Launchpage.org Redirect Virus Removal Guide

Launchpage.org is a malicious browser hijacker or redirect virus that can cause redirection and other serious PC problems. It can change the default homepage to its site and redirect users to random websites which may contain lots of advertisements or pop-ups. This Launchpage.org redirect virus is quite dangerous which PC users need to pay attention to it.

In general, most of the PC users can not notice the virus infection at the beginning of the infection because Launchpage.org redirect virus is able to attack the infected browser via many ways. Some users might get this virus on their system when they download or install a newly software. However, most people pay no attention to it and allow unknown software to be installed. Most of time, such kind of situation may appear at the installation of freeware and shareware without legal credits which are possible to have already been infected by computer threats. Once being downloaded and installed into user¡¯s system, those kinds of bundled programs will be combined together to damage the infected computer terribly.

One of the main purposes of Launchpage.org is to try all means to help malignant extensions or add-ons to get installed on the computer. In practice, this kind of add-ons are nothing but trouble hiding in the browser and recording user¡¯s browsing activities for the sake of collecting personal information to make profits. There are numerous unknown url suddenly appearing in the favorites folder and also some unfamiliar shortcuts in the desktop, in order to mislead the innocent users to its pointed advertising websites. If users click on the ads and visit those unsecure websites, their personal data may be stolen.

Moreover, other threats such as Trojan horse will take advantage of the system vulnerabilities made by the redirect virus to infiltrate into the compromised computer. Taking this Launchpage.org redirect item as an example, it changes the browser settings which causes page redirection and new tab popping up, as well as strange download and installation of unknown plug-ins. The main purpose of the cyber criminals who create such viruses are to collect useful information from the computer and gain illegal profits from pay-per-click principle. Thus if one computer is attacked by this redirect, the data on it will not be safe any more because this redirect will never stop collecting the sensitive data by analyzing the system files on the hard drives. Here is the removal guide for this redirect virus infection.

Launchpage.org Redirect Virus Removal Guide

1. Stop running processes related to this redirect virus
a: When the Windows Task manager appears, switch to Processes tab.
b: Find out and select the processes related to the virus by name random.exe, and click on the ¡°End process¡± button.
2. Remove the redirect virus from Internet Explorer:
a: Start IE, go to Tools and select Internet Options.
b: Find General section, remove the unwanted address as a home page.
c: Then go to Search section, find Settings button and choose Manage Add-ons
d: Erase the redirect and after the action, close Manage Add-ons
3. Remove the redirect virus from Mozilla Firefox:
a: Open Mozilla Firefox browser, click on tools and go to Options.
b: Switch to General tab, remove the unwanted address as a startup site.
c: Then, go to: Firefox -> Add-ons -> Add-ons Manager -> Remove.
d: In the Search list, select Manage Search Engines and erase this redirect and choose OK
4. Remove the redirect virus from Google Chrome:
a: Open Google Chrome and navigate to Settings tab and Set pages.
b: Erase Launchpage.org which was seta as the startup site and choose OK
c: Find Manage search engines and here, erase this redirect.
d: Press on OK, and restart Google Chrome.
5. Delete all registry files created by this redirect
a. While the Registry Editor is opened, search for the registry key ¡°HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ Launchpage.org.¡± Right-click this registry key and select ¡°Delete.¡±
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ¡°[RANDOM].exe¡±
b. Navigate to directory %PROGRAM_FILES%\ Launchpage.org \ and delete the infected files manually.
%AppData%Local[random].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\*.*

Conclusion

Once getting Launchpage.org virus on the computer, users will encounter with a lot of hidden safety trouble. In the age of Internet, users may encounter various types of malware when surfing online, and not every users knows how to fight the threats effectively. It will do any harm for users to learn more computer defense and should always be aware of virus. Users should: only download software from reliable sources; try not to browse unsafe websites; use caution when receiving spam emails; avoid clicking on suspicious links. Most of the time, users encounter malware just because that they do not have the security awareness. At the same time, it is important that users keep the operating system, firewall, antivirus program and other software installed inside the system up-to-date.