Remove Nova.Rambler.ru “Virus” (Chrome/Firefox)

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Welcome to our Nova.Rambler.ru “Virus” removal guide. The following instructions will aid you in removing the unwanted software from your PC.

There is no need to forget about all modern technology and go back to living in a cave just because an annoying browser hijacker named Nova.Rambler.ru “Virus” has taken over your favorite Chrome of Firefox browser. On this page, we will show you how you can effectively deal with it and save yourself from its annoying ads, page redirects, homepage and search engine changes. There is a removal guide below, which is specially created to help you manually find and remove all its components that have been installed on your system and easily bring your browser back to normal. We have made the instructions as detailed as possible and there should be no problem for you to follow them with ease. Just before you do that, we suggest you read a bit more about the nature of the program you are facing, its specifics and prevention methods, so you could better handle the uninstallation steps below.

A browser hijacker – is this a virus?

Browser hijackers are not viruses. Programs like Nova.Rambler.ru are very often mistaken for some virus infection, but the truth is that they do not really represent a security threat. The browser hijackers’ bad fame comes more from their rather aggressive ad-generating activity and the changes they may impose to the user’s browser, rather than any malicious activity. In fact, threats like Trojans, Ransomware, and other malware are the real bad guys you should be concerned about, not browser hijackers. The reason for that is simple – programs like Nova.Rambler.ru are mainly created with one sole idea which is to display as many sponsored advertisements as possible. This is usually done by hijacking the users’ browser and redirecting their searches to different ads, banners, promotional pages and sites with all types of sponsored advertisements or links. There is a whole business model called Pay-Per-Click, which runs on receiving clicks over ads and generating some revenue every time the users visit the advertisements, displayed by the hijacker. This is a widely used model used by many online based businesses and the Nova.Rambler.ru developers are also taking advantage of it by hijacking users’ browsers for profit.

What issues may Nova.Rambler.ru cause?

From a legal point of view, programs like Nova.Rambler.ru are legally developed pieces of software, which serve the online advertising industry, and there is no problem with this type of software and its advertisements. However, a problem may occur when the users are exposed to way more undesired advertising content than they can tolerate. Of course, the individual tolerance of ad exposure is different, and while some people may find it useful to be redirected to hot offers and promotions, others may feel heavily irritated. Having a program like Nova.Rambler.ru on your computer generally means that in one way or another you may be constantly seeing some pop-ups, new tabs jumping out, some aggressive advertisements that are difficult to manage or don’t want to go away and frequently interrupt your browsing activity. A few potentially undesired changes may also take place on your homepage and the default search engine that you are using, disturbing your normal browsing habits with their sponsored websites suggestions.

Some very common issues that you may experience if you keep a browser hijacker on your PC are related to the general slowdown of the affected browser. Being busy with loading ads and pages, generated by Nova.Rambler.ru, your browser may not be able to respond to your searches. The browser hijacker may also monitor your web activity and collect information about your browsing habits, history, and preferences, which information may be used to expose you to more targeted ads and websites. Another thing you should keep in mind is that not all the ads and pages that you may get redirected to may be completely safe. These ads are usually randomly generated, and you may end up in an insecure web location or get infected with some virus or malware if you click on them. Threats like Trojans and Ransomware usually use fake ads or misleading links to infect your system, so the risk of bumping into such nasty malware is very real. That’s why, it may be better for your safety to remove the browser hijacker and uninstall all of its ad-generating components from your browser, in order to minimize the risk of interacting with security hazards.

General prevention and protection

When it comes to installing new software on your computer, it is highly recommended to opt for the “Advanced/Custom” installation option instead of the “Standard/Quick” one. This ensures that programs like Nova.Rambler.ru, which are usually bundled inside the installer of some other program, will not get installed on your PC without your notice. If possible, do not download software setups from unknown web locations, torrent sites, freeware platforms, online installation managers and spam emails as this is where the browser hijackers are distributed the most.

Remove Nova.Rambler.ru “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 Nova.Rambler.ru, 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 Nova.Rambler.ru 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

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 Nova.Rambler.ru 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 Nova.Rambler.ru, 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

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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.