If you keep receiving the Hqfok.com pop up ads, when you surf the Web with the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE and Microsoft Edge, then it could mean that you unintentionally installed unwanted software from the adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) family on your PC. Once started, it may install a malicious web browser’s add-on that generates lots of pop ups or modify the web browser’s settings to show ads on all web-pages that you’re opening in the browser, even on those webpages where before you did not see any advertisements. We suggest you to clean you system from adware and thereby remove Hqfok.com pop ups. You need to follow the steps below without a wait. It’ll remove all annoying popups and protect your PC system from more malicious software and trojans.
It’s not a good idea to have an unwanted program such as the ad-supported software that reroutes your web-browser to annoying Hqfok.com website. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. Even worse, the ‘ad supported’ software has the ability to gather a wide variety of your confidential info which can be later sold to third parties. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. And of course you completely do not know what will happen when you click on any Hqfok.com advertisements.
The ‘ad supported’ software can change the settings of the Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Edge, but often that a malicious software such as this can also hijack all types of browsers by modifying their desktop shortcuts. Thus forcing the user each time start the web browser to see the intrusive Hqfok.com website.
We recommend to delete the adware which cause intrusive Hqfok.com pop-ups to appear, as soon as you found this problem, as it can reroute your web browser to web-resources which may load other harmful software on your PC.
Remove Hqfok.com pop-ups
As with uninstalling ad-supported software, malicious software or potentially unwanted applications, there are few steps you can do. We suggest trying them all. If you do only one part of the guide, then it should be use malware removal utility, because it should get rid of adware and block any further infection. But to completely remove Hqfok.com ads you’ll have to at least reset your internet browser settings such as start page, newtab page and search provider to default state, disinfect system’s web browsers shortcuts, remove all unwanted and suspicious apps, and remove adware by malicious software removal tools. Certain of the steps will require you to restart your PC system or close this page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Hqfok.com, complete the following steps:
- How to manually delete Hqfok.com
- Remove Hqfok.com associated software by using Windows Control Panel
- Get rid of unwanted Scheduled Tasks
- Clean up the browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by adware
- Get rid of Hqfok.com from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
- Get rid of Hqfok.com popups from IE
- Remove Hqfok.com redirect from Chrome
- Delete Hqfok.com redirect with freeware
- How to block Hqfok.com popups
- Where the Hqfok.com pop ups comes from
- To sum up
How to manually delete Hqfok.com
The step-by-step guidance will help you delete Hqfok.com pop up ads. These Hqfok.com removal steps work for the Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and IE, as well as every version of Windows operating system.
Remove Hqfok.com associated software by using Windows Control Panel
Some potentially unwanted applications, browser hijacking software and adware can be deleted by uninstalling the freeware they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed software in Microsoft Windows Control Panel. Use the “Uninstall” command in order to get rid of them.
Make sure you have closed all web-browsers and other programs. Next, remove any unwanted and suspicious software 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 machine. Most probably, one of them is the ad-supported software related to Hqfok.com redirect. Select the questionable program or the program that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.
Windows Vista, 7
From the “Start” menu in Windows, choose “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, choose “Uninstall a program”.
Select the questionable or any unknown apps, then click “Uninstall/Change” button to remove this unwanted program from your personal computer.
Windows XP
Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.
Choose an undesired application, then press “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.
Get rid of unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If the unwanted Hqfok.com website opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all tasks which have been created by ‘ad-supported’ programs.
Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard at the same time. This opens a prompt that titled with Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “Task Scheduler Library”, as displayed in the figure below.
Task scheduler
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please select the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your PC system. Found something like “explorer.exe http://hqfok.com” or “chrome.exe http://hqfok.com”, then remove this malicious task. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it is a component of the malicious application, then this task also should be removed.
Having defined the task that you want to remove, then press on it with the right mouse button and choose Delete as displayed on the screen below.
Delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by ‘ad-supported’ software. Once is complete, close the Task Scheduler window.
Clean up the browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by adware
Important to know, most anti-malware apps which are able to remove ad-supported software that causes a large amount of intrusive Hqfok.com advertisements, but unable to scan for and recover changed shortcuts. So, you need to fix the desktop shortcuts for your Chrome, IE, Microsoft Edge and Firefox web browsers manually.
Click the right mouse button to a desktop shortcut file that you use to launch your web browser. Next, select the “Properties” option. Important: necessary to click on the desktop shortcut file for the web-browser which is redirected to the Hqfok.com or other unwanted web page.
Further, necessary to look at the text that is written in the “Target” field. The adware which made to redirect your web browser to various ad web pages like Hqfok.com can change the contents of this field, which describes the file to be start when you open your internet browser. Depending on the web browser you’re using, there should be:
- Google Chrome: chrome.exe
- Opera: opera.exe
- Firefox: firefox.exe
- Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe
If you’re seeing an unknown text like “http://site.addres” which has been added here, then you should remove it, as shown below.
Next, press the “OK” button to save the changes. Now, when you open the internet browser from this desktop shortcut, it does not occur automatically redirect on the Hqfok.com webpage or any other intrusive web pages. Once the step is finished, we recommend to go to the next step.
Get rid of Hqfok.com from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
If the Firefox settings such as new tab, home page and search engine by default have been replaced by the ad supported software, then resetting it to the default state can help. Essential information like bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, cookies, auto-fill data and personal dictionaries will not be removed.
