How to get rid of Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

What is Plenty O’ Apps?

Cyber security professionals has determined that the Plenty O’ Apps is classified as potentially unwanted program (PUP) belonging to the category of Browser hijackers (sometimes named hijackware). It performs changes on popular browsers installed on hijacked computer. Particularly, Plenty O’ Apps modifies the user’s default home page, newtab URL and search engine for the installed web-browser.

Typically, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs promote fake search engines by setting their address as the home page or search engine of the affected web-browser. In this case, Plenty O Apps changes the browser settings to hplentyoapps[.]com. That is, in other words, browser hijackers were created for the sole purpose of forcing the user to visit a special address like hplentyoapps[.]com when the user opens the homepage or uses the search engine. Therefore, the only way to get rid of a browser redirect to this unwanted website is to completely remove a browser hijacker associated with it. The reason for this is that potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers often block the ability to change browser settings, thus preventing the user from restoring the start page and search engine. For example, in this case, to remove hplentyoapps[.]com from the address of the start page and search provider, the user needs to uninstall Plenty O’ Apps.

It’s not a good idea to have a PUP such as Plenty O’ Apps. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. It can be used to gather lots of your confidential information that can be later sold to third party companies. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. And of course you completely do not know what will happen when you click on the Plenty O’ Apps advertisements.

To find out how to remove Plenty O’ Apps we suggest to read the steps added to this post below. The tutorial was developed by security specialists who discovered a way to remove the Plenty O’ Apps PUP out of the system.

How can Plenty O’ Apps get on your PC system

PUPs and rowser hijackers usually are bundled within freeware that downloaded from the Internet. Which means that you need to be proactive and carefully read the Terms of use and the License agreement properly. For the most part, a browser hijacker will be clearly described, so take the time to carefully read all the information about the software that you downloaded and want to install on your personal computer. In the Setup wizard, you should select the Advanced, Custom or Manual setup mode to control what components and third-party programs to be installed, otherwise you run the risk of infecting your system with a PUP such as Plenty O’ Apps.

Threat Summary

Name	Plenty O’ Apps
Type	redirect virus, homepage hijacker, PUP, browser hijacker, search provider hijacker
Affected Browser Settings	search provider, startpage, newtab URL
Symptoms	pop ups and new tabs are loaded without your request your internet browser is re-directed to webpages you did not want new entries appear in your Programs folder an unwanted browser extension appears in your web-browser your web browser homepage has changed without your permission
Removal	Plenty O’ Apps removal guide

How to remove Plenty O’ Apps (removal guidance)

There are a simple manual tutorial below which will assist you to delete Plenty O’ Apps from your MS Windows machine. The most effective method to remove this browser hijacker is to complete the manual removal steps and then use Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM), MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) or Hitman Pro automatic tools (all are free). The manual way will help to weaken this hijacker and the free malware removal tools will completely get rid of Plenty O’ Apps and restore the Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome settings to default.

To remove Plenty O’ Apps, complete the following steps:

1. Delete Plenty O’ Apps hijacker without any utilities
   • Uninstalling Plenty O’ Apps, check the list of installed apps first
   • Remove Plenty O’ Apps from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
   • Remove Plenty O’ Apps from Google Chrome
   • Remove Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker from IE
2. Automatic Removal of Plenty O’ Apps
   • Remove Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker with Zemana
   • Use Hitman Pro to remove Plenty O’ Apps from the PC
   • How to remove Plenty O’ Apps with MalwareBytes Free
3. Run AdBlocker to stop Plenty O’ Apps redirect and stay safe online
4. To sum up

Delete Plenty O’ Apps hijacker without any utilities

Steps to remove browser hijacker without any applications are presented below. Be sure to carry out the step-by-step steps completely to fully remove Plenty O’ Apps PUP.

Uninstalling the Plenty O’ Apps, check the list of installed apps first

Some potentially unwanted applications, browser hijacking software and adware may be deleted by uninstalling the free applications they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed apps in Microsoft Windows Control Panel. Use the “Uninstall” command in order to remove them.

1. If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next press 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 applications installed on the PC.
6. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall Plenty O’ Apps, other dubious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed apps, we recommend sort apps by date.

See more details in the video instructions below.

Remove Plenty O’ Apps from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings

If the Mozilla Firefox settings such as home page, newtab and default search engine have been changed by Plenty O’ Apps, then resetting it to the default state can help. When using the reset feature, your personal information like passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.

First, open the Firefox and press button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Further, click the Help button () as shown on the image below.

In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the browser adress bar and press Enter. It will open the “Troubleshooting Information” page like the one below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.

