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In this article we are going to try and help you remove Navsmart. Our instructions cover all Windows versions as well as most browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer etc.

Most of our readers firmly believe Navsmart is a virus. However we think it is important to make the distinction and firmly state that Navsmart “virus”, as it is often called, is not actually a virus. Navsmart is a type of browser hijacker and among the most annoying instances of computer infection out there. It’s like a bad cold: the symptoms are hindering, irritating and you’d rather not have them; but they aren’t life threatening and most times they won’t stop you from going about your day. This is more or less what it’s like to have browser hijacker affecting your browser and many users tend to mistakenly refer to it as being infected with a virus. Viruses are completely different, and much like the real-life ones, they can cause some serious damage. Viruses or malware, as is the broader term (malicious + software), have the intention of inflicting harm on your PC and yourself even by infiltrating your system (Trojans) and even altering the data stored in it (Ransomware). In the case of browser hijacker, things are a little less scary and it’s really all about distributing as large a number of advertising materials as possible.

We do not, however, mean to say that browser hijacker is completely harmless and there is no issue with it whatsoever. On the contrary, we recommend removing it from your system at your earliest convenience with the help of the instruction provided below.

Why is it important that you uninstall Navsmart?

There are a few hidden risks related to browser hijacker, which may or may not manifest, but it’s always best to stay on the safe side when your cyber security is concerned. The first risk has to do with your privacy and personal information, which ideally no one should have access to but you. But in order to understand this, we’ll start from afar and first explain how browser hijacker operates.

Navsmart is based on the Pay per click scheme, which enables the developers behind it to make a profit each time you or someone else clicks on one of the featured ads. Naturally, it’s in their best interest to make those ads as appealing as possible, in order to attract more clicks. So how is this done? browser hijacker is known to collect your browsing information, such as most visited websites, bookmarked pages, search queries and even personal details. This information is then processed and translated to the language of advertising, resulting in creation of ads, specifically directed towards you. This might sound familiar if you have already noticed that some of the banners and popups you see mysteriously match the subject you had been researching the other day. And here we get back to our point: browser hijacker developers have unfortunately the bad reputation of selling all of this gathered information on to third parties. With the ever growing rate at which identity theft and other data misuse occur, the risk of it happening to you is quite real.

The other hidden danger and reason why you might want to remove Navsmart right this moment, is the fact that the many ads you see can often turn out to be fake. Moreover, they can end up redirecting you to pages that are littered with viruses and could potentially infiltrate your PC. It is therefore best you avoid clicking on any of the displayed offers and coupons, because even as tempting as they (doubtfully) might seem – they aren’t worth risking getting entangled with malware. Other potential downsides of having Navsmart on your computer could be those related to its performance. You will eventually (if not already) notice that certain programs tend to take much longer to load, browsing has become sluggish and even crashes and errors might start to occur.

Protecting yourself

We all know the saying of ‘better safe than sorry’ and there’s a good reason why it exists. Nobody would prefer dealing with the mess caused by browser hijacker to taking some simple safety measures. For one, you should at all times have a functioning antivirus to prevent threats from entering and flourishing in your system. In addition to this, it is highly recommended that you avoid visiting obscure websites, distributing freeware, shareware and possible illegal content. This includes websites like open source download platforms and some torrent sites. We especially advise you against downloading anything from places like that, because arguably the most effective distribution method for browser hijacker is program bundling. In truth you can just never be sure of what it is you’re getting from those types of websites and you also run the risk of downloading something far more dangerous than browser hijacker.

Navsmart Chrome/Firefox Uninstall

Many types of malware will restrict your access to their core files. It is highly recommended that you reboot your PC in safe mode before attempting to use this guide.

• To enable Safe Mode reboot you PC, then hit F8 repeatedly. When the corresponding menu opens please select Safe Mode with Networking.

WARNING! If you are using Windows 8,0 or later and/or your operating system is installed on a fast SSD drive this may fail to work. In this case click here to see how to start your PC in Safe Mode.

#1: Uninstall the malicious program from your control panel

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Enter control panel to look for any suspicious programs, which may have installed on your PC. To do that:

1. Navigate to your Desktop
2. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
3. In the Run window that just opened type appwiz.cpl

4. Go through the list of programs and find Navsmart or anything else that may seem suspicious. Right-click on it and choose the uninstallation option

WARNING! Carefully read any confirmation messages that may be created in the process. Sometimes you may get offers to download more browser hijacker applications and this can be linked to either the Yes or the No answer depending on the wording!

• Optional:

Go through the list of programs again and check online for any potentially unwanted programs. We have an article that covers this awesome free software that makes sure that your computer is free from bloatware and programs that you don’t need.

#2: Remove Navsmart From Chrome

Now we’ll remove the extensions that the malware has attached to your browser.

1. Open your Google Chrome browser.
2. Type chrome://extensions/  in the URL address bar and press Enter.
3. Click on “Developer Mode” on the top right and look for the extension installed by Navsmart and anything that might be related to it. Copy their IDs (the string of letters), then remove them by clicking on the trash bin icon.

1. Type Regedit in the Windows Start Menu and press Enter. Go in : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Extensions and delete the entries corresponding to the suspicious IDs you recorded.

#3: Remove Navsmart From Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Type “about:support” in the URL address bar and press Enter.
3. Click on the “Refresh Firefox” button on the right and confirm.

#4 Remove Navsmart From Internet Explorer

1. Open your Internet Explorer internet browser.
2. Click on the Gear icon on the up right, then on manage add-ons.
3. Go through the list disable any suspicious extensions.

#5 Remove any leftover parasitic processes

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From the task manager:

1. Use Ctrl + Shift + Esc and open the Task manager, then click on the Processes
2. Go through the list of processes and look for unknown or otherwise suspicious entries.
3. If you see anything suspicious right click on the process and shoes Open File Location, then terminate the process and delete any files you find in the directory.

WARNING! If the directory you open from this menu has no files inside of it it’s probably because the malware has hidden them. You need to reveal hidden files and folders in order to be able to see them. Click here if you don’t know how to do that.

From the start menu:

1. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
2. In the Run window that just opened type msconfig
3. Click on the Startup tab.

This menu controls which programs are loaded when windows starts after a reboot. Disable anything that seems suspicious. Optionally you can also disable any program that you don’t need and also has a high impact on your startup time.

Feel free to write to us in the comment section with any questions that you may have. Also if we have been helpful to you please share this article to help us reach more people like you.