When you open your web browser like Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge, the web page named My Privacy Assistant opens automatically instead of your start page? Or this intrusive site has been set as new tab page and web browser’s search engine ? Then you need to know hijackware (also known as browser hijacker) was installed on your PC system. The My Privacy Assistant browser hijacker infection mostly get installed along with some free programs. Do not be surprised, it happens, especially if you are an active Internet user. But this does not mean that you should reconcile with the intrusive My Privacy Assistant redirect. You need to clean your PC system of the unwanted software such as this hijacker infection as quickly as possible. Because the undesired home page can be a way to install other unwanted software onto your PC.
The browser hijacker, which set the My Privacy Assistant as your startpage can also set this undesired page as your search engine. You will encounter the fact that the search in the browser has become uncomfortable to use, because the search results will consist of a ton of advertisements, links to ad and unwanted pages and a small amount of regular links, which are obtained from a search in the major search providers. Therefore, look for something using My Privacy Assistant web site would be a waste of time or worse, it can lead to even more infected system.
As well as unwanted internet browser redirects to My Privacy Assistant, the browser hijacker may collect your Net surfing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, internet browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and web-pages visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or confidential information theft. This is another reason why the hijacker infection that redirects the browser to My Privacy Assistant, is classified as potentially unwanted application (PUA).
A malware that may impose some undesired changes to settings of installed web browsers on My Privacy Assistant commonly affects only Google Chrome, FF, MS Edge and Internet Explorer. However, possible situations, when any other web browsers will be affected too. The My Privacy Assistant browser hijacker infection may change the Target property of internet browser’s shortcuts, so every time you start the web browser, instead of your start page, you will see a completely different page.
To find out how to get rid of My Privacy Assistant redirect, we suggest to read the steps added to this post below. The tutorial was made by experienced security professionals who discovered a solution to remove the annoying My Privacy Assistant hijacker out of the personal computer.
Remove My Privacy Assistant from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP)
The following steps will help you to get rid of My Privacy Assistant homepage from the FF, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Edge. Moreover, the instructions below will allow you to remove malicious software such as PUPs, ad supported software and toolbars that your computer may be infected. Please do the tutorial step by step. If you need assist or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Certain of the steps below will require you to shut down this page. So, please read the steps carefully, after that bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove My Privacy Assistant, complete the steps below:
- How to manually remove My Privacy Assistant
- Uninstall questionable software using MS Windows Control Panel
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to get rid of My Privacy Assistant
- Get rid of My Privacy Assistant redirect from Chrome
- Delete My Privacy Assistant from Firefox by resetting browser settings
- Delete My Privacy Assistant search from Internet Explorer
- Use free malware removal tools to completely remove My Privacy Assistant
- How to block My Privacy Assistant
- How was My Privacy Assistant hijacker installed on machine
- To sum up
How to manually remove My Privacy Assistant
The useful removal guide for the My Privacy Assistant home page. The detailed procedure can be followed by anyone as it really does take you step-by-step. If you follow this process to remove My Privacy Assistant start page let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.
Uninstall questionable software using MS Windows Control Panel
In order to delete My Privacy Assistant, first thing you need to do is to remove unknown and suspicious applications from your PC using Windows control panel. When uninstalling this browser hijacker, check the list of installed apps and try to find dubious applications and uninstall them all. Pay special attention to recently installed apps, as it is most likely that the My Privacy Assistant browser hijacker сame along with it.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click Windows button , then click Search . Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown on the image below.
After the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category like below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as displayed on the screen below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of apps installed on your PC system. Most likely, one of them is the browser hijacker infection that responsible for internet browser reroute to the unwanted My Privacy Assistant web page. If you’ve many apps installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious software by sort the list by date of installation. Once you’ve found a questionable, unwanted or unused application, right click to it, after that click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel as displayed on the image below.
When the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to click ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as displayed in the following example.
You will see a list of apps installed on your computer. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the applications that were installed last. Most probably, it is the browser hijacker infection which cause a redirect to My Privacy Assistant page. If you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. When the application which you need to remove is found, simply press on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ as displayed in the figure below.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to get rid of My Privacy Assistant
Now you need to clean up the browser shortcut files. Check that the shortcut file referring to the right exe-file of the web-browser, and not on any unknown file.
To clear the internet browser shortcut file, right-click to it and choose Properties. 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 like “http://site.address” which has been added here. You need to delete it.
When the text is removed, click the OK button. You need to clean all shortcut files of all your web browsers, as they may be affected too.
Get rid of My Privacy Assistant redirect from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a simple way to delete the hijacker, malicious and adware extensions, as well as to recover the web browser’s start page, new tab and search provider by default that have been modified by browser hijacker.
- First, run the Google Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will display the Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed plugins. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, press the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click “Advanced” link, which located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Google Chrome will open the reset settings dialog box as on the image above.
- Confirm the web-browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Delete My Privacy Assistant from Firefox by resetting browser settings
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as displayed in the following example.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed in the figure below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Mozilla Firefox internet browser settings to its original state.
