How to remove Downweb-loader.com [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

A browser hijacker named Downweb-loader.com is now widely spread on the Internet. Many computer users have got infected by this browser hijacker infection and are struggling to remove it from their computers. You may consider Downweb-loader.com as a search provider that provides the search service as what Bing, Yahoo or Google. But in reality, the Downweb-loader.com is web-browser hijacker that could harm your PC if not removed ASAP. A mostly malicious actions of the browser hijacker is to rewrite users’ web-browser settings such as the start page, new tab and search engine by default to its own without any permission.

Remove Downweb-loader.com hijacker

The answer is right here on this page. We have put together simplicity and efficiency. It will allow you easily to clean your machine of browser hijacker. Moreover, you can choose manual or automatic removal way. If you’re familiar with the machine then use manual removal, otherwise use the free anti-malware tool designed specifically to remove hijacker such as Downweb-loader.com. Of course, you can combine both methods. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to exit your web browser or reboot your machine.

How to remove Downweb-loader.com homepage without any software

If you perform exactly the tutorial below you should be able to remove the Downweb-loader.com search from the Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Edge browsers.

Uninstall all adware and other potentially unwanted applications through the Windows Control Panel

The process of browser hijacker removal is generally the same across all versions of MS Windows OS from 10 to XP. To start with, it’s necessary to check the list of installed applications on your computer and delete all unused, unknown and suspicious software.

1. If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next click Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
2. If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and press “Control Panel”.
3. It will display the Windows Control Panel.
4. Further, click “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
5. It will show a list of all programs installed on the system.
6. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort programs by date.

See more details in the video instructions below.

Clean up the web-browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by Downweb-loader.com

Once the browser hijacker is started, it can also alter the browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you start the web-browser, it will show an annoying web-page.

Right click on the web browser’s shortcut, click Properties option. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text “http://site.address” that has been added here. Remove everything after .exe. An example, for Google Chrome you should remove everything after chrome.exe.

To save changes, click OK . You need to clean all internet browser’s shortcuts. So, repeat this step for the Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Edge.

Remove Downweb-loader.com homepage from Internet Explorer

By resetting Microsoft Internet Explorer browser you revert back your browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by browser hijacker infection such as Downweb-loader.com.

First, open the Internet Explorer, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as shown in the figure below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings dialog box. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.

You will now need to restart your system for the changes to take effect. It will get rid of Downweb-loader.com browser hijacker, disable malicious and ad-supported web-browser’s extensions and restore the IE’s settings like new tab page, start page and search engine by default to default state.

Get rid of Downweb-loader.com startpage from Google Chrome

Reset Chrome settings is a easy way to delete the browser hijacker infection, harmful and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to recover the internet browser’s home page, newtab and search engine by default that have been changed by Downweb-loader.com hijacker infection.

1. First start the Google Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three horizontal stripes).
2. It will show the Chrome main menu. Select “Settings” option.
3. You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Show advanced settings” link.
4. Scroll down again and click the “Reset settings” button.
5. The Google Chrome will display the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
6. Next click the “Reset” button.
7. Once this procedure is finished, your internet browser’s home page, newtab page and search provider by default will be restored to their original defaults.
8. To learn more, read the post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.

Remove Downweb-loader.com from Firefox by resetting internet browser settings

The Firefox reset will keep your personal information such as bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill data and remove unwanted search engine and home page such as Downweb-loader.com, modified preferences, extensions and security settings.

Start the Mozilla Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the web-browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will open the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you’re unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown on the screen below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Mozilla Firefox will start a task to fix your problems that caused by the Downweb-loader.com hijacker. When, it is finished, click the “Finish” button.

Downweb-loader.com homepage automatic removal

The hijacker can hide its components which are difficult for you to find out and delete completely. This can lead to the fact that after some time, the hijacker once again infect your PC system and alter current settings of internet browsers to Downweb-loader.com. Moreover, I want to note that it is not always safe to remove hijacker manually, if you do not have much experience in setting up and configuring the Windows operating system. The best way to scan for and delete hijacker infections is to use free malicious software removal software.

Scan and clean your system of Downweb-loader.com with Zemana Anti-malware

Zemana Anti-malware is a tool which can remove adware, PUPs, browser hijacker infections and other malware from your machine easily and for free. Zemana Anti-malware is compatible with most antivirus software. It works under Windows (10 – XP, 32 and 64 bit) and uses minimum of PC system resources.

