Every time, when you open your web browser the Thepopularlinks.com web-site which you do not remember installing as start page or search engine keeps annoying you? Thepopularlinks.com is a program that falls under the category of browser hijackers. It can end up on your PC in various ways. In most cases is when you download and install another free application and forget to uncheck the box for the bundled programs installation. Don’t panic because we have got the solution. Here’s a guidance on how to get rid of annoying Thepopularlinks.com homepage from any internet browsers, including the Google Chrome, FF, MS Edge and IE.
http://www.thepopularlinks.com/
When you are performing searches using the internet browser that has been affected with Thepopularlinks.com, the search results will be returned from Bing, Yahoo or Google Custom Search. The devs behind Thepopularlinks.com hijacker are most likely doing this to make advertisement money from the ads opened in the search results.
It is not a good idea to have an undesired application such as Thepopularlinks.com hijacker infection on your computer. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. The hijacker has the ability to collect privacy information about you that can be later transferred to third parties. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. And of course you completely don’t know what will happen when you click on any advertisements on the Thepopularlinks.com web-page.
The Thepopularlinks.com hijacker infection can modify some settings of all your typical internet browsers, but often that the undesired software may also infect all types of internet browsers by changing their desktop shortcuts. Thus forcing the user to see Thepopularlinks.com annoying web-site every time launch the internet browser.
Thus, it is clear that the presence of browser hijacker on your system is not desirable, and you need to clean up your PC system as quickly as possible. Follow the instructions below in order to get rid of Thepopularlinks.com from Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and IE.
How to remove Thepopularlinks.com
The Thepopularlinks.com is a browser hijacker infection that you might have difficulty in removing it from your computer. Happily, you’ve found the effective removal tutorial in this post. Both the manual removal way and the automatic removal method will be provided below and you can just select the one that best for you. If you have any questions or need assist then type a comment below. Some of the steps below will require you to shut down this web site. So, please read the few simple steps carefully, after that bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Thepopularlinks.com, complete the following steps:
- How to manually remove Thepopularlinks.com
- Scan your system and remove Thepopularlinks.com with free utilities
- Block Thepopularlinks.com homepage and other annoying web-sites
- Why is my browser redirected to Thepopularlinks.com?
- To sum up
How to manually remove Thepopularlinks.com
The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually remove Thepopularlinks.com search from the Firefox, Google Chrome, IE and Microsoft Edge.
Delete PUPs through the Microsoft Windows Control Panel
First method for manual browser hijacker removal is to go into the MS Windows “Control Panel”, then “Uninstall a program” console. Take a look at the list of programs on your computer and see if there are any questionable and unknown apps. If you see any, you need to uninstall them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Web search to find details on the program. If it is a potentially unwanted program, adware or malicious software, you will likely find information that says so.
Make sure you have closed all browsers and other software. Press CTRL, ALT, DEL keys together to open the MS Windows Task Manager.
Click on the “Processes” tab, look for something suspicious that is the browser hijacker that developed to redirect your web browser to the Thepopularlinks.com web-page then right-click it and select “End Task” or “End Process” option. Most commonly, malicious software masks itself to avoid detection by imitating legitimate Microsoft Windows processes. A process is particularly suspicious: it is taking up a lot of memory (despite the fact that you closed all of your applications), its name is not familiar to you (if you are in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for its name in Google, Yahoo or Bing).
Next, uninstall any unwanted and suspicious programs from your Control panel.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Now, click the Windows button, type “Control panel” in search and press Enter. Choose “Programs and Features”, then “Uninstall a program”.
Look around the entire list of software installed on your PC. Most likely, one of them is the hijacker responsible for modifying your web-browser settings to Thepopularlinks.com. Choose the questionable application or the application that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.
Windows Vista, 7
From the “Start” menu in MS Windows, select “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, select “Uninstall a program”.
Select the questionable or any unknown applications, then click “Uninstall/Change” button to delete this unwanted program from your personal computer.
Windows XP
Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.
Select an unwanted program, then click “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.
Remove Thepopularlinks.com redirect from Firefox
The Firefox reset will keep your personal information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill data and get rid of unwanted search provider and startpage such as Thepopularlinks.com, modified preferences, extensions and security settings.
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as displayed in the figure below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed on the image below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your Firefox web browser settings to its original state.
Delete Thepopularlinks.com from IE
In order to restore all internet browser newtab page, homepage and search engine by default you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the MS Windows was installed on your system.
First, run the Microsoft Internet Explorer. Next, press the button in the form of gear (
). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then press the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window like below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to restart your system for the changes to take effect.
Get rid of Thepopularlinks.com from Google Chrome
Like other modern internet browsers, the Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thereby recover the internet browser start page, new tab page and default search engine that have been modified by the Thepopularlinks.com browser hijacker infection.
Open the Google Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (
). It will display the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.
Open the Chrome main menu again, click to “Settings” option.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, as displayed on the image below and press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Fix affected web-browsers shortcuts to get rid of Thepopularlinks.com homepage
Important to know, most antimalware applications that are able to delete browser hijacker that redirects your web browser to annoying Thepopularlinks.com page, but unable to detect and recover altered shortcut files. So, you need to fix the desktop shortcuts for your Firefox, Google Chrome, IE and Edge browsers manually.
Open the properties of the web browser shortcut. Right click on the shortcut file of infected web browser and choose the “Properties” option and it’ll display the properties of the shortcut. Next, select the “Shortcut” tab and have a look at the Target field as displayed on the image below.
Normally, if the last word in the Target field is chrome.exe, iexplore.exe, firefox.exe. Be sure to pay attention to the extension, should be “exe”! All shortcut files which have been modified by hijacker infection related to Thepopularlinks.com redirect, usually point to .bat, .cmd or .url files instead of .exe as on the image below
Another variant, an address has been added at the end of the line. In this case the Target field looks such as …Application\chrome.exe” http://site.address like below.
