Remove Traffic-media.co “Virus”

This page aims to help you remove the Traffic-media.co Virus for free. Our removal instructions work for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer, as well as every version of Windows.

There is no need to experience a constant flow of ads, page redirects, new tabs and banners popping up every time you open your browser. And if you have recently been put in that situation because of a browser hijacker called Traffic-media.co virus, on this page you are going to learn how to save yourself from this invasion. Below we have prepared a detailed removal guide with screenshots and explanations on how to reach the right ad-generating files and delete them in just a few easy steps. But before you do so, we suggest you read the information in the next lines. It will not only give you a better clue on what exactly browser hijackers can do but also would give you a few tips on how to keep them away.

Traffic-media.co – how is it spreading?

Typical Browser hijackers like the Traffic-media.co virus, spread in a couple of ways. Either you will find them in spam emails, torrents, direct downloads from the web, open source download platforms or most commonly software bundles and third party installations. This means that you are more likely to get them if you download and install another program, which comes packed with a browser hijacker inside its installation package. If during the installation process you just proceed with the standard installation, the browser hijacker will get installed along without your notice. However, if you go for the advanced/custom option in the setup, you will see it in the bundle and will be able to manually deselect it and prevent the installation. Unfortunately, many users don’t know this option and end up with various potentially unwanted programs this way.

What can it do, and what can we do to remove the Traffic-media.co virus?

Traffic-media.co may affect all browsers, regardless of which one you use, and apply some undesired changes to them. It may change the homepage, it may place another search engine by default, it may redirect your searches to some unknown web locations full with ads, banners, and popping boxes, or it may randomly open new tabs and promotional web pages on your screen.  They may come in different shapes and forms, and may become really intrusive when trying to close them.  Because of this activity, the program could cause some browsing-related disturbance and prevent users from surfing the web normally. Traffic-media.co may even collect information about the user’s activity and transmit it to its developers. This is usually done with the idea of optimizing the displayed ads according to the user’s searches and increasing the chance of clicking on the ads. However, collecting data such as the last visited pages, social media activity, the history of searches and various traffic data may be considered by some users as an invasion of their privacy, especially when it is not really clear where this information goes and how it is stored.

These ads are so annoying – could this be a virus infection?

If you wonder why the ads are so annoying, you should know that they are placed on your screen just to earn some income. No, this is not a tricky malware scheme for quick money like Ransomware that blackmails you, but a well-known Pay-Per-Click model.  It allows software developers to earn some money from each click the displayed ads collect. That’s why they have programmed Traffic-media.co to display a huge amount of ads with the hope that you eventually click on some of them.  And it redirects you to some other pages with the same purpose. 

Users, who have not experienced such behavior before usually think that they have got a bad virus, but this is not the case. It is important to notice that Browser hijackers are not malicious programs – they do not contain harmful scripts that can corrupt your system, nor can they spread on to different computers or networks. And even though they may really irritate you with their annoying advertisements, they surely cannot encrypt your files like Ransomware does, so you really don’t need to get panicked if you detect them on your PC. However, if you don’t really want to tolerate the annoying ads-generating activity, you always have the option of uninstalling such programs.

How to successfully uninstall Traffic-media.co?

Tough this could be a bit trickier than the way this program got installed on your computer, we are sure that with the help of the removal guide below, you will be able to successfully remove all browser hijacker related files. All you need to do is closely follow the instructions. And to make sure you don’t meet any such annoying type of programs in the future, have some proper system protection with good antimalware software.

SUMMARY:

Name	Traffic-media.co
Type	Adware/Browser Hijacker
Danger Level	Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
Symptoms	All sorts of annoying ads, banners and pop-ups may disturb your browsing activity.
Distribution Method	It is most commonly found in spam emails, torrents, direct downloads from the web, open source download platforms or most commonly software bundles and third party installations.
Detection Tool	Traffic-media.co may be difficult to track down. Use SpyHunter – a professional parasite scanner – to make sure you find all files related to the infection.

Keep in mind, SpyHunter’s malware detection tool is free. To remove the infection, you’ll need to purchase the full version.
More information about SpyHunter and steps to uninstall.

 

Remove Traffic-media.co

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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).

Reveal All Hidden Files and Folders.

• Do not skip this  – Traffic-media.co may have hidden some of its files.

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

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:

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

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:

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.

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).

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

  Remove Traffic-media.co from Internet Explorer:

Open IE, click   —–> Manage Add-ons.

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

 Remove Traffic-media.co from Firefox:

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

Find the adware/malware —> Remove.
Remove Traffic-media.co from Chrome:

Close Chrome. Navigate to:

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

Rename it to Backup Default. Restart Chrome.

• At this point the threat is gone from Chrome, but complete the entire guide or it may reappear on a system reboot.

Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC simultaneously. Go to the Processes Tab. Try to determine which ones are dangerous. Google them or ask us in the comments.

WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Right click on each of the problematic processes separately and select Open File Location. End the process after you open the folder, then delete the directories you were sent to.

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 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

Remember to leave us a comment if you run into any trouble!