R3.o.lencr.org Malware

R3.o.lencr.org

R3.o.lencr.org is a browser-redirecting app that attaches itself to the main browser in the computer and takes control over some of its settings. R3.o.lencr.org aims to bring different ads to the user’s screen and to promote certain sites by page-redirecting the browser to them.

This is not an uncommon type of software and many computer users (both Windows and Mac) are forced to deal with the consequences of having such an app installed in their systems. R3.o.lencr.org, in particular, is a Windows browser hijacker. It typically spreads via spam messages and file bundles so that more users would install it without actually realizing it. For example, this app may be added as an optional element to the installer of some other program and get installed alongside it. Once installed, R3.o.lencr.org takes over the homepage and the main search engine of the browser. It could be Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera or another browser that gets targeted by this app – it doesn’t matter. Most representatives of the browser hijacker category don’t have any compatibility limitations. They are optimized to be as widely compatible as possible so that they can reach a big number of users.

Of course, the end goal of all this is to make money from the ads that this unwanted app displays and from the paid page redirects that it triggers in the browser. Even though to some users this may not seem like too serious of a problem, once a hijacker like R3.o.lencr.org gets installed in the browser, it quickly becomes apparent that surfing the Internet in peace is no longer an option. The undesirable app would keep showering different pop-ups, banners, and box messages on your screen and it will frequently redirect the browser to the sites it is tasked with popularizing. This could make it quite difficult and frustrating to reach the information you are looking for while using the infected browser. Getting a new browser, however, is not a very good solution to this problem, because the unwanted app would still be present in your computer and this may potentially lead to some more serious issues in the long run.

The R3.o.lencr.org Malware

The R3.o.lencr.org malware is not programmed to cause damage or to carry out any criminal activities in the computers it is installed. The R3.o.lencr.org malware is, above all, an advertising app, which means that it will mainly focus on generating revenue through its paid ads and site-promoting activities.

However, this is where the real problems may start to occur. Many of the sites that use the promoting services of apps like R3.o.lencr.org are not to be trusted. Some may even be illegal and be used for spreading different kinds of malicious software, including Ransomware file-encrypting viruses, Trojan horses, and Spyware. In other cases, the hijacker may land you on a fake page that contains phishing elements aimed at extracting sensitive information about you (for example, credit or debit card numbers).

Endangering your computer or virtual privacy may not be the goal of the people behind R3.o.lencr.org, but this may still end up being an indirect result of the advertising activities of this app. Therefore, if you want to keep your PC safe and secure and if you want to stay away from Ransomware, Worms, Trojans, or other threats, we advise you to use the removal guide we’ve prepared and posted below and uninstall the hijacker with its help.

SUMMARY:

R3.o.lencr.org Malware Removal

If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.

Removing R3.o.lencr.org may be a lenghty process but the quick instructions below may save you some time and efforts:

1. From the browser’s main menu, select More Tools (or Add-ons) and click on the Extensions tab.
2. Then, on the Extensions page search for suspicious-looking extensions that could be linked to R3.o.lencr.org.
3. If you find any extensions that have been installed inside the browser without your approval, remove them.
4. Restart the browser and see if the browser hijacking problem has been resolved.

In some cases, after the completion of the instructions above R3.o.lencr.org will be removed successfully. If this is not your case, then you may need to use the more detailed R3.o.lencr.org removal guide below.

We highly recommend that you Bookmark this removal guide before you proceed with the steps below as you will need to get back to it after a system reboot.

A system reboot in Safe Mode is required for the smooth completion of the next steps. If you don’t know how to do that, we recommend that you follow the guidelines from this link to safely reboot your computer in Safe Mode and then get back to this page to complete the R3.o.lencr.org removal steps.

WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!

• Open the Windows Task Manager with the CTRL + SHIFT + ESC key combination.
• Click on the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10).
• Scroll the list of processes and try to detect which of them could be related to R3.o.lencr.org and need to be stopped.

