Webunstop.net Removal (Firefox/Chrome/IE)

This page aims to help you remove Webunstop.net. Our removal instructions work for Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer, as well as every version of Windows.

If you’ve managed to somehow end up with a program called Webunstop.net on your computer and it is now ruining your browsing experience and even just your day, you are likely dying to find a way to remove it. If you’re a somewhat tech savvy person, you probably already tried a few ways of deleting the annoying program, but to no avail. The second you open your Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge or other browser again, the same awful ads are still there and you still can’t do anything about the new homepage and default search engine that you don’t want. And to add further to your aggravation, you also have to deal with the endless page redirects that just keep occurring when you least want them to. The only working solution for this problem is to remove Webunstop.net from your system, which may not quite be as you would go about removing a regular program. Below this article you will find detailed instructions on how to located an remove this piece of software, but before that we recommend you read a little about it first, to understand what exactly it’s up to on your computer.

What is Webunstop.net? Is it harmful?

Webunstop.net is what’s known as a browser hijacker. It’s called that because of the way it takes control of your browser, changing up its settings (e.g. new homepage, new default search engine, etc.) and making itself fully at home in your system. And though it’s a very intrusive type of software, it’s not something that aims to cause you harm. So, that’s one substantial difference between browser hijackers and, say, viruses or other malicious programs. But what is the point of all this intrusiveness? Well, the developers of such programs make their money based on the amount of ads those programs can generate and get users to click on. With that said, their sole purpose is to promote various products, services and websites and get you to interact with the advertising materials, such as popups, banners, in-text links and box messages. What makes hijackers be categorized by experts as potentially unwanted programs, though, is the means by which they strive to achieve this.

More specifically, a program like Webunstop.net is very often fully capable of monitoring your browsing activities and extracting certain data from them. For example, the most common things a program of this type will be after includes the websites you like to spend the most time on, as well as your recent online search requests.

Webunstop.net Removal

If you are a Windows user, continue with the guide below.

If you are a Mac user, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.

If you are an Android user, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.

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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).

WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC at the same time and go to the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10). Try to determine which processes are dangerous. 

Right click on each of them and select Open File Location. Then scan the files with our free online virus scanner:

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After you open their folder, end the processes that are infected, then delete their folders. 

Note: If you are sure something is part of the infection – delete it, even if the scanner doesn’t flag it. No anti-virus program can detect all infections. 

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.

• After you complete this step, the threat will be gone from your browsers. Finish the next step as well or it may reappear on a system reboot.

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 Webunstop.net 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 Webunstop.net from Firefox:

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

Find the adware/malware —> Remove.
Remove Webunstop.net 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.

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 up 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

Occasionally, things like your social media likes and shares may also be taken into consideration, as well as your bookmarks and favorites. All of this can provide the browser hijacker with the necessary understanding of your interests and preferences. That way, instead of just exposing you to random clusters of ads, it can start making an emphasis on those ads that are likely to appeal to you, personally. It wouldn’t be unlikely for you to already start noticing certain similarities between the ads you’ve started seeing and, say, the things you were just recently posting online or looking up.

But even that’s not the worst of it. Despite the fact that we said browser hijackers like Webunstop.net are generally harmless and are by no means viruses, they can still expose you to real malware like ransomware and Trojans. All the redirection processes that they undertake could potentially lead you to various infected sources. And given the fact that browser hijackers like to meddle with your system registry files, weakening your defense mechanisms, you can easily end up getting infected by something very harmful and very dangerous.

So, what options do you have? Well, deleting the browser hijacker will without a doubt eliminate your annoyance issues and will clean your browser of all the popups and banners. But it’s important also that you see to maintaining your browser and system clean. And the first step towards this would be to practice safer browsing habits. For example, try to avoid suspicious, shady-looking web locations and only use trusted download sources. Furthermore, as browser hijackers are most commonly bundled together with other software, be sure to always customize the installation process of any new program manually. This should allow you to have better control over it and prevent any added installs from getting installed without your knowledge.

SUMMARY:

Name	Webunstop.net
Type	Browser Hijacker
Danger Level	Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
Symptoms	New browser homepage, new default search engine, often a toolbar that was never there before, etc.
Distribution Method	Program bundles are the leading sources for programs of this type, followed by spam emails, other hijackers and adware.
Detection Tool	parasite may reinstall itself multiple times if you don't delete its core files. We recommend downloading SpyHunter to scan for malicious programs. This may save you hours and cut down your time to about 15 minutes. Download SpyHunter Anti-Malware More information on SpyHunter, steps to uninstall, EULA, Threat Assessment Criteria, and Privacy Policy. If SpyHunter detects a malware, you will have to purchase a license to remove it.

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.

 

If the guide doesn’t help, download the anti-virus program we recommended or try our free online virus scanner. Also, you can always ask us in the comments for help!