Completely Remove Theadgateway.com Redirect Virus-Step By Step Removal Guides

Theadgateway.com is a browser hijacker that gets into computers silently and alters Internet settings of common web browsers including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. PC users will be redirected to other malicious sites while going online and the homepage will be replaced without any warning. It should be pointed out that it is dangerous to let Theadgateway.com redirect virus stay for a long time on a computer.

Theadgateway.com is capable to enter inside the deep of the system unnoticeably through a list of online resources containing malicious scripts, such as system vulnerabilities, system network vulnerabilities, spam email bundles, unprotected drive-by downloads, junk email attachments, commercial links on browser search tool and hacked websites. It is common to see system prompt when a new program is downloaded and installed. Commonly, users take no notice of the installations of new programs and choose the recommended installation to unwarily allow additional unwanted programs to sneak into their machines. Especially the free programs published on the unsafe webpage or forum. If the freeware that is bundled with the redirect virus is downloaded and installed on the PC, the settings of browsers and the system may be modified.

The time Theadgateway.com finishes its attack, it will seize the moment to introduce some extra items as add on or plugin, or even worse, it will bring in computer virus into the infected computer. In fact, these unwanted browser extensions not only display constant advertisements but also spy on users’ browsing histories and collect their personal information for cybercriminals to make illegal profits. Users will find unfamiliar URLs in the favorite folder and some strange shortcuts in the desktop because cyber crooks want to mislead users to specific advertising websites. If people click on the strange links or pictures because of curiosity, other malware may be invited to the compromised machine.

Once the Theadgateway.com redirect virus can not be removed in time, other threats will be able to invade the infected computer to make things worse. Hackers will also take the chance to visit the infected computers and steal the users’ confidential information such as IP address, usernames, passwords, email address and more. 

Once the data is revealed to public, computer users may suffer from huge money losses and identity theft and other troublesome problems. To avoid further damage and lost, it is wise to have this redirect virus removed from the affected computer immediately. The following is the guide to clean up this threat completely.

How to Remove the Theadgateway.com Virus Completely

Step one: set the default homepage back

For Internet Explorer:
1. Click on Browser Tools
2. Select Manage Add-Ons on the tools window
3. Click Search Provider
4. Here you can see many kinds of search engine option as Bing and Google, select your favorite one to be a default homepage.
5. Choose Search Results and click on Remove icon to eliminate it
6. Click Tools, select Internet Options and then the General tab. Here you can option a website you like and save it.
7. Select the unwanted address and click ‘Remove’ to remove it;

For Google Chrome:
1. Open Customize and control
2. Click on Settings
3. Select on Basic Options icon
4. Here you can reset your homepage (e.g.Google.com）
5. Once you choose a default homepage, click on Manage Search Engines and then click Google to be your default search engine.
6. Remove it from the browser by clicking Theadgateway.com and then the X’ mark

For Mozilla Firefox:
1. Click Manage Search Engine
2. Select Search Results and then click Remove option, click OK
3. Open Tools, under the General tab, set Google.com as default homepage

Step two: locate related files of the redirect virus and remove them from the computer
%AllUsersProfile%
%AllUsersProfile%\Programs\{random letters}\
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~r
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~dll
Step three: Remove Cookies on all Browsers

Internet Explorer:
a. Click options on the browser and then choose Internet Options
b. Open General tab, click Delete Browsing History to remove all related cookies
c. Select cookies and click Delete

Firefox:
a. Click option
b. Select Privacy and then click on Remove Individual Cookies icon
c. Delete relevant cookies list on the box

Google Chrome:
a. Click option
b. Open Under the Bonnet tab
c. Select Privacy and then click Clear browsing data
d. Delete all cookies

Step four: Remove Malicious Registry 
a. Open Registry Editor on the start menu
b. Type in Regedit and click OK
c. Remove all the following registry entries
HKEY
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “CertificateRevocation” = ‘1’
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments “SaveZoneInformation” = ‘0’

Conclusion

Once infected by Theadgateway.com, users may be faced with a lot of potential threats brought by the redirect virus. Nowadays, it is not surprise to see this kind of computer threat and still there are many users who can not totally remove it. But it is still useful for users to be wary about virus infections when surfing online. Keep away from websites with no or low reputation, since those websites might contain malicious codes of deferent malware like redirect virus, Trojan horse, worm and adware. In some cases, users encounter this redirect virus for the reason that they have no self-protection awareness. Download it and run it to protect your computer from more potential threats.