Rechanque Virus

Browser Hijacker
by Lidia Howler
May 11, 2023
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Rechanque

Rechanque is an application that establishes control over popular web browsers to promote different websites and sponsored ads on their screen. Rechanque typically attaches to Chrome, Firefox, Edge and other commonly used browsing ads and changes their homepage and search engine settings.

Rechanque
The Rechanque virus will display pop up ads and notifications

Sadly, the users are usually expected to embrace the browser’s “improvements” and live with them without being offered the opportunity to remove, modify or uninstall them in a simple way. That’s why many of them give up and conclude that they must have been hit with a virus or some other type of malware (such as a Trojan, Ransomware, etc.) that has taken control of their favorite web browser. Fortunately, at the end of this article, users can find a removal guide that is created to help everyone that needs assistance removing Rechanque from their computer.

Of course, this is not the rule, but rather a potential risk that may arise from keeping the browser hijacker in your system and letting it uncontrollably expose you to various types of known and unknown web content. That’s why the best you could do to avoid that risk is to regain control of your web browser by uninstalling Rechanque along with the search engine, toolbar and homepage changes that it has imposed.

SUMMARY:

NameRechanque
TypeBrowser Hijacker
Detection Tool

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

How to remove Rechanque

  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 Rechanque in the programs list that would show up.
  3. Select Rechanque from the list and click on Uninstall.
  4. Follow the steps in the removal wizard.

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.

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

How to Delete Rechanque

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

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

    In general, Rechanque is a browser hijacker that operates as a tool for promoting sites and displaying ads. The people who have this program in their system can typically experience automatic page redirects to specific URLs and aggressive generation of pop-up advertisements, banner notifications and promotional messages on the screen of their default browser. What can irritate users the most, however, are the changes that Rechanque tends to make to their browser’s configurations without asking for approval. The browser hijacking program can have the main homepage and/or the default search engine altered without warning. Most prominently, the alternations include the introduction of a completely new search engine, the replacement of the homepage domain with another one, and the incorporation of numerous redirect buttons and unnecessary toolbars that, once clicked on, redirect to different pages and clutter the browser’s interface.


    Is Rechanque dangerous?

    Generally speaking, browser hijackers (Lookaside.fbsbx.com, Mintnav) are applications that are famous for their ability to redirect online users to websites that pay for their traffic and promotion. Such applications are also known to cover the content of the pages the users visit with different pay-per-click advertisements, pop-up notifications, text alerts, banner offers and other click-prompts that advertise concrete products, services, software or their related pages. That’s why, unless they get fully uninstalled from the system, these programs will constantly try to engage you with the advertising content they are programmed to display.


    Is Rechanque a virus?

    Unfortunately, some of the notifications and the web pages the hijacker might advertise may not be very reliable. If you happen to click on a misleading ad, a fake pop-up or a questionable web link, for instance, you may end up being tricked to download some unnecessary software or purchase some low-quality product/service. You may also land on pages that may ask you to fill in some personal details in order to win a prize or register for some super promotions which may be, to say the least, unrealistic. Not to mention that, sometimes, the pop-up warnings and alerts that a program like Rechanque can place on your screen could be used to distribute real viruses, like the aforementioned Trojans, Ransomware, Spyware and other malware.


    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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