Browser Extension has taken over my Address Bar through possible Broswer Hijack

Please try this.

• Open Edge, then click the 3 dots at the top right.
• Choose Settings from the menu.
• Select Privacy, search, and services from the sidebar.
• Scroll to Address bar and search.
• Select Google from the Search engine used in the address bar drop-down menu.
• Select Address bar as the default search engine for new tabs.
• Back in Address bar and search select Manage search engines.
• If you find Yahoo or the other sites in there, delete them and any other search engines you do not want to use.
• Return to Settings.
• Scroll down to the Cookies and Site permissions and click on it.
• Click on Pop-ups and redirects.
• Toggle the Block switch to the On position.
• Also make sure there are no unwanted sites in the Allow section.

So unfortunately I have done all of that already and it did not work for me. While messing around with things, I think I jsut fixed the problem for Edge. I went into my computer settings and went to the Microsoft Edge app and clicked on Modify and then Repair, and it did a quick reinstall of Edge and when I opended Edge back up the redirect stopped occuring and it seems normal now. I will let it go for a few hours like I usually do, but if we got rid of the host issue, then in theory it should stay this way and the problem should be fixed. I'll reply in the next few hours or tomorrow morning with an update on this.

Edited by TooTallGar, 22 April 2024 - 01:05 PM.

Yes it sounds as if some settings, left over from the infection, needed clearing.

Hopefully, the reinstall has resolved the issue.

it's been about 24 hours and nothing has come backj like it used to so I think we took care of the issue. From here I can use the software that was suggested to kill off anything that might pop back up but I think it is all fixed now. Thank you so much for the help!

You are most welcome.
I am pleased to hear that the issues are resolved now.
This tool will remove the software we used.
KpRm by Kernel-panik

•     Download KpRm and save it to your Desktop
•     Right click on the icon and select Run as administrator.
•     Click Yes on the Disclaimer.
•     Place a check mark in Delete Tools and Create Restore Point.
•     Under Delete Quarantine, check Delete in 7 days.
•     Click Run.
•     Click OK in the All operations are completed box.
•     It will create and open a log report.
•     KpRm will delete itself from you Desktop and you can either save or remove the report that was generated.

Alternatively, if you wish to retain the tools for future use, you can just remove FRST, as follows.

• Right-click on FRST64.exe and select Rename.
• Rename the file to Uninstall.exe.
• Double-click on Uninstall.exe.
• FRST and its files/folders will now be deleted.
• A reboot may be needed to complete the process.

These articles offer good advice and information for the future.
Keep your computer secure at home
How your system gets infected.
Ransomware advice.
Choosing Secure Passwords.
Thank you for contacting us at Bleeping Computer.

Dennis