Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker - How to remove

Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com is a website that serves as the homepage of those who have installed the Quick Audio Converter Pro browser add-on. The extension promises to allow users to access easy and free ways to convert audio files. Despite the innocent description, this extension is considered to be unwanted and suspicious by cybersecurity tools and given the labels “adware” and “browser hijacker“.

Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com is not a virus, but it is unwanted and viewed with suspicion. This extension was developed by Eightpoint Technologies, a company that has already developed dozens of browser hijackers, including Get Recipes, Easy Converter, and Convert My Files.

What does Quick Audio Converter Pro do?

In short, search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com is a browser hijacker that spies on users in order to deliver them effective ads. Despite not being a virus, its features are thought to have a negative effect on the user’s cybersecurity. This leads to it triggering the alarms of many reputable antivirus programs.

By “spying” I just mean that search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com tracks your browsing history, your IP, sees what queries you type into the search bars, among other things. This data is useful for advertisers who want to be able to predict which ads are likely to work on you. This is normal for commercial programs to do, but it is also something that you must be aware of.

One of the main symptoms of search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com as a hijacker is that it redirects your search queries to the Yahoo search engine. This can be confusing — it isn’t clear why search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com’s functions would require that the search engine is replaced, but the extension can’t work without redirecting to Yahoo. Eightpoint does the same with their other browser add-ons. The problem isn’t just that not everyone wants to use the Yahoo search engine, but also that the ads are even more numerous when the results are accessed through the search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com page than normal — and Yahoo is already infamous for how many ads are included in the results.

So, does search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com fulfill its promises? Well, it does pin a few links in the new tab page. These links lead to an online video-to-audio converter, a download site for an offline converter, and a website that lists converters. These recommended sites are functional, but search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com does nothing that a list of bookmarked sites can’t do. Whether that’s worth a while extension is up to each person to decide. Some of the linked-to sites have ads for other browser hijackers but that does not mean that they aren’t safe. It’s just important to be careful with online tools and always update your browser with the newest security patches to avoid infections through malvertising.

How search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com spreads

Quick Audio Converter Pro is installed by going to the quickaudioconverter.com page. A lot of people find it by searching online for a youtube video converter. These converter sites allow people to rip the audio of online videos and are sometimes used for illegal purposes, such as pirating songs. Because of that, these ripping sites are shut down regularly. At the same time, new ones spring up. Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com is supposed to help people access them quicky form their new tab page, as well as basic audio type converter sites.

Other ways that hijackers are spread is thanks to adware. Whether that’s online redirect viruses or malicious programs on your computer, they often advertise other adware,  which browser hijackers are usually a type of.

Finally, bundlers are known to spread unwanted programs, including extensions. If search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com became your home page right around the time that you downloaded a free program off of a site, it’s possible that Quick Audio Converter Pro was included in the installation.

How to remove search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com

The good thing about search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com is that the hijacker provides instructions on how to remove it and restore the previous new tab page. Still, the instructions are listed below this article. It’s a good idea to look at your list of installed extensions because there is a chance that you have some installed without your knowledge, or just forgot about them. They wouldn’t be noticeable because newer extensions override the effects of the previous ones.

Unused extensions should be removed because they’re an inherent security risk: the more powerful an add-on is, the riskier it is to keep it installed. For example, search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com can read your browsing history and your data on its sites. Luckily, Google, the developer of Chrome, is always trying to improve the security of browsers and has recently started a project to allow people see even more specific permissions. Chrome, being the most popular browser by far, will hopefully set the trend for more secure extensions. For now, though, its official store is still home for quite a few hijackers.

Adware and bundlers are often involved in promoting and distributing malicious extensions, so it’s advisable to scan your computer for malware. On the chance that your device is infected, you can avoid future problems by removing the unwanted programs now. If your usual antivirus program doesn’t detect anything, and it’s up-to-date, then try using a more aggressive program, such as Spyhunter (Windows), or Combo-Cleaner (Mac). They might also help you remove suspicious browser add-ons, depending on your browser.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker 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 search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker 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 search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker from macOS

Delete Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker 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.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

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

TopRemoving Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker. Click on the trash bin icon next to Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

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

TopRemoving Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker from Firefox

• 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 search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker 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.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker, 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.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

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

How to remove Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

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

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.

TopRemoving search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the 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.