Mydesktopdefender.com Redirect Removal

by Milena Dimitrova | September 8, 2021 | 0 Comments browser redirect

Threat Summary How to Remove Mydesktopdefender.com

Mydesktopdefender.com is a suspicious domain that may trigger numerous redirects, based on the user’s geographical location. Such websites are often associated with the generation of unwanted ads, hence the term adware is often added to their description. Most antivirus and anti-malware products may detect pages like Mydesktopdefender.com as PUPs and adware, for instance Adware.Generic and PUA.Generic.

Also note that Mydesktopdefender.com could be associated with tech support scammers. These threat actors could deploy numerous such pages in their attempts to make potential victims install suspicious software on their machines. Examples include SilverSpeedup, MacFly, Xbits, etc. Both macOS and Windows users can be targeted by such rogue applications.

Also, keep in mind that a fake AV program may also act like a browser hijacker and take over your browsers. If you notice that your browser’s homepage has been replaced with the ‘official’ page of a suspicious security product, be sure that you have rogue AV and (quite possibly) other malware draining your system. You can read more about fake programs in our article dedicated to the detection and removal of rogue programs.

Continue reading to learn more about how Mydesktopdefender.com sneaked into your computer, and what you can do to remediate it.

Threat Summary

Name	Mydesktopdefender.com
Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, PUA, Adware
Short Description	A suspicious site that may try to trick you into subscribing to its push notifications or make you download a rogue program.
Symptoms	Unwanted pop-ups may start appearing while you are browsing the web. A browser hijacker may be downloaded without your knowledge.
Distribution Method	Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Mydesktopdefender.com.

Mydesktopdefender.com More Details

As a result of interacting with Mydesktopdefender.com, you can start experiencing intrusive pop-up ads, which are often entirely unrelated to your browsing. These ads could contain information about other questionable applications and detected system issues, or push notifications. Keep in mind that your searches could also be redirected to unwanted and suspicious pages.

Pages such as Mydesktopdefender.com are often associated with adware and browser hijacking apps, known to collect various details about your browsing:

Visited URLs and websites
Browser’s home page
Search queries
Search queries on the visited web pages
Type of used browser
Operating system type
Internet protocol (IP) address
Geographic location
The domain name of current Internet service provider (ISP)
Diagnostic information which describes how their Services are operating on the system

To avoid the installation of unwanted programs that may cause the appearance of Mydesktopdefender.com in your browser, you should play close attention during the installation of freeware apps. Freeware you recently downloaded from software download pages could have been bundled with OfferCore. Third-party developers may support shady practices for monetization purposes, and may offer you to change your homepage or search provider. You can decline any of these additional offers only if you are careful enough to spot them during installation. In other words, paying attention to the installation setups of freeware could spare you from having to deal with various unwanted downloads.

Note. Suspicious sites such as Mydesktopdefender.com can be advertised as repositories of cracked legitimate software packages. Files delivered in such malicious campaigns can be masqueraded as droppers, as seen in a recent example analyzed by Sophos researchers. If the potential victim clicks on a link to download such a file, they could get through a set of redirector JavaScripts. Then, the victim is sent to one of multiple download locations that deliver various versions of the dropper. This particular campaign was distributing various types of malware, including STOP ransomware.

How to Remove Mydesktopdefender.com

To get rid of the Mydesktopdefender.com and all its associated files, you should complete several removal steps. The instructions below provide both manual and automatic removal methods. To completely remove the files installed by unwanted applications, we recommend that you combine the steps.

NOTE. The manual removal may be quite a complicated process that requires tech-savvy skills. If you don’t feel comfortable with the manual steps, you can rely on automatic removal.

Milena Dimitrova

An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum since the project started. A professional with 10+ years of experience in creating engaging content. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles! Follow Milena @Milenyim

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Guide 1: How to Remove Mydesktopdefender.com from Windows.
Guide 2: Get rid of Mydesktopdefender.com on Mac OS X.
Guide 3: Remove Mydesktopdefender.com in Google Chrome.

