Rekadvice Virus

Browser Hijacker
by Violet George
December 22, 2022

Rekadvice

Rekadvice is a type of browser hijacker that markets different sites and products within the user’s browser without giving the user the option to stop its ads. Rekadvice can also track your online activities to later tailor its ads according to your browsing habits.

Rekadvice

Many users face a similar problem and a lot of them actually think that the cause behind it is some nasty malware program such as ransomware, a Trojan horse or a spyware infection. However Rekadvice and other apps similar to it, although potentially unwanted and quite annoying, are not really malicious in their nature. The idea behind most such software pieces is that they’d use the user’s browser to advertise things like different products, sites, online services, other software apps and programs and so on.

It is typically irrelevant what your browser is since most popular browsing programs like Chrome, IE and Firefox can get “infiltrated” by an app like Rekadvice . Also, switching to another browser is likely not going to solve anything as the unpleasant piece of software might latch onto the new browser as well. The best thing to do in case you have Rekadvice on your computer is find a way to have it removed from it and here, we will show you exactly what you need to do in order to bring your browser back to normal.

SUMMARY:

NameRekadvice
Type Browser Hijacker
Danger LevelMedium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
Symptoms The unpleasant effects that the hijacker is likely to have on your browser are the most evident symptoms.
Distribution MethodCommon methods of distribution for such apps are installation bundling, spam messaging and linking the hijackers to random web ads.
Detection Tool

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

How to remove Rekadvice

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

How to Delete Rekadvice

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

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

    The name of the software category to which Rekadvice belongs is browser hijackers. These are actually really widespread apps and software components that can be found all over the Internet. Since they aren’t real viruses, the methods of distributing them are oftentimes legitimate which makes it more likely for users to get Rekadvice installed on their computer without even realizing it.
    As we said, the best way of dealing with the pesky ads and unwanted changes to the browser is by removing the hijacker. However, doing that might not be all that easy if you have never before encountered and removed one. Therefore, we have made sure to provide the visitors of this page with the necessary tools for uninstalling and removing hijackers like Rekadvice and Privatesearches.org . Below you can find manual removal instructions as well as a professional removal tool for unwanted and hazardous software. Use either of them or both of them to get rid of the unwanted app.


    Is Rekadvice dangerous?

    Many users don’t actually mind the ads and the page redirects all that much. They are simply able to ignore them and are okay with putting up with them. However, there is actually a more important reason for removing hijackers like Rekadvice than the sheer intrusiveness that comes from them. A browser hijacker, though technically harmless, is not the safest software piece to keep on your PC.
    Pretty much all security experts advise that users keep away from ads coming from such software pieces because it is possible some of the banners, the pop-ups and the page redirects might originate from sources that are rather unsafe and hazardous. Surely you wouldn’t want to land some more problematic piece of software like a Trojan or ransomware due to the hijacker’s presence on your PC, yet this is exactly what might happen if you carelessly click on the ads displayed by the undesirable ad-generating piece of software. That is why, interacting with any content that comes from Rekadvice is inadvisable and also why the best thing you could do if a hijacker app is currently on your PC is use the guide on this page to have it removed once and for all. In addition, it’s important that you don’t allow any more hijackers to get installed on your machine.


    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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