I figure by now you probably have figured it out, but I came across this when I was still looking for answers. 3 hours later I was finally free of that crap.
I basically ran malwarebytes (I turned on search for rootkits under settings just to be sure), AdwCleaner, HitmanPro until nothing was found before finally removing google chrome completely. And the real problem was that the url redirect was somewhere in windows registry that none of the anti-virus, anti-malware programs were able to find. I tried bitdefender, kaspersky, freefixer, zemana, etc. After making sure nothing was found anymore I just followed the guide from the chrome help forum to completely remove chrome: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/l3t67Fsq56A
Quoted from the guide below (Make sure you delete chrome from the registry entry as well)
Akash +x said:
Hi there,
Welcome to Google Chrome Help Forum! To uninstall and re-install Chrome completely from your PC, please try the below suggested methods:
- Uninstall any un usefull softwares and check for malwares with anti malware softwares like Malwarebytes.
- Use Chrome Cleanup Tool and check for any errors.
- Try uninstalling Chrome and also delete all the user files from C: drive (sync and backup your bookmarks).
-
- C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome and
- C:\Users\<YourUserName>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome or the entire Google folder. [Or open Run and type in %LOCALAPPDATA%]
- Run a registry clean and a full clean using CCleaner.
- Restart your PC. Download the alternate Chrome installer and install it. (As Admin)
- Restart your PC again.
Try this and let me know if this helps.
Kind regards,
Akash
Akash +x said:
Hi there,
Have you also removed Chrome from the registry entry?
As soon as you removed all local files from C: drive,
- Open the Registry Editor by pressing the Windows Key + R type regedit and click OK.
- Locate:
-
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google and delete it by right clicking it and selecting delete.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google and delete it by right clicking it and selecting delete.
(If you have CCleaner run the registry cleaner and fix selected issues)
- Click File > Exit
- Restart your PC
Install Chrome again from this link:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/126299?hl=en
Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Akash
