How to Remove Downanapp.com Redirect Virus (Removal Guide)

My browser has been hijacked by Downanapp.com and I don’t know how to remove it. I regularly run my antivirus program to clear the browser cookies when I feel the browsers running slowly and suspect that there is virus on my computer. However, all the default settings have been changed to unknown strange website. What is the best way to get rid of this threat and get my browser back to normal? I need some help!

The general knowledge of Downanapp.com Virus

Downanapp.com is a vicious browser hijacker which disguises as a legal web site to attract people to click the ads or use the search bar to search information on that page. When you first take a glance at it, you will think that it is a legitimate website just like google.com or bing.com. You can find a search box in the center of the webpage. You can use the toolbar to search things. However, the search results may be a little different from Google’s. The search results it offers are often websites with advertising or unhealthy contents. So the search results are not real. If you click those search results, you might get infected with some other viruses. This will put your browser in a dangerous state. For instance, some browser settings and system settings are changed and the computer security levels become lower. As a result, malware can invade into your computer to steal personal information such as credit card number if you use any online payment. Sometimes, the files stored on your computer can be stolen as well. Some people may get into worse condition, for instance, the virus encrypt some personal files and you can never decrypt them easily. What’s worse, you could never make it later! 

Commonly, your computer gets infected with this redirect virus when you view some malicious websites. When you visit some web sites, a window will pop up prompt you to set this web site as your homepage. You may ignore the suggestion if you don’t want. If you click Yes carelessly, the browser hijacker like Downanapp.com can become your homepage and hijack the browser. Some redirect viruses can even infect your browsers without notice when you visit the websites that have been hacked. So you may notice that not all the websites are safe to load nor all the files are safe to run. Some strange and suspicious add-ons, plug-ins and extensions will appear in no time. They take up a lot of precious system resources and space, such cause a more and more slow and instable PC system. If your antivirus program cannot effectively clean up this redirect virus, then you can try the manual removal way to remove Downanapp.com out of your computer. Don’t ignore the threat nor leave it on your computer too long as soon as you find it. Don’t ever neglect this threat and let it stay in your computer for a long time, for it can cause greater trouble than you can imagine.

How to Manually Remove Downanapp.com Virus in Several Steps

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.

c. Select ‘Search Results’ 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 Search Result 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 Downanapp.com 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_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “CertificateRevocation” = ‘1’

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments “SaveZoneInformation” = ‘0’

 

Tips: Before you remove Downanapp.com, you need to make a backup of the system in case you make mistakes when deleting the files and registry entries related to the redirect virus. The most difficult part for most users is that the files of the threat change randomly and they can’t identify them. The most complicated step of the removal task is to identify the files of the virus since the files would be randomly tagged. Therefore, it requires you to have sufficient computer expertise to perform the manual removal. If you don’t have sufficient knowledge, it’s strongly suggested to use automatic remover tool. 

Conclusion: Downanapp.com is a threat which can do harm to your PC seriously. Most of time, a common antivirus program cannot effectively this threat from your computer. We do not recommend that you blindly download an unknown antivirus program to remove it. And this also brings in more viruses to your system. Before you start to remove the browser hijacker, you may need to think twice for the solutions. Before you take the removal steps, please consider it seriously. Moreover, if you are a professional computer technician or experienced PC users, manual way is a absolute and accurate way for your infected computer. However, if you don’t have sufficient knowledge about PC, you had better resort to a safer and easier way. More seriously, it may start its variation gradually. Please don’t look down on this virus because it can cause various unexpected troubles. The files associated with the redirect virus can be changed to others. The removal of Downanapp.com is also good for the proper running of other normal applications and legal system files.