It will display the confirmation prompt. Further, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will begin a task to fix your problems that caused by the Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker. When, it’s complete, click the “Finish” button.

Remove Plenty O’ Apps from Google Chrome

Use the Reset web browser tool of the Chrome to reset all its settings such as new tab, home page and default search engine to original defaults. This is a very useful utility to use, in the case of web-browser hijacks like Plenty O’ Apps.

1. First, launch the Google Chrome and press the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
2. It will display the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
3. You’ll see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
4. Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, press the “Settings” menu.
5. Next, press “Advanced” link, which located at the bottom of the Settings page.
6. On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
7. The Chrome will show the reset settings prompt as shown on the image above.
8. Confirm the web browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
9. To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Remove Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker from IE

If you find that Internet Explorer internet browser settings like home page, default search engine and newtab had been hijacked by Plenty O’ Apps, then you may restore your settings, via the reset browser process.

First, start the Internet Explorer, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as shown on the screen below.

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

You will now need to reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will get rid of Plenty O’ Apps hijacker, disable malicious and ad-supported browser’s extensions and restore the Microsoft Internet Explorer’s settings like new tab, search engine by default and start page to default state.

Automatic Removal of Plenty O’ Apps

If you are an unskilled computer user, then all your attempts to remove Plenty O’ Apps hijacker by following the manual steps above might result in failure. To find and remove all of the Plenty O’ Apps related files and registry entries that keep this hijacker on your PC system, run free antimalware software like Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Free and HitmanPro from our list below.

Remove Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker with Zemana

Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) highly recommended, because it can locate security threats such hijacker and adware that most ‘classic’ antivirus programs fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker removal problems which cannot be fixed by this utility automatically, then Zemana Anti-Malware provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.

1. First, visit the page linked below, then press the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of Zemana Anti Malware.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164031 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. After downloading is done, close all apps and windows on your system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
3. Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
4. Once install is complete, click the “Scan” button to look for Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker and other PUPs. This task can take some time, so please be patient. When a threat is found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.
5. After the system scan is finished, Zemana will display a list of all items found by the scan. Next, you need to press “Next”. Once that process is finished, you can be prompted to restart your computer.

Use Hitman Pro to remove Plenty O’ Apps from the PC

HitmanPro is a free utility which can locate Plenty O’ Apps hijacker. It’s not always easy to locate all the undesired applications that your system might have picked up on the Web. Hitman Pro will locate the adware software, browser hijackers and other malicious software you need to uninstall.

Please go to the link below to download the latest version of Hitman Pro for MS Windows. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.

Download and run HitmanPro on your personal computer. Once started, press “Next” button to perform a system scan for the Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system. While the utility is scanning, you may see how many objects and files has already scanned..

Once HitmanPro completes the scan, Hitman Pro will display a scan report.

In order to delete all threats, simply press Next button.

It will open a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to remove all malicious software found.

How to remove Plenty O’ Apps with MalwareBytes Free

Delete Plenty O’ Apps hijacker manually is difficult and often the browser hijacker is not fully removed. Therefore, we advise you to run the MalwareBytes Anti Malware which are fully clean your PC system. Moreover, this free application will help you to remove malicious software, potentially unwanted apps, toolbars and adware that your personal computer can be infected too.

First, visit the following page, then press the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.

After the downloading process is done, close all software and windows on your computer. Double-click the install file named MBSetup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up like below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the Setup wizard that will help you install MalwareBytes on your PC system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is complete successfully, press “Get Started” button. MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed on the image below.

Now press the “Scan” button to scan for Plenty O’ Apps PUP. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient.

When the scan get finished, it will show the Scan Results. Next, you need to press “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Free will delete Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker and move the selected items to the program’s quarantine. After disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart the PC.

We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes to delete adware, hijacker and other malicious software.

Run AdBlocker to stop Plenty O’ Apps redirect and stay safe online

It’s also critical to protect your browsers from harmful web-pages and advertisements by using an adblocker program such as AdGuard. Security experts says that it will greatly reduce the risk of malware, and potentially save lots of money. Additionally, the AdGuard may also protect your privacy by blocking almost all trackers.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard on your MS Windows Desktop from the following link.

Once the download is done, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as on the image below.

Follow the prompts. When the install is finished, you will see a window such as the one below.

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

In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop undesired advertisements, block Plenty O’ Apps, as well as other malicious or misleading web 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.

To sum up

Now your computer should be clean of the Plenty O’ Apps browser hijacker. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted advertisements and intrusive malicious webpages) and Zemana Free (to periodically scan your PC for new malicious software, browser hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for MS Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new hijackers, malicious apps and adware software are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove Plenty O’ Apps from your web browser, then ask for help here.