• Once you find a suspicios-looking process that you believe has a relation to R3.o.lencr.org and its activities, right-click on it and select Open File Location.
• Do a file check of the files stored in that location by dropping them in the free online virus scanner 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 results of the scan detect danger in any of the scanned files, end the related processes from the Task Manager (right-click>>>End Process Tree) and delete the dangerous files and their folders. 

Open a Run window by using the Start and R key combination.

Nextр type appwiz.cpl in the Run window and click OK.

The command will open a Control Panel window where you will be able to see all apps that are currently installed on your computer. Look for suspicious entries in the list and Uninstall them if you find out that there are potentially unwanted or could be responsible for the browser hijacking problem.

Next, open the System Configuration window by typing msconfig in the windows search field, followed by Enter.

In the Startup tab, Disable any startup items that seem to have a relation to R3.o.lencr.org or look suspicious, have “Unknown” Manufacturer, etc. The easiest way to disable a Startup item is to simply remove its checkmark from the checkbox.

Press Start and R keyboard keys together and  copy the line below in the Run window that pops up:

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

Click OK and this should immediately open a text file called Hosts. Scroll down the text of the Hosts file until you find where it is written Localhost. It should be somewhere at the bottom. Then, check if some strange IPs have been added below Localhost. The image below explains what you should be looking for:

Please, write to us in the comments if you find any suspicious IP addresses in your Hosts file. A member of our team will take a look at them and will tell you if they are dangerous and need to be deleted or not.

Next, open Network Connections from the Start menu and carefully repeat the following instructions:

1. Select the currently active Network Adapter, right-click on it, and select Properties.
2. Find Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP) and select it, then click on the active Properties button.
3. Select the Obtain DNS server automatically option in the new window and then click on Advanced.
4. In the Advanced TCP/IP settings window click on the DNS tab. If any rogue DNS has been added there, remove it and click OK to save the changes.

• Important! The next instructions should be applied to all browsers that are presently installed on your computer. A failure to apply the instructions may help R3.o.lencr.org to reappear once the system reboots.
• NOTE: For demonstration purposes, we are showing the instructions in Google Chrome, but the same should do for Firefox and IE (or Edge).

Select the browser’s shortcut icon and right-click on it, then choose Properties.

In Properties click on the Shortcut tab at the top. 

Then, in the Target box, remove everything that has been added after .exe and click OK to save the changes.

  Remove R3.o.lencr.org from Internet Explorer:

Open IE, click   and choose Manage Add-ons from the menu.

Disable any add-ons or extensions that could potentially have a link to R3.o.lencr.org or seem to be potentialunwanted.

Next, click   again and select  Internet Options.

Point your attention to the homepage section and if you see a change in the homepage URL that you haven’t approved, delete the address and type a homepage address of your choice. Click on the Apply button to save the changes.

 Remove R3.o.lencr.org from Firefox:

Open Firefox, click    >>> Add-ons >>> Extensions.

If any extensions in the list grab your attention as potentially unwanted or hijacker-related, remove them.

Remove R3.o.lencr.org from Chrome:

After you are done with the instructions above (including the browser-specific instructions for Firefox and IE), close the browser and navigate to:

 C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data. You should be able to see a folder called “Default” inside:

Select that folder, right-click on it and rename it to Backup Default. Then restart the browser and see if the problem is resolved.

One last thing before you close the guide is to check your Registry for any entries related to R3.o.lencr.org. For that, type Regedit in the windows search field and open the result.

Inside the Registry Editor app, press CTRL and F and carefully type the browser hijacker’s Name.

Click on the Find Next button, then right-click and delete any items that are found.

To ensure that there are no entries that have been left behind, manually go to each of the listed directories below and delete/uninstall 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

You can ask us in the comments if you can’t discern which directory should be deleted. Alternatively, if you don’t want to risk deleting a legitimate item and corrupting your OS involuntarily, scan the computer with the recommended professional removal tool found on this page and follow its instructions.