Updaterlife Virus

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Updaterlife

Updaterlife is a browser hijacking application that may cause significant web browsing disturbance. The majority of users who end up with Updaterlife on their Chrome, Firefox, Edge or some other browser typically experience auto-redirects and see random pop-up ads and banners on their screen.

Updaterlife

The Updaterlife on Chrome

If you have recently detected Updaterlife on your Chrome web browser, there is no serious reason to worry. The main objective of browser hijacker applications like this one isn’t to harm your system like a Trojan Horse or encrypt your data like a Ransomware.

Instead, these apps aim to spam the screen of your default browsing application with pay-per-click advertisements, full page banners, random pop-up notifications and sponsored redirects to different websites. In this way, apps like Updaterlife manage to collect user clicks which generate income for the hijacker’s developers.

The Updaterlife Virus

Yet, many people are quick to assume that an app like the Updaterlife virus must be some nasty virus that has taken over their web browser without a notice and they seek quick ways to remove it. The majority of browser hijackers like the Updaterlife virus, typically tend to introduce some unauthorized changes in the affected browsers (such as new homepage domains, new search engine tools, new toolbars, etc.) which significantly change the way the browsing app behaves.

SUMMARY:

NameUpdaterlife
Type Browser Hijacker
Danger LevelMedium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
SymptomsThis program may fill the screen of your web browser with various aggressive pop-ups, random ads and auto-redirect links.
Distribution MethodThe software bundling method is commonly used by developers of Browser Hijackers as a means of distribution of this intrusive software.
Detection Tool

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

How to remove Updaterlife

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

How to Delete Updaterlife

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

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

    In most cases, the hijacked browser may start to automatically display various pop-up notifications, full-page banners and different click-bait ads on every webpage that the users visit. Aside from this, the browsing app may start to experience issues like sluggishness, unresponsiveness and auto-redirects that land users on different web locations, including gambling sites, pages with adult content, or sites that promote some questionable products and services.
    In this line of thinking, although browser hijackers like Updaterlife, i.instagram.com, Tinyurl4.ru may not normally have any malware or virus features and may not be as harmful as a Trojan Horse or a file-encrypting Ransomware infection, their presence in the system and their activities may be regarded as potentially unwanted.
    In fact, a lot of security professionals would suggest that users uninstall the browser hijacking apps from their system as a preventive measure against an unintentional encounter with sketchy web materials. Having apps like Updaterlife removed is also a good idea if you want to permanently deal with the stream of aggressive ads and sponsored messages that they display.


    How can Updaterlife be removed successfully?


    One way to cope with Updaterlife is to use the removal guidelines published below this post. Most users should be able to identify and uninstall the corresponding browser-hijacking components successfully if they strictly follow the steps explained there.
    There is also another option, which is even easier and is ideal in case that you don’t want to spend time dealing with the manual removal process or you fear that you may mess things up. The dedicated removal tool that you can find on this page will quickly identify and delete the hijacker all on its own after completing a full system search. This tool is a successful investment not only for removing Prowimoniser once but also in the future, as it provides protection against real malware attacks, including ransomware, rootkits, Trojans and other viruses.

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    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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