How to Remove Motious.com “Virus”

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Welcome to our How to Remove Motious.com “Virus” guide. The following instructions will aid you in removing the unwanted software from your PC.

There’s nothing more annoying than having your browser modified without your permission by some obscure sketchy piece of software such as Motious.com. Here, we will be focusing on Motious.com, on what it can do and how you can deal with. Note that it is advisable to read everything in the article, since all the information here is essential to handling this type of unwanted programs.

Introduction to Browser Hijackers

There are many programs throughout the internet that share similar traits with Motious.com. Those programs are called Browser Hijackers due to their tendency to invade the user’s Chrome, Firefox, IE or any other browser and add new stuff to it such as new homepage, search engine or toolbars. Though not inherently malicious or harmful, this can still be quite obstructive and frustrating for the user. Additionally, some Hijackers tend to cause sudden and unwanted page redirects, which is also quite unpleasant. Generally, it is not too difficult to uninstall and remove a Hijacker, but it can still be considerably more difficult than removing a regular program. That is why we will give you a detailed removal guide, which will show you what needs to be done in order to ensure that the nagging application has been eliminated.

How dangerous?

You open your browser and you see that it has been invaded by some sketchy program that has implemented a number of unwanted modifications without your permission – what is your first thought? Surely, most users would assume that their PC has been attacked by some kind of malicious virus (and rightfully so), such as a Trojan or maybe even Ransomware. However, although Motious.com is often regarded as some form of malware, it is not actually all that harmful. Browser Hijackers are not real PC viruses, unlike the ones that we mentioned (Trojans, Ransomware). Instead, they are programs primarily designed for online marketing purposes. Even if they appear shady and potentially harmful, keep in mind that for the most part they are all about advertising some website, a software product or an internet service. This, of course, does not mean that Motious.com is any more desirable, but as far as your system security is concerned, you should be in the clear.

What issues can it cause?

Browser Hijackers might not be exactly harmful, but most of them certainly possess some quite unpleasant traits (apart from the ones mentioned so far). To add up to the various unwanted browser modifications, here are some more potential negative effects that a program of this type can have on your PC.

• Many Hijackers are known to employ aggressive advertising when they get onto the user’s PC. Most commonly, they tend to flood your browser with extremely obstructive and annoying pop-ups, banners and box messages that oftentimes cover the whole screen making it rather difficult to normally surf the internet without accidentally clicking on any of the nagging ads.
• A very common technique used to improve the chances of you clicking on the ads is when a Browser Hijacker scans through your recent browser history and searches and determines what your personal tastes are. Later, this data is employed within the ads, thus making them look more appealing.
• Lastly, it is possible that your PC’s performance gets affected by Motious.com due to increased resource consumption (CPU, RAM). At times, this can even lead to your machine becoming unstable and experiencing crashes/freezes and/or becoming non-responding.

How to avoid Hijackers

Down below in the removal guide, we will help you remove the nagging program from your PC. However, you also need to learn how to prevent any more Hijackers from getting installed on your machine. To do that, we advise you to remember and employ each of the following tips that will help you improve your machine’s safety and security.

• When you are browsing the internet, be extremely careful with what sites you are going to. Even if a website is not illegal, as long as it is not trustworthy, there’s some chance that you might end up landing some undesirable piece of software such as Motious.com.
• Customize your browser settings so that none of your browsers are allowed to automatically download anything. You must always be asked for permission prior to a file getting downloaded onto your HDD.
• It is always a good idea to have a reliable anti-malware tool on your PC. Installing such a program will greatly decrease the chances of you landing some unwanted Hijacker or some other undesirable piece of software.
• Before opening a new e-mail, make sure that it is not spam. Generally, you should be able to determine whether or not it spam without too much difficulty just by looking at the sender, the title and the subject. If you are not sure, you should probably not open it – better safe than sorry.
• When installing new software it is important to look through the installer and see if there are any added applications bundled with the main software. Sometimes, you might need to go for the Advanced installation option so as to see all the added programs. Once you find the full list of bundled software, look up the different applications and if any of them seems undesirable, leave it out of the installation.

How to Remove Motious.com “Virus”

I – Uninstallation

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1. Use the Winkey+R keyboard combination, write Control Panel in the search field and hit enter.
   
2. Go to Uninstall a program under Programs.
   
3. Seek the unwanted software, select it and then click on Uninstall
   1. If you are unable to spot Motious.com, search for any unrecognized programs that you do not remember installing on your PC – the unwanted software might disguise itself by going under a different name.

II – Safe mode and revealing hidden files

1. Boot your PC into Safe Mode /link/
2. Reveal hidden files and folders /link/

III – Cleaning all your browsers

1. Go to your browser’s icon, right-click on it and select Properties.
   
2. Go to the Shortcut tab and in the Target make sure to delete anything written after “.exe”.
   
3. Now, open your browser and follow the instructions below depending on whether you are using Chrome, Mozilla or IE.

• Chrome users:

1. Go to your browser’s main menu located in the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings.
   
2. Scroll down, click on Show Advanced Settings and then select Clear browsing data. Just to be sure, tick everything and clear the data.
   
3. Now, in the left pane, go to Extensions and look through all extensions that are integrated within your browser. If you notice any suspicious add-on, disable it and then remove it.
   

• Firefox users:

1. Similarly to Chrome, go to the main menu and select Add-ons and then Extensions.
2. Remove any suspicious browser extensions that you may have even if they do not have the name Motious.com on them.

• IE users:

1. Go to Tools and select Manage add-ons.
   
2. Click on all add-on types from the left pane and check if there is anything suspicious in the right panel. In case you find anything shade, make sure to remove it.

IV – Removing Shady processes

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1. Go to your start menu, type Task Manager in the search field and from the results open View running processes with Task Manager.
   
2. Thoroughly look through all processes. The name Motious.com might not be there, but if you notice any shady looking process that consumes high amounts of memory it might be ran by the unwanted program.
3. If you spot the process ran by Motious.com, right-click on it, open its file location and delete everything in there. Then go back to the Task Manager and end the process.
   

V – DNS check

1. In the start menu search box write View Network Connections and open the first result.
   
2. Right-click on the network connection you are using and go to Properties.
   
3. Select Internet Protocol Version (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.
   
4. If Obtain DNS server addresses automatically is not checked, check it.
   
5. Go to Advanced and select the DNS If there is anything in the DNS server addresses field, remove it and click OK.
   
6. Click OK on the rest of the opened windows.