How to remove the My Video Converter browser hijacker

What is My Video Converter?

My Video Converter is an application designed to deliver a quick access to websites that offer video conversion services. In fact, this is a potentially unwanted application (PUA), a browser hijacker.

My Video Converter promotes search.hfilevideoconverter.com (the address of a fake search engine) by changing browser settings and collecting various data. This app is distributed together with another PUA called Encrypted Search. Browser hijackers are classified as PUAs, since people tend to download and install them inadvertently.

Generally, browser hijackers promote fake search engines by changing browser settings such as the address of the default search engine, homepage, and new tab. My Video Converter assigns them to search.hfilevideoconverter.com. Therefore, people are forced to visit this fake search engine when they open a browser, new tab or enter search queries into the URL bar.

Note that search.hfilevideoconverter.com is classified as a fake search engine, since it does not generate unique results and simply redirects to search.yahoo.com (providing results generated by Yahoo). The address of the fake search engine cannot be removed from the browser settings as long as a the hijacker is installed.

In this case, search.hfilevideoconverter.com can be avoided by uninstalling My Video Converter. Furthermore, most browser hijackers promote fake search engines and gather information such as IP addresses, entered search queries, addresses of visited/opened web pages, geolocations, and so on.

In some cases, these apps target sensitive, personal details. Developers sell the data to third parties (cyber criminals) who misuse it in other ways.

Browser hijackers can lead to problems relating to privacy, browsing safety or even identity theft. Therefore, never download or install these apps. If My Video Converter, Encrypted Search or other PUAs are already installed on the browser or operating system, remove them immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	My Video Converter
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Detection Names	Avast (Win32:AdwareSig [Adw]), AVG (Win32:AdwareSig [Adw]), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Win32/WinWrapper.V Potentially Unwanted), Microsoft (PUA:Win32/WinWrapper), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal).
Browser Extension(s)	My Video Converter
Supposed Functionality	This app supposed allows users to quickly access various video conversion pages.
Promoted URL	search.hfilevideoconverter.com
Serving IP Address (search.hfilevideoconverter.com)	52.1.251.46
Affected Browser Settings	Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine.
Symptoms	Manipulated internet browser settings (homepage, default internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit the hijacker's website and search the internet using their search engines.
Additional Information	My Video Converter is distributed with another browser hijacker called Encrypted Search.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Some examples of apps also categorized as browser hijackers include Directions Tab, Delicious Online Recipes and Easy Template Finder.

Developers often advertise browser hijackers (and other PUAs) as legitimate, useful software that supposedly deliver various features, however, they are designed only to help the developers to generate revenue and simply cause problems.

How did My Video Converter install on my computer?

PUAs are often distributed by including them into the set-ups of other software. This distribution method is known as "bundling" and is used to trick people into downloading and installing PUAs together with regular (usually free) software.

In most cases, information about additionally-included apps is not properly disclosed (they can usually be found in settings such as "Custom" and "Advanced"). When people leave them unchecked and unchanged, they agree by default with offers to download and install unwanted apps with regular software.

PUAs also infiltrate when people click deceptive advertisements that execute certain scripts.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Do not download or install software through third party downloaders, installers, torrent clients, eMule (and other Peer-to-Peer networks), unofficial websites or other channels of this kind. Use official websites and direct links. Check "Advanced", "Custom" and other similar settings of all download/installation setups.

Dismiss offers to download or install unwanted apps before completing the process. Intrusive ads shown on dubious websites should not be trusted or clicked - they can open untrusted websites or cause download/installation of unwanted software. Remove any suspicious, unwanted extensions, add-ons or plug-ins installed on the browser immediately.

Also remove software of this kind that is installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with My Video Converter, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

My Video Converter browser hijacker installation setup:

My Video Converter asks permission to read and change data:

Website promoting My Video Converter browser hijacker:

IMPORTANT NOTE! This deceptive site asks to enable web browser notifications.

Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:

Google Chrome (PC):

• Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and click "Advanced"
• Scroll down to the "Privacy and security" section, select "Content settings" and then "Notifications"
• Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)

Google Chrome (Android):

• Click on the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and click "Settings"
• Scroll down, click on "Site settings" and then "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and click on them one-by-one
• Select "Notifications" in the "Permissions" section and set the toggle button to "OFF"

Mozilla Firefox:

• Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Options" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen
• Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs, click the drop-down menu and select "Block"

Internet Explorer:

• Click the Gear button on the right upper corner of the IE window
• Select "Internet options"
• Select the "Privacy" tab and click "Settings" under "Pop-up Blocker" section
• Select suspicious URLs under and remove them one by one by clicking the "Remove" button

Microsoft Edge:

• Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window
• Scroll down, find and click "Settings"
• Scroll down again and click "View advanced settings"
• Click "Manage" under "Website permissions"
• Click the switch under each suspicious website

Safari (Mac):

• Click "Safari" button on the left upper corner of the screen and select "Preferences..."
• Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane
• Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option for each

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Quick menu:

• What is My Video Converter?
• STEP 1. Uninstall My Video Converter application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove search.hfilevideoconverter.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove My Video Converter browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.hfilevideoconverter.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove search.hfilevideoconverter.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

My Video Converter browser hijacker removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, "My Video Converter"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the search.hfilevideoconverter.com website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

My Video Converter browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window remove hxxp://search.hfilevideoconverter.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "My Video Converter".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.hfilevideoconverter.com redirect, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "My Video Converter" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons (e.g., "Encrypted Search"), and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable "My Video Converter" or "Encrypted Search", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://search.hfilevideoconverter.com or hxxps://encryptedsearch.org) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for "hxxp://search.hfilevideoconverter.com" and "hxxp://encryptedsearch.org"", when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.hfilevideoconverter.com redirect, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "My Video Converter", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins (e.g., "Encrypted Search").

Change your homepage:

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window disable "My Video Converter" or "Encrypted Search", remove hxxp://search.hfilevideoconverter.com or hxxp://encryptedsearch.org and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled"
Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with search.hfilevideoconverter.com redirect removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...

In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.

In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.

In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage and new tab settings:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".

Change your default Internet search engine:

To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.hfilevideoconverter.com redirect, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

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