Remove smartinf.ru from the browser

Introduction

Active Internet users may occasionally encounter a problem when their usual homepage is suddenly replaced with //smartinf.ru when the browser starts up. If you are familiar with these symptoms, it means that a malicious code has entered your computer that can steal your data. The problem is aggravated by the fact that when you try to return the standard homepage in the browser settings, this link is restored and continues to pop up every time it starts. The problem is observed in all browsers at once. When you do not know how to get rid of this filth, read this material.

Probably every user has come across “browser-based” viruses.

How to get into the computer

The first question a user has is how did this site get to my computer? Everything is very simple. You could go to a page with malicious code, download an infected email. In addition, this is often done by not very bona fide developers of dubious applications that cram any additional garbage into the installers.

An inexperienced user who is not very familiar with the intricacies of the computer, often forgets to cancel the installation of unnecessary software. After that, the situation described above happens. You can arbitrarily remind care, but trouble can happen to anyone. What to do in this case?

The use of antivirus scanners

Probably the easiest way for inexperienced users is to download a small application, run a scan, check the results and delete all those items that seem suspicious.

Adwcleaner

Convenient security utility to detect and remove adware. It will scan your computer in a couple of minutes and detect any enemy software, sites, add-ins, including smartinf.ru.

After downloading, launch it and click the “Scan” button. Wait for the results, look through them in the bottom window. All results will be divided into tabs depending on the source of the threat, from where you can delete all unnecessary links like //smartinf.ru.

But delete carefully, as the program defaults the application from mail.ru and Yandex. Although these developers often cram their development programs into installers, you can accidentally delete the programs you really need, such as a browser or a cloud. Uncheck it, otherwise you will have to reinstall everything. The program is very easy, simple and does not require deep knowledge.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Works great on Windows 10, can detect and destroy any malicious programs, spyware, trojans, worms and many dangerous files. It scans the system processes and file system, notes suspicious data. The free version can be used only as a scanner, while the paid one can protect the computer in real time.

After installation, click the big button “Run scan”. A full scan can take up to half an hour, depending on the system load. Mark the desired results, in particular, the sources mentioning //smartinf.ru, select "Delete". If suddenly you can not use these programs, do all the steps manually.

Recover Browser Shortcuts

Most often, malicious addresses are written in the browser shortcut. Therefore this page loads automatically.

When you open the browser from the shortcut on the desktop, right-click - Properties. The “Object” line of the “Shortcut” tab contains the launch parameters. Ideally, the entry should end with the name of the browser with the exe extension. In our case, after exe, the registration of the malicious site smartinf.ru will go. Highlight an unnecessary fragment, delete and click “Apply”, then restart the computer.

If the shortcut is not on the desktop, go to the browser installation folder. By default, it is located in C: \ Program Files. Find the exe file in it. Right click - Create shortcut. In an older version of Windows, the shortcut will fit here, and Windows 10 will offer to transfer it to the desktop.

If you do not know where to install the browser, right-click on the taskbar of Windows10 - “Task Manager”. In the "Processes" tab, locate the application that is running, click on it - Open file location.

How to remove //smartinf.ru from autoload on a label, you already know. If this was not enough, proceed to more complex actions.

Remove from startup and Task Scheduler

You can also try to remove harmful information from the system startup or task scheduler. Autoload is checked in the Computer Configuration utility. Click Win + R - msconfig and go to the "Startup" tab. In Windows 10, applications and startup processes are displayed in Task Manager, so go to it, as described above, and open the corresponding tab. Look through all items launched at Windows startup. Find the suspicious application and click "Disable".

To see which applications use Task Scheduler, go to Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management. On Windows 10, you can right-click on the Start icon - "Computer Management". View all scheduler tasks. All that do not belong to the OS and seem suspicious, you need to completely remove.

Registry cleaning

Quite a long, but reliable way. Hold Win + R and enter regedit in the appeared window. The registry editing program opens. Enter the search box by pressing Ctrl + F. Search in turn for the following queries:

cmd / c start

utm_source =

utm_content

After the results are displayed, pay attention to the “Value” column, in which the malicious site will be displayed. It is necessary to remove each of them. Press F3 for further search and continue cleaning until the window “Search in the registry is complete” will not come out.

After that, try the following sections:

  • HKEY_USERS \ S-1-5-21-1234567890-1234567890-1234567890-100X \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run;
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run;
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run;
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main;
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Startpage.

In which case you can find links to harmful files and sites, in particular, smartinf.ru. Copy the link into the notebook, you should remove this parameter from the registry. Find it in the Computer Task Manager in the Processes tab and complete it. Go to the directory where the file is located to delete it.

Clearing the temporary folder

Finally, in Windows 10, navigate to C: \ Users \ name \ AppData \ Local \, where you should remove the Temp folders, as well as SystemDir, Login to the Internet and Search the Internet.

Optional for Mozilla Firefox

Locate the directory C: \ Users \ name \ AppData \ Roaming \ Mozilla \ Firefox \ Profiles \ [profile name] .default \ and delete the user.js file from there.

By the way, for the last two actions you need to activate the display of hidden files in the Explorer. On Windows 8–10, in the “View” tab, check “Hidden elements”. On Windows 7, in the window under the arrow in the upper left corner, select Arrange - Folder options - Hidden files and folders - Show hidden files, folders and drives.

Conclusion

Now you know what the trouble is //smartinf.ru, where it comes from and how to get rid of this nastiness. The case is quite difficult, if you do everything manually. We advise all the same to use the utility to clean Windows 10 and be careful computer user. Watch carefully what resources you access from the browser, what and where you download and what programs you install. A few minutes of attention can protect against several hours of addressing the consequences.

How did you manage to get rid of the problem described? We invite you to share your views in the comments.