Guide 4: Erase Mydesktopdefender.com from Mozilla Firefox.
Guide 5: Uninstall Mydesktopdefender.com from Microsoft Edge.
Guide 6: Remove Mydesktopdefender.com from Safari.
Guide 7: Eliminate Mydesktopdefender.com from Internet Explorer.
Guide 8: Disable Mydesktopdefender.com Push Notifications in Your Browsers.

Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups

How to Remove Mydesktopdefender.com from Windows.

Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Mydesktopdefender.com

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter's malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter's EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

1. Hold Windows key() + R

2. The "Run" Window will appear. In it, type "msconfig" and click OK.

3. Go to the "Boot" tab. There select "Safe Boot" and then click "Apply" and "OK".

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on "Restart" to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Uninstall Mydesktopdefender.com and related software from Windows

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

1. Hold the Windows Logo Button and "R" on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear.

2. In the field type in "appwiz.cpl" and press ENTER.

3. This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC. Select the program that you want to remove, and press "Uninstall"

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Mydesktopdefender.com on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Mydesktopdefender.com there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type "regedit" and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

IMPORTANT!
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Step 4: Scan for Mydesktopdefender.com with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the "Download" button to proceed to SpyHunter's download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter's EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the 'Malware/PC Scan' tab. A new window will appear. Click on 'Start Scan'.

4. After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the 'Next' button.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups

Get rid of Mydesktopdefender.com from Mac OS X.

Step 1: Uninstall Mydesktopdefender.com and remove related files and objects

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your Mac with SpyHunter for Mac

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter for Mac needs to purchased to remove the malware threats. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy

1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it:

3. In the Activity Monitor look for any suspicious processes, belonging or related to Mydesktopdefender.com:

Tip: To quit a process completely, choose the “Force Quit” option.

4. Click on the "Go" button again, but this time select Applications. Another way is with the ⇧+⌘+A buttons.

5. In the Applications menu, look for any suspicious app or an app with a name, similar or identical to Mydesktopdefender.com. If you find it, right-click on the app and select “Move to Trash”.

6: Select Accounts, after which click on the Login Items preference. Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to Mydesktopdefender.com. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“-“) icon to hide it.

7: Remove any left-over files that might be related to this threat manually by following the sub-steps below:

Go to Finder.
In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.

In case you cannot remove Mydesktopdefender.com via Step 1 above:

In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:

Disclaimer! If you are about to tamper with Library files on Mac, be sure to know the name of the virus file, because if you delete the wrong file, it may cause irreversible damage to your MacOS. Continue on your own responsibility!

1: Click on "Go" and Then "Go to Folder" as shown underneath:

2: Type in "/Library/LauchAgents/" and click Ok:

3: Delete all of the virus files that have similar or the same name as Mydesktopdefender.com. If you believe there is no such file, do not delete anything.

You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:

→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.

Step 2: Scan for and remove Mydesktopdefender.com files from your Mac

When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Mydesktopdefender.com, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.

Click the button below below to download SpyHunter for Mac and scan for Mydesktopdefender.com:

Download

SpyHunter for Mac

Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups

Remove Mydesktopdefender.com from Google Chrome.

Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"

Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.

Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.

Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups

Erase Mydesktopdefender.com from Mozilla Firefox.

Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.

Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"

Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.

Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups

Uninstall Mydesktopdefender.com from Microsoft Edge.

Step 1: Start Edge browser.

Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".

Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.

Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.

Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups

Remove Mydesktopdefender.com from Safari.

Step 1: Start the Safari app.

Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.

Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".

Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.

Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.

Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.

A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the Mydesktopdefender.com will be removed.

How to Reset Safari
IMPORTANT: Before resetting Safari make sure you back up all your saved passwords within the browser in case you forget them.

Start Safari and then click on the gear leaver icon.

Click the Reset Safari button and you will reset the browser.

Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups

Eliminate Mydesktopdefender.com from Internet Explorer.

Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.

Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'

Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.

Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.

Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.