Remove Snapdo- and Other Nasty Browser Hijackers

If you use Windows 8, chances are that you have been a victim of a nasty piece of software called Snapdo. This browser hijacker installs itself easily into Bing, Google Chrome and Firefox, changing your homepage to Snapdo and constantly running ads on your machine. Trying to uninstall this piece of malware is in itself a nightmare because it does not show up in Control panel's list of installed programs nor does it respond to a search request of your computer.

I recently opened my Firefox browser to a shocking piece of "information" provided by Snapdo. It presented me with an official-looking warning that my computer was running out of space and I needed to purchase a program to remedy the problem immediately! Then it proceeded to demonstrate its diagnostic ability by performing a visual "diagnosis" of "my computer" showing the seriousness of the problem. That was too much for me since I had seen this age-old trick before and knew its techniques. Heck, I have spent most of my technician life removing this bogus piece of computer blackmail from client's computers. Now here it was on my computer courtesy of Snapdo. I immediately turned on my Malwarebytes software to fully scan my system and remove all traces of malware it found. I was in no mood to fool around with this unwanted piece of malware that had injected itself into all my browsers and anonymously changed their homepages. After restarting my computer, I ran a little-known but highly-effective free program called Adware Cleaner. This program rocks! It removes all the malware it locates and leaves your computer in its previously un-infected state. Depending on the amount of content on your machine, the scan and removal process takes a few minutes. Mine lasted less than five minutes because I have a fairly new machine. As a confirmation process, I also used Avast's Browser Cleanup tool to ensure my browsers were thoroughly clean and my homepages were restored to the originals. This was, of course, overkill but I was so pissed off with the overall situation and, as I said before, I did not want to fool around with this nasty piece of malware. Any one of these programs could have done the job by itself but I was pissed.

I am happy to report that since blasting my computer with these programs, everything is functioning fine. The reason I am writing this piece is to keep my readers informed of effective ways to rid their computers of unwanted malware without spending an arm and a leg. I also intend to inform victims of Snapdo and other browser-hijacking software like Sweetpacks, that these programs are not needed on their computers and only provide entrances for other vampire programs. Windows8 is no different from other Windows versions as far as virus and malware providers are concerned. It is a Microsoft program and, therefore, a target for everyone who has a beef with Microsoft for whatever reason. All I'm saying is: Beef with Microsoft but keep your crap off my computer!