Delete My Privacy Assistant search from Internet Explorer
If you find that Internet Explorer web-browser settings like start page, new tab page and search provider by default having been hijacked, then you may revert back your settings, via the reset browser procedure.
First, open the IE, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as shown in the figure below.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click Reset button. The Internet Explorer will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.
You will now need to reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. It will remove browser hijacker infection that redirects your browser to undesired My Privacy Assistant web-site, disable malicious and ad-supported internet browser’s extensions and restore the Microsoft Internet Explorer’s settings like startpage, newtab and search engine by default to default state.
Use free malware removal tools to completely remove My Privacy Assistant
Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove hijacker infection from the infected machine. So, we recommend to scan your PC system for any remaining malicious components with free browser hijacker infection removal programs below.
Run Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) to get rid of My Privacy Assistant
We suggest using the Zemana. You can download and install Zemana Anti Malware to find and remove My Privacy Assistant search from your PC system. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover will automatically scan and detect all threats present on the computer.
Click the link below to download Zemana Free. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.
164034 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
After the download is done, close all software and windows on your computer. Double-click the setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana Free on your PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once install is finished successfully, Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown in the figure below.
Now click the “Scan” button . Zemana Free tool will begin scanning the whole computer to find out hijacker infection which cause a redirect to My Privacy Assistant web page. This process can take some time, so please be patient. When a malware, adware or PUPs are detected, the count of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is complete.
Once Zemana AntiMalware completes the scan, Zemana will create a list of undesired and adware applications. Next, you need to click “Next” button. The Zemana will get rid of browser hijacker that responsible for browser redirect to the annoying My Privacy Assistant site and add items to the Quarantine. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the computer.
How to automatically delete My Privacy Assistant with Malwarebytes
Delete My Privacy Assistant hijacker manually is difficult and often the browser hijacker is not completely removed. Therefore, we advise you to run the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your personal computer. Moreover, the free program will allow you to get rid of malicious software, potentially unwanted software, toolbars and ‘ad supported’ software that your personal computer may be infected too.
- Please go to the following link to download MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM). Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326387 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- When the download is finished, close all software and windows on your computer. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is finished, press the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes utility will start scanning the whole computer to find out browser hijacker which alters browser settings to replace your home page, new tab and search engine by default with My Privacy Assistant site. During the scan MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will detect threats present on your personal computer.
- When the scan get completed, you’ll be shown the list of all found items on your computer. All detected items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click “Quarantine Selected”. When the procedure is done, you can be prompted to reboot your computer.
The following video offers a step by step instructions on how to remove browser hijackers, ad-supported software and other malware with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM).
Scan and free your system of browser hijacker with AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner will help get rid of browser hijacker which developed to redirect your browser to the My Privacy Assistant web-page that slow down your system. The hijackers, adware and other PUPs slow your browser down and try to trick you into clicking on shady advertisements and links. AdwCleaner removes the browser hijacker infection and lets you enjoy your machine without My Privacy Assistant start page.
Visit the page linked below to download AdwCleaner. Save it on your Desktop.
225264 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
Download and run AdwCleaner on your machine. Once started, press “Scan” button .AdwCleaner program will scan through the whole machine for the browser hijacker infection responsible for redirecting user searches to My Privacy Assistant. During the scan AdwCleaner will find out threats present on your computer.. When the scan is finished, AdwCleaner will display you the results. Once you’ve selected what you want to get rid of from your system, press Clean button.
All-in-all, AdwCleaner is a fantastic free utility to free your computer from any undesired programs. The AdwCleaner is portable program that meaning, you do not need to install it to use it. AdwCleaner is compatible with all versions of Microsoft Windows operating system from MS Windows XP to Windows 10. Both 64-bit and 32-bit systems are supported.
How to block My Privacy Assistant
It is important to run ad-blocking apps such as AdGuard to protect your PC system from harmful web-sites. Most security experts says that it is okay to block ads. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard can to block My Privacy Assistant and other unwanted web sites.
Download AdGuard application by clicking on the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once the download is finished, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed on the image below.
Follow the prompts. When the installation is complete, you will see a window as shown below.
You can press “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which will help 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 start your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop popup ads, My Privacy Assistant redirect, as well as other harmful or misleading sites. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that is located on your desktop.
How was My Privacy Assistant hijacker installed on machine
The My Privacy Assistant hijacker usually spreads bundled with various freeware. Most commonly, it can be bundled within the install packages from Softonic, Cnet, Soft32, Brothersoft or other similar web sites. So, you should run any files downloaded from the World Wide Web with great caution, read the User agreement, Software license and Terms of use. In the process of installing a new program, you should select a Manual, Advanced or Custom install method to control what components and additional apps to be installed, otherwise you run the risk of infecting your PC with an hijacker such as My Privacy Assistant.
To sum up
Now your machine should be free of the hijacker that designed to redirect your web browser to the My Privacy Assistant web page. Delete AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep Zemana AntiMalware (to periodically scan your personal computer for new browser hijacker infections and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you stop annoying pop-up ads and malicious sites). Moreover, to prevent browser hijacker infections, please stay clear of unknown and third party apps, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to scan for PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).
If you need more help with My Privacy Assistant start page related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.