gameharbor keeps opening on startup

[Littlehunger]

Okay, so everytime i open my computer this gameharbor.org site keeps opening, is it some kind of malware or something and how do i get rid of it?

 

[littlepigboy5]

its simple spyware, usually when this happens to me i just wipe my drive, because even if you get rid of the main problem, there are usually a bunch of hidden background tasks always running.  to wipe just backup everthing important and, well just look up how to wipe your hard drive in your operating system.  then you could either get a copy of windows and reinstall, or whatever os, or you could use the copy of windows that you used initially and reinstall.  to just get rid of that starting up program, search for it in control panel where you uninstall programs and uninstall it.

[Littlehunger]

its simple spyware, usually when this happens to me i just wipe my drive, because even if you get rid of the main problem, there are usually a bunch of hidden background tasks always running.  to wipe just backup everthing important and, well just look up how to wipe your hard drive in your operating system.  then you could either get a copy of windows and reinstall, or whatever os, or you could use the copy of windows that you used initially and reinstall.  to just get rid of that starting up program, search for it in control panel where you uninstall programs and uninstall it.

I would rather not empty my whole disc, as I just did it and just got all the things i want downloaded and that kinda stuff. Any other way around this problem? I put blocksite blocking the site on chrome but it still keeps opening (atleast the chrome opens) on startup.

[littlepigboy5]

I would rather not empty my whole disc, as I just did it and just got all the things i want downloaded and that kinda stuff. Any other way around this problem? I put blocksite blocking the site on chrome but it still keeps opening (atleast the chrome opens) on startup.

you have to be more careful when you install things, if there is ever an option for a custom installation choose that, if there is a way to skip or get past an terms and conditions thing on an install use that, if u do that you can avoid spyware.  you could get some form of antivirus(which usually includes antispyware), or just antispyware.  for free, i recommend avast, for a price, i recommend trend micro maximum security.  if u can't get antivirus, ur best option is a wipe and re-install and be more careful.

[Tsuki]

DO NOT WIPE YOUR DRIVE

holy shit im sick of hearing peoples first response to a tiny little bit of malware or spyware being reinstall. thats a last resort option

 

run malwarebytes, and spybot s&d, clean up your temp folders (temp, %temp%, prefetch) make sure you dont have anything you arent supposed to in your startup list (msconfig, or task manager for win8). remove any sketchy browser plugins.  should fix it

 

EDIT: for a more specific removal guide for this particular piece of spyware please see THIS guide

[jadwv2210]

DO NOT WIPE YOUR DRIVE

holy shit im sick of hearing peoples first response to a tiny little bit of malware or spyware being reinstall. thats a last resort option

 

run malwarebytes, and spybot s&d, clean up your temp folders (temp, %temp%, prefetch) make sure you dont have anything you arent supposed to in your startup list (msconfig, or task manager for win8). remove any sketchy browser plugins.  should fix it

 

EDIT: for a more specific removal guide for this particular piece of spyware please see THIS guide

This was also going to be my recommendation haha.  While sometimes easier to wipe an entire drive its definitely better to use good anti-malware to remove it and make sure not to install every toolbar and download accelerator you find lol.

[fnixha]

or this free solution novirusthanks, or this free auto-remover combofix.. And others please search a little there are a tons of threads like these

[Tsuki]

This was also going to be my recommendation haha.  While sometimes easier to wipe an entire drive its definitely better to use good anti-malware to remove it and make sure not to install every toolbar and download accelerator you find lol.

wiping a drive should always be a last resort. especially when it can be easily fixed in a matter of minutes. i hate people being told they should do it when all they have is one little popup.  we arent wiping for cryptolocker, or even for some major tojans, why the fuck would we for little baby spyware? 

there are better alternatives.

[Littlehunger]

Thanks everyone, tsuki's thing fixed my problems:D

[Maffy]

gameharbor is a malicious browser hijacker and adware, which can change your browser defualt settings and cause annoyance. To get rid of this pest, you should stop it start-up items, then show all hidden files so as to find out its malicious files and remove all them. When it is done, you should go to your browser settings and reset them back. Here's a more detailed guide and good luck!

[hanfuge]

Your entire computer system can be infected by it besides start-up item. To remove it, you need to delete all its related item from browsers and system. Also, you would better donwload a removal tool to deal with it or you can remove it manually. You can follow the removal guides here to get rid of it. However, the manual removal worked for me days ago.