1. Please download Zemana anti malware to your desktop from the following link.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164032 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your browser will open the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. Once the download is complete, please close all applications and open windows on your computer. Next, launch a file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
4. This will run the “Setup wizard” of Zemana antimalware onto your computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the anti malware will run and open the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan” button . This will start scanning the whole system to find out browser hijacker . A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your PC and the speed of your computer. While the tool is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified either as being malware.
7. When it completes the scan, the results are displayed in the scan report.
8. In order to remove all threats, simply press the “Next” button to begin cleaning your machine. Once the process is finished, you may be prompted to restart the personal computer.
9. Close the Zemana Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.

Delete Downweb-loader.com startpage with Malwarebytes

Manual Downweb-loader.com search removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker infection can be not completely removed. We recommend that run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely free your machine of hijacker infection. Moreover, the free program will help you to delete malicious software, potentially unwanted programs, adware and toolbars that your computer can be infected too.

Download Malwarebytes on your computer by clicking on the link below. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.

After downloading is done, close all software and windows on your computer. Double-click the set up file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as shown in the figure below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Malwarebytes on your PC system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once install is finished successfully, click Finish button. Malwarebytes will automatically start and you can see its main screen as on the image below.

Now click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker infection and internet browser’s malicious addons. This task can take some time, so please be patient. During the scan it will detect all threats present on your personal computer.

Once the scanning is finished, you may check all items detected on your PC. Next, you need to press “Quarantine Selected” button. The Malwarebytes will start removing Downweb-loader.com hijacker infection and other security threats. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the PC.

We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the Malwarebytes to remove browser hijacker infection and other malicious software.

Run AdwCleaner to delete Downweb-loader.com from the machine

AdwCleaner is a free removal utility that can scan your PC system for a wide range of security threats like adware, hijackers such as Downweb-loader.com, potentially unwanted programs as well as other malicious software. It will perform a deep {scan} of your machine including hard drives and Microsoft Windows registry. When a malicious software is found, it will allow you to get rid of all found threats from your computer by a simple click.

1. Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
   
   

   AdwCleaner download
   225262 downloads
   Version: 8.4.1
   Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: October 5, 2024
   
2. When downloading is complete, double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this tool is started, click “Scan” button for checking your PC for the Downweb-loader.com hijacker and other malware and ‘ad supported’ software. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your personal computer.
3. When the system scan is finished, it will display a list of all items detected by this tool. When you are ready, click “Clean” button. It will show a prompt, click “OK”.

These few simple steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.

Run AdBlocker to block Downweb-loader.com and stay safe online

In order to increase your security and protect your PC against new intrusive advertisements and malicious pages, you need to run adblocker program that stops an access to harmful ads and web pages. Moreover, the program can block the display of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link.

When downloading is finished, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown in the figure below.

Follow the prompts. Once the setup is done, you will see a window as shown below.

You can click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.

In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and block advertisements, web-sites such Downweb-loader.com, as well as other harmful or misleading sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that can be found on your desktop.

Method of Downweb-loader.com hijacker intrusion into your PC system

Probably Downweb-loader.com browser hijacker infection get installed onto your computer when you have installed some freeware such as E-Mail checker, PDF creator, video codec, etc. Because, in many cases, a hijacker infection may be bundled within the installers from Softonic, Cnet, Soft32, Brothersoft or other similar web-pages which hosts free programs. So, you should run any files downloaded from the World Wide Web with great caution! Always carefully read the ‘User agreement’, ‘Software license’ and ‘Terms of use’. In the procedure of installing a new program, you need to select a ‘Manual’, ‘Advanced’ or ‘Custom’ installation mode to control what components and additional applications to be installed. Nevertheless, even removing the program, which installs this Downweb-loader.com browser hijacker, you do not get rid of the browser hijacker itself. Your internet browser settings will not be restored. Therefore, you must follow the guidance above to revert back your newtab, start page and search provider by default.

Finish words

Now your personal computer should be clean of the Downweb-loader.com . Uninstall AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep Malwarebytes (to periodically scan your computer for new malware, browser hijackers and ad supported software) and AdGuard (to help you stop intrusive pop up advertisements and harmful sites). Moreover, to prevent browser hijackers, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to find PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).

If you need more help with Downweb-loader.com search related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.