How to Remove Play-bar.net Thoroughly? (Redirect Virus Removal Guide)

Play-bar.net redirect virus is a new browser hijacker that is designed to attack and occupy Internet browsers, forcibly modifying the browser original settings, replacing user’s favorite homepage with Play-bar.net. By doing this, the browser hijacker is able to alter the home page and affect users’ browsing habits. As this Play-bar.net redirect looks like normal search service on the Internet, most of the PC users may continue to use the infected browser since they know nothing about this redirect infection.

Play-bar.net is able to block the normal search results and redirect computer users to its pointed websites which are filled with commercial ads and sponsored links. In addition to that, the threat may also deliver constant pop-ads to the computer screen directly, especially when users are running certain third-party applications such as a media player, so that users may click on them unconsciously. In general, this redirect virus is designed to serve advertising sites to PC users so that hijacker can make profit. When users see the pop-ups containing coupons, deals, discounts and bargains that provided by the browser hijacker, they may be thrilled about them and click on them. So, in some cases, those users would click on the pop-up ads and go for a visit.

As Play-bar.net has a complete, in-depth understanding of user’s preferences. It will bring in a lot of system troubles after users are lack of awareness. Once browser settings has been under the control of Play-bar.net redirect virus, loads of perilous extensions, plug- ins and add- on will be allowed to get installed on it which may severely damage the system. As a consequence, the infected browsers will act more and more wired than before, for instance, they will suddenly get stuck or even crash down. Besides, the redirect virus may add lots of malicious website URLs to users’ Favorite folder and Bookmark list. So, if users click the links and visit those unsafe websites, they would unknowingly get other malware like Trojan horse, worms, and adware downloaded onto their computers.

Guide to Manually Remove Play-bar.net Redirect Virus

1. Remove the browser hijacker from the infected computer.
Click on the Start button and select Control Panel. Click on Uninstall a program under the Programs category.
Find out and locate the programs related to the browser hijacker. Click on the Uninstall button to remove them all.
2. Launch the infected browser and remove the add-ons or extensions related to the browser hijacker.
Internet Explorer:
Open IE, click on Tools and then select Manage Add-ons. When it opens a window, click on Toolbars and Extensions. Find out the extensions related to the browser hijacker and select them. Then, right-click them and click on the Disable option. Restart IE to finish the procedure.
Google Chrome:
Launch Google Chrome. Click on the Three-bar icon on top-right of the browser, select tools and then Extensions from the list. After that, click Extensions on the left side of the window. Locate the extension related to the browser hijacker, select it and click on the trash icon. Restart the browser to complete the procedure.
Mozilla Firefox:
Start Firefox and click on the tool menu from the top menu. Click on the Add-ons tab to open the configuration window. Then, click Extensions on the left side of this window. Now find out the extensions of the redirect virus and remove them from the browser. Restart the browser to complete the process.
3. Show hidden files and folders.
Go to Control panel again and click on Appearance and Personalization. Then double click on Folder Options. Hit the View tab, tick “Show hidden files, folders and drives” and deselect “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)”. Click on the OK button to apply the changes.
4. Delete the malicious files of Play-bar.net from the local disk.
The files listed below are reference only because the virus may has the ability to changes the names and locations of its files.
%Program Files%\ random
%AppData%\Protector-[rnd].exe
%AppData%\Inspector-[rnd].exe
%AppData%\vsdsrv32.exe
5. Open Registry Editor and delete the registry entries of the browser hijacker..
Press Windows+ R keys simultaneously to open the Run window. Then type “regedit” in the run box and press Enter key to open Registry Editor.
After that, find out and delete all the registry entries of the redirect virus. The below registry entries are also for reference only.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\[random].exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\browser hijacker name
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System ‘DisableRegistryTools’ = 0
6. Restart the infected computer to apply all changes.

Conclusion

Play-bar.net will invader the target computer by hiding in some programs, pretending as a useful item to let PC users install. Sometimes, it is also bundled with free downloads, such as music files or movies, and sneaks into the computer without permission. Most of the PC users will choose to ignore this virus infection and lose the best time to wipe out this nasty redirect infection.

To protect your PC from being infected with cunning redirect virus, you must pay attention to the way you surf online and be alert when you find the default homepage has been replaced by any unfamiliar webpage, or newly add-ons suddenly in the browser. In this case, antivirus program or security tool are the most trusted removal way to get rid of such annoying and stubborn browser redirect. It’s not a good suggestion to let one who knows little about system to remove the virus all by himself. It is developed to help users to detect and delete the threat automatically from the computer without damage.