Gotoinstall.ru

Gotoinstall.ru might look like a safe and reliable search engine, but the truth is that it is a browser hijacker because its creators use deceptive methods to inject it into your browser. You can get it accidentally, so you might want to remove it because it was configured to replace your browser’s homepage address and, thus, force you to use it to search the web. While this hijacker works as a regular search engine, we warn you that its search results can feature promotional links that can b misleading and unreliable. In short, Gotoinstall.ru is no good as its main purpose is to hijack your browser and show ads and promotional links that generate ad revenue.

Our research has revealed that Gotoinstall.ru was set to hijack the Target line of a given browser. Hijacking the target line involves adding this hijacker’s URL in quotes to the default target line. As a result, Gotoinstall.ru will be set as the default homepage address each time you open your browser. We think that it can do that for most browsers hat include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. However, Microsoft Edge has built-in protection that prevents this hijacking from modifying its settings.

This new hijacker is quite sophisticated, but it objective is the same as that of other browser hijackers. It was designed to replace your browser’s homepage in order to make you it for searching the web. It redirects all entered search terms to Google Custom Search that can present you with promotional links supplied by Gotoinstall.ru to generate ad revenue. It is clear as day that this hijacker’s purpose is to make money for its creators, so do not expect it to provide you with s safe and reliable search service.

We also believe that this hijacker should collect some non-personally identifiable information about you to present you with geotargeted, personalized search results that can feature promoted links that you may find interesting and click. The collected information can include data such as your IP address, Internet Service Provider, search terms entered, search history, operating system type and version, browser type, and so on. Collecting this information is legal, and many search engines and regular websites can acquire it whole or in part.

Judging from its domain name, Gotoinstall.ru is hosted in Russia and was probably created by Russian malware developers. However, this hijacker is in English, so the targeted user base might not be limited to the Russian-speaking diaspora.

We believe that this hijacker is most likely distributed via software bundles. These bundles can feature several applications, but some or even all additional program can be hidden you might not be able to deselect them. As a result, it can install Gotoinstall.ru on your browser accidentally as the software installer interacts with your browser during installation and inserts the Target line modifications to it.

If you want to browse the Internet safely, then you have to remove Gotoinstall.ru from your browser as soon as you can because there is no benefit to having it on your computer. It hijacks the homepage address and prevents you from changing it. Its search results can feature questionable promotional links. Therefore, we recommend that you remove it from your PC using the guide presented below.

Fix the modifications made to the browser’s Target line

1. Right-click your (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox) browser’s shortcut.
2. Select Properties.
3. Open the Shortcut tab.
4. Delete Gotoinstall.ru address from the Target line.
5. Click OK.

Reset browser to default settings

Google Chrome

1. Hold down Alt+F and open Settings.
2. Select Advanced and click Reset.
3. Click Reset again in the dialog.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Hold down Alt+T.
2. Select Internet Options, and then click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Reset and check the checkbox.
4. Click Reset.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Hold down Ctrl+Shift+A.
2. Click Extensions and remove the extension.
3. Press Alt+H.
4. Select Troubleshooting information and click Refresh Firefox.
5. Click Refresh Firefox again.
6. Click Finish.