FileShareFanatic extension virus - How to remove

FileShareFanatic Google Chrome extension by myway, a.k.a Mindspark Interactive Network (creator of MetroWhiz and HowToSuite), is a sneaky product that can be promoted in deceitful and fishy manners. Hp.myway.com/filesharefanatic/ttab02/index.html?n= URL will be set as the default search engine which will load as a homepage and a new tab. During our investigation, we discovered that the engine will be displaying promotions from many advertising networks. A couple of them are as follows: Propeller Ads Media, Adk2 and Adf.ly.

FileShareFanatic is advertised as an “awesome file share utility”, offering access to top-notch domains for sending large files by URL or email and to upload/transfer documents. While the extension is mainly designed for Google Chrome, we have been informed that people who exploit Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox have also been introduced to pop-ups, recommending them to install this extension.

More info about the creators of this browser hijacker and the infection itself

Business of Mindspark Interactive Network has been launched in 1999. While the company is legitimate and has developed and marketed many digital apps that enable online audiences to enhance their web experiences, their products have been labeled as highly troublesome.

Starting from the marketing strategies that Mindspark adopts: it advertises its products in pop-ups and banners that can be displayed by unreliable domains. In addition to that, even such malware samples like Magala Trojan have been noticed to exploit MyWay search engines for their profit.

Just last month, Magala launched a campaign that secretively assigned Hp.myway.com platform as browsers’ preferences. FileShareFanatic browser extension is not an add-on to implant into device as it will only trigger objectionable streams of advertisements and sponsored results to search queries.

While authentic website of Int.search.myway.com will present results to search queries, but most of the links will be taken out of Google. Nevertheless, not all presented URLs will be endorsed by Google: Mindspark can inject some domains that it has agreed to promote.

Knowing the suspicious nature of these products, you should realize that there are more than one or two reasons for choosing a different provider of a search engine. Also, unknown websites like Q1-tdsge.com have been noticed to promote this file-management tool. Be careful not to accidentally download the latter extension. If you notice that websites from Mindspark are being launched as your preferences, reoccurring advertisements are overlaying with your active browser windows, you should decide on the plan to get rid of this potentially unwanted program (PUP).

By allowing FileShareFanatic be added into your browsers, you are allowing the tool to: read and change the content of all of your visited websites, read and modify browsing histories, handle all of the downloads, control programs, add-ons and themes. We are especially concerned with the fact that the extension will obtain a privilege to deal with all of your downloads: this means that more potentially unwanted tools can end up in your operating system.

How to remove unwanted browser extensions

First of all, you should open browsers’ settings and find a section that shows active add-ons. Look through the list and find FileShareFanatic. Remove it from there and see whether your preferences will no longer be forced to support its engine. If this does not work, then we can only guess that a more complicated removal option is necessary. You could try running a scan with anti-malware tools like Spyhunter which will clearly show the location of all potential malware threats. Manual instructions are included below and could also help you be virus-free.

For the future, we recommend you to be more careful during browsing and try not to interact with pop-ups. Also, do not download little-known browser extensions that could be designed mainly for monetization purposes and web traffic generation.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal of FileShareFanatic virus

How to remove FileShareFanatic extension virus using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like FileShareFanatic extension virus install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to FileShareFanatic extension virus . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make FileShareFanatic extension virus easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove FileShareFanatic extension virus from macOS

Delete FileShareFanatic extension virus from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the FileShareFanatic extension virus app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove FileShareFanatic extension virus from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to FileShareFanatic extension virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove FileShareFanatic extension virus from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything FileShareFanatic extension virus related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to FileShareFanatic extension virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove FileShareFanatic extension virus from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to FileShareFanatic extension virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove FileShareFanatic extension virus from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall FileShareFanatic extension virus and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to FileShareFanatic extension virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.