Hotspot Shield Toolbar is a stubborn application that will make your
computer unusable if installed. The Hotspot Shield Toolbar virus can be
downloaded by a user from its official page but mostly it gets added to
your browser without your consent. Firefox, Chrome, Internet explorer or
Safari can be a target of this bug. Once entered, it will modify
browser settings. Soon after its invasion, the victim computer will
become slow down, starnge pop-up ads from Hotspot Shield may appear,
Google search results will redirect to wrong websites and similar
annoying activities may happen. Apart from this visual interruptions,
the Hotspot Shield Toolbar malware will do spying on infected computer
and will collect sensitive information from targeted machine. You are
advised to uninstall Hotspot Shield Toolbar before it causes
irrecoverable losses.
Common Symptoms of Hotspot Shield Toolbar infection:
This kind of malwares usually change your Homepage, Search provider, Desktop Background.
They can display bunch of unstoppable pop-ups advertisements.
Computer performs slower then usual, browser may crash over and over.
Strange websites are automatically opened on the computer after a frequent interval.
Disabled Folder options, Task manager, Registry editing tools.
Advertisements from stranger companies start to appear out of nowhere.
Unexpected browser behaviors such as URL/link redirects.
Unwanted and unknown Plugin/extension or add-ons attached with browser.
Useless shortcuts on desktop or creepy websites added to favorites/bookmarks without your knowledge.
How to uninstall Hotspot Shield Toolbar
Remove toolbars, plugins, extensions, add-ons
Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox users:
Go to TOOLS and then click MANAGE ADD-ON, From there, select Extensions, Toolbars and remove the Hotspot Shield Toolbar if found. Make sure Google is set as default search Provider.
Google Chrome Users:
Click SETTINGS icon and select SETTINGS, then open Extensions, toolbar, search provider options, remove the Hotspot Shield Toolbar if listed there. Make sure Google is set as default search Provider.
Uninstall from Control Panel
Open CONTROL PANEL, then ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS or “Programs and Features”, now lookup for Hotspot Shield Toolbar and uninstall if it is listed.
How to delete Hotspot Shield Toolbar manually:
If the malware did not go away after uninstall procedure, try these steps. Please note, the manual removal method is a bit complex and it can go wrong if you perform its tasks incorrectly. It is advised to run an automatic virus removal software for safe and easy solutions. However, if you are good with Manual removal, do the steps below.
Possibly corrupt registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “CertificateRevocation” = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System “DisableTaskMgr” = 1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system “DisableTaskMgr” = 1
Delete files:
Open then following folders or search for Hotspot Shield Toolbar in My Computer and delete if found files associated with this bug.
C:\program files
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\
%AllUsersProfile%\
Common Symptoms of Hotspot Shield Toolbar infection:
This kind of malwares usually change your Homepage, Search provider, Desktop Background.
They can display bunch of unstoppable pop-ups advertisements.
Computer performs slower then usual, browser may crash over and over.
Strange websites are automatically opened on the computer after a frequent interval.
Disabled Folder options, Task manager, Registry editing tools.
Advertisements from stranger companies start to appear out of nowhere.
Unexpected browser behaviors such as URL/link redirects.
Unwanted and unknown Plugin/extension or add-ons attached with browser.
Useless shortcuts on desktop or creepy websites added to favorites/bookmarks without your knowledge.
How to uninstall Hotspot Shield Toolbar
Remove toolbars, plugins, extensions, add-ons
Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox users:
Go to TOOLS and then click MANAGE ADD-ON, From there, select Extensions, Toolbars and remove the Hotspot Shield Toolbar if found. Make sure Google is set as default search Provider.
Google Chrome Users:
Click SETTINGS icon and select SETTINGS, then open Extensions, toolbar, search provider options, remove the Hotspot Shield Toolbar if listed there. Make sure Google is set as default search Provider.
Uninstall from Control Panel
Open CONTROL PANEL, then ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS or “Programs and Features”, now lookup for Hotspot Shield Toolbar and uninstall if it is listed.
How to delete Hotspot Shield Toolbar manually:
If the malware did not go away after uninstall procedure, try these steps. Please note, the manual removal method is a bit complex and it can go wrong if you perform its tasks incorrectly. It is advised to run an automatic virus removal software for safe and easy solutions. However, if you are good with Manual removal, do the steps below.
Possibly corrupt registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “CertificateRevocation” = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System “DisableTaskMgr” = 1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system “DisableTaskMgr” = 1
Delete files:
Open then following folders or search for Hotspot Shield Toolbar in My Computer and delete if found files associated with this bug.
C:\program files
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\
%AllUsersProfile%\