, or toolbars. Often these elements can improve the experience on a website by providing interactive content, relevant promotions, and helpful redirects. However, some hijacker add-ons may cause the computer to stop responding or display unwanted content, such as pop-up ads, banners, and click-prompts that lead to unfamiliar web locations. In those cases, they are considered as potentially unwanted and the users are advised to uninstall them as soon as possible as this is the best way to save themselves from the aggressive ads disturbance and potential redirects to shady websites. Fortunately, you can easily recognize if your browser has been hijacked – there will most probably be some unapproved homepage changes and when you try to open a new tab, you will be automatically redirected to some sponsored site. The fastest way to get rid of the unwanted software is to use a professional removal tool, such as the one below, or to follow certain manual removal steps. 


    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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