Press 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 on the screen below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button like below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Mozilla Firefox browser settings to their original state.
Get rid of Hqfok.com popups from IE
If you find that Internet Explorer internet browser settings like newtab, search provider and home page had been modified by adware that responsible for the appearance of Hqfok.com pop ups, then you may restore your settings, via the reset internet browser procedure.
First, start the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (
). It will show the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as displayed below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your personal computer for the changes to take effect.
Remove Hqfok.com redirect from Chrome
Use the Reset web-browser tool of the Chrome to reset all its settings like search engine, homepage and new tab page to original defaults. This is a very useful utility to use, in the case of web-browser redirects to intrusive ad web-pages such as Hqfok.com.
- First, launch the Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Google Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see 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 steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, press “Advanced” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Chrome will display the reset settings dialog box as shown on the screen above.
- Confirm the browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Delete Hqfok.com redirect with freeware
It is not enough to delete Hqfok.com ads from your browser by following the manual steps above to solve all problems. Some the adware related files may remain on your machine and they will restore the adware even after you remove it. For that reason we advise to use free anti-malware utility such as Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM), MalwareBytes and HitmanPro. Either of those applications should be able to detect and remove adware responsible for redirects to Hqfok.com.
Scan and clean your web browser of Hqfok.com pop-up ads with Zemana Anti-malware
We recommend you to run the Zemana Anti-malware that are completely clean your PC of adware that causes web-browsers to open intrusive Hqfok.com pop-up ads. Moreover, the utility will help you to remove PUPs, malware, toolbars and hijacker infections that your system may be infected too.
Click the following link to download Zemana Free. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
164107 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
When the download is finished, close all windows on your system. Further, start the setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed below, click the “Yes” button.
It will display the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana Anti-Malware on the PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is finished successfully, Zemana Free will automatically launch and you can see its main window as displayed in the figure below.
Next, press the “Scan” button for scanning your computer for the adware that responsible for the appearance of Hqfok.com advertisements. During the scan Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will search for threats present on your machine.
After Zemana Free has finished scanning, Zemana will open a list of found threats. Once you have selected what you want to remove from your computer click “Next” button.
The Zemana AntiMalware will start to delete ad-supported software responsible for redirecting your web-browser to Hqfok.com web page. After disinfection is finished, you can be prompted to restart your system.
Scan your PC and remove Hqfok.com redirect with HitmanPro
HitmanPro is a free removal tool. It deletes PUPs, adware, hijackers and undesired internet browser extensions. It’ll identify and delete ad supported software which redirects your web browser to intrusive Hqfok.com web page. HitmanPro uses very small system resources and is a portable program. Moreover, HitmanPro does add another layer of malware protection.
- Installing the HitmanPro is simple. First you’ll need to download Hitman Pro on your Microsoft Windows Desktop by clicking on the link below.
- After the downloading process is finished, double click the Hitman Pro icon. Once this utility is started, click “Next” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the ad supported software responsible for redirecting your browser to Hqfok.com web site. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your PC and the speed of your PC. While the HitmanPro tool is scanning, you can see count of objects it has identified as being affected by malicious software.
- Once that process is finished, Hitman Pro will show a list of all items detected by the scan. All found threats will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to get rid of all malicious software found.
Use Malwarebytes to remove Hqfok.com popup ads
We advise using the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your PC system of the adware. The free tool is an advanced malware removal application made by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti malware technology. It’s able to help you get rid of intrusive Hqfok.com pop up advertisements from your web browsers, PUPs, malware, hijacker infections, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your computer for free.
- Visit the page linked below to download MalwareBytes AntiMalware. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326460 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- After downloading is finished, close all programs and windows on your machine. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, press Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is finished, click the “Scan Now” button for checking your machine for the ad supported software responsible for redirections to Hqfok.com. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system.
- After finished, you will be displayed the list of all found items on your machine. Once you have selected what you wish to remove from your PC press “Quarantine Selected”. After disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your computer.
The following video offers a steps on how to remove browser hijackers, adware and other malware with MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM).
How to block Hqfok.com popups
In order to increase your security and protect your computer against new intrusive advertisements and harmful web sites, you need to run ad blocking application that blocks an access to harmful advertisements and web pages. Moreover, the application can stop the show of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of websites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
- Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdGuard for Microsoft Windows. Save it on your Windows desktop.
Adguard download
26656 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading it, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- After the installation is done, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your PC system, AdGuard will start automatically and block popup ads, web-pages like Hqfok.com, as well as other harmful or misleading websites. 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, which is located on your desktop.
Where the Hqfok.com pop ups comes from
The adware spreads with a simple but quite effective way. It’s integrated into the installer of various free software. Thus on the process of setup, it will be installed onto your PC system. In order to avoid adware, you just need to follow a few simple rules: carefully read the Terms of Use and the license, choose only a Manual, Custom or Advanced installation method, which enables you to make sure that the program you want to install, thereby protect your computer from the adware that responsible for browser redirect to the annoying Hqfok.com webpage.
To sum up
Now your machine should be free of the adware that cause undesired Hqfok.com ads to appear. We suggest that you keep Zemana AntiMalware (to periodically scan your machine for new ad supported softwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block undesired pop up ads and malicious web-sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to scan for potentially unwanted applications.
If you need more help with Hqfok.com pop up ads related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
