Web surfing today is a very unsafe activity, as well as installing some types of software, whereby all kinds of viruses and potentially dangerous or unwanted software penetrate computers. One such applet (albeit fairly harmless) is the GoForFiles app. What kind of program it is and how to get rid of it, read in the material presented below. Running a little ahead, it is worth saying that if you have already dealt with advertising viruses or are trying to get rid of them for the first time, this material is just for you.
GoForFiles: what is it?
There is no doubt that GoForFiles applet is an adware virus that belongs to the category of browser hijackers of the Adware and Hijackers categories. It behaves like many well-known threats of this type, replacing the start pages installed in default web browsers, and redirecting the user while working on the Internet to advertisements or questionable resources. Only this action of the virus may not be limited. Quite often you can notice the appearance of all kinds of pop-ups or banners, despite the fact that their browsers are blocked (for example, when activating extensions like AdBlock). This threat penetrates computers either when visiting untrustworthy resources, or during the installation of other programs in which it is marked as affiliate software. This is seen in many applications, including even such a well-known Android emulator program as Mobogenie.
How to remove GoForFiles using Windows?
Today, there are several ways to get rid of this application once and for all. Immediately pay attention that when it penetrates the system it may have a digital signature and even a security certificate, so antivirus scanners may not always recognize it. But how to remove GoForFiles if there is nothing at hand?
To do this, you must use the standard section of programs and components, which is located in the "Control Panel", select the desired program from the list (since it is there), and then perform the uninstall procedure. But user actions should not be limited only to this, since the standard uninstaller in Windows removes only the main components, and the remnants (sometimes even in the form of undeletable files) remain “dead weight”.
Additional actions after removal
If we are talking about how to remove GoForFiles completely and completely, you must do the following (and even before the computer reboots after uninstalling the main software product):
- Go to the registry editor (regedit), search for the name of the applet (GoForFiles) and remove all found entries. continue searching (F3) and deleting until a message appears stating that the registry scan has completed.
- Similarly, search for files and folders on all hard disks and partitions of the computer in any file manager or in the usual “Explorer”, first turn on the display of hidden elements, and then delete everything that is found. If GoForFiles files or directories are not deleted, try performing the operation as administrator or use the Unlocker utility to unlock access.
- Through RMB on the shortcuts of all browsers without exception, call up the properties item and on the shortcut tab in the object type field, delete all postscripts after the name of the browser launch file with the .exe extension.
And only after completing all the above steps, you can reboot and, just in case, check the system using the AdwCleaner program (it can be found on the Internet even as a portable application).
How to remove a virus from a computer using third-party utilities?
In addition to the above actions, you can offer a simpler method, which involves the use of uninstall programs like iObit Uninstaller. The main application window is very similar to the usual list of Windows programs.
How to remove GoForFiles in this application? The procedure is as follows:
- select the desired program from the list and click the uninstall button (either the big green button at the top right, or competing with the basket image to the right of the application name);
- refuse to back up;
- after the removal of the main components, delete all found residues that will be flagged automatically, additionally by checking the file destruction item.
Note: at the very beginning of the deletion, you can immediately activate the automatic deletion of residues, so as not to deal with this later.
At the end of the uninstall, just in case, check the properties of the browser shortcuts, as described above, and reboot the system.
IMPORTANT! In no case do not use programs like SpyHunter, as it will be even harder to get rid of such applications than from the virus itself.