In order to fix the infected shortcut, you need to insert right path to the Target field or remove an address (if it has been added at the end). You can use the following information to fix your shortcut files that have been changed by browser hijacker responsible for redirecting user searches to Thepopularlinks.com.
| Google Chrome | C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe | |
| Firefox | C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe |
| Internet Explorer | C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe | |
| Opera | C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\launcher.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Opera\launcher.exe |
Once is done, click OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all browsers that are redirected to the Thepopularlinks.com intrusive web-page.
Scan your system and remove Thepopularlinks.com with free utilities
Many antivirus companies have created software that help detect and delete browser hijacker, and thereby return web-browsers settings. Below is a a few of the free programs you may want to run. Your PC may have tons of potentially unwanted applications, adware and browser hijackers installed at the same time, so we suggest, if any unwanted or harmful program returns after restarting the computer, then boot your PC system into Safe Mode and use the anti malware tool again.
Remove Thepopularlinks.com start page with Zemana
We advise using the Zemana Anti-Malware that are completely clean your computer of the hijacker. The utility is an advanced malicious software removal program made by (c) Zemana lab. It’s able to help you remove PUPs, browser hijackers, adware, malware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your PC system for free.
Please go to the following link to download Zemana. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
159545 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
After the downloading process is finished, close all apps and windows on your system. Double-click the install file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed on the image below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) on your machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is done successfully, Zemana will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed in the figure below.
Now press the “Scan” button .Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) application will scan through the whole PC for the browser hijacker responsible for redirecting user searches to Thepopularlinks.com. Depending on your PC, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) utility is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified as being infected by malware.
Once the scan is complete, a list of all items found is created. Review the scan results and then click “Next” button. The Zemana AntiMalware will remove hijacker which redirects your browser to undesired Thepopularlinks.com web-page. After the clean-up is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the PC.
How to automatically get rid of Thepopularlinks.com with Malwarebytes
We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free. You may download and install Malwarebytes to search for and get rid of Thepopularlinks.com home page from your system. When installed and updated, the free malicious software remover will automatically scan and detect all threats exist on the computer.
Download MalwareBytes from the link below. Save it directly to your Microsoft Windows Desktop.
317663 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
When downloading is complete, close all applications and windows on your PC system. Double-click the install file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as displayed below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” that will help you setup MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) on your computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is finished successfully, click Finish button. MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will automatically start and you can see its main screen like below.
Now press the “Scan Now” button .MalwareBytes application will scan through the whole machine for the browser hijacker responsible for redirects to Thepopularlinks.com. While the tool is checking, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned.
After MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) completes the scan, MalwareBytes will display a list of all threats detected by the scan. When you are ready, click “Quarantine Selected” button. The MalwareBytes Free will get rid of hijacker infection that causes web browsers to open intrusive Thepopularlinks.com page. After finished, you may be prompted to reboot the system.
We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) to get rid of ad supported software, browser hijacker and other malicious software.
If the problem with Thepopularlinks.com home page is still remained
AdwCleaner is a portable utility that finds and removes undesired apps like browser hijackers, ad-supported software, toolbars, other internet browser extensions and other malware. It scans your machine for hijacker related to Thepopularlinks.com and prepares a list of items marked for removal. AdwCleaner will only delete those unwanted applications that you wish to be removed.
Click the following link to download the latest version of AdwCleaner for MS Windows. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.
220760 downloads
Version: 8.3.2
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 28, 2022
When the download is complete, open the directory in which you saved it and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will run the AdwCleaner tool and you will see a screen as on the image below. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to start the application, click Yes button to continue.
Next, click “Scan” for scanning your system for the browser hijacker that cause a redirect to Thepopularlinks.com page. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your personal computer. During the scan AdwCleaner will detect threats present on your PC.
Once AdwCleaner completes the scan, AdwCleaner will show a list of all items found by the scan as displayed on the image below.
Review the report and then click “Clean” button. It will show a prompt. Click “OK” button. The AdwCleaner will remove hijacker infection that redirects your web browser to unwanted Thepopularlinks.com web page and move threats to the program’s quarantine. After the task is finished, the tool may ask you to reboot your computer. After reboot, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.
All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video instructions.
Block Thepopularlinks.com homepage and other annoying web-sites
It is important to run ad blocker software like AdGuard to protect your machine from malicious web pages. Most security experts says that it’s okay to block advertisements. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard can to stop Thepopularlinks.com and other annoying pages.
- Download AdGuard application from the following link. Save it to your Desktop.
Adguard download
25672 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- When the install is complete, click “Skip” to close the setup program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop pop-up advertisements, pages such Thepopularlinks.com, as well as other malicious or misleading web pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, that can be found on your desktop.
Why is my browser redirected to Thepopularlinks.com?
Many hijackers such as Thepopularlinks.com are included in the free programs install package. Most commonly, a user have a chance to disable all included “offers”, but some installers are created to confuse the average users, in order to trick them into installing an ad supported software or PUPs. Anyway, easier to prevent the hijacker infection rather than clean up your machine after one. So, keep the browser updated (turn on automatic updates), run a good antivirus apps, double check a free software before you open it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid harmful and unknown sites.
To sum up
Now your system should be clean of the hijacker which changes web-browser settings to replace your start page, new tab page and default search engine with Thepopularlinks.com site. Delete AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep Zemana AntiMalware (to periodically scan your system for new hijacker infections and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block annoying pop up advertisements and harmful web pages). Moreover, to prevent browser hijacker infections, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to search for PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).
If you need more help with Thepopularlinks.com redirect related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
