HyperFracten Virus

Question

I always use Google Chrome to search the Web, but the other day the search kept changing to Yahoo.

I went into settings to change this, but it made no difference. I then noticed that it said it was managed by organization, but this is a home computer. I also found an extension called HyperFracten which I am not able to remove.

I can't even uninstall chrome.

I did also try going on Windows Edge, but it is the same on here also.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I think i have tried everything to remove this except a computer reset.

Answer 1

Please run the Farbar scanner and I'll provide a fixlist to resolve all issues.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/farbar-recovery-scan-tool/

Note: If you are using Edge or Chrome, SmartScreen may initially block the download.

Click on the three dots next to the warning and select Keep => Show more => Keep anyway.

• If your computer's language is not English, rename FRST64.exe to FRST64English.exe
• Run the tool, leave the default settings, and press Scan.
• Zip the logs, FRST.txt and Addition.txt, then upload to a cloud storage service like OneDrive, Google Drive or gofile.io
• Post the share link.

Share OneDrive files and folders - Microsoft Support

Answer 2

Hi, MasterZKW06

Welcome to the Microsoft community.

Is Edge also being managed? This situation looks like some software might have used Group Policy to lock the search results

and force-install that extension—even though that extension doesn’t seem to appear anywhere online. Please try accessing that specified address to check the policies currently in use.

edge://policy/

Microsoft Edge Browser Policy Documentation | Microsoft Learn

(For example)

Click the link to locate the policy's address; then open the Registry Editor and see if you can remove the corresponding policy (you’ll need to clear it from both the Current User and Local Machine sections, which should be at that address).

*HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies*

*HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies*

Additionally, I suggest that you check if you can remove Chrome in Safe Mode. It might also be helpful to use Autoruns to look for any unknown startup items (you could try temporarily disabling all startup items and then attempt removal again).

Autoruns - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn

Windows Startup Settings - Microsoft Support

Finally, I recommend running a full system scan using alternate security software (if available) as well as using Windows Defender’s offline scan feature to thoroughly inspect your system.

Microsoft Defender Offline scan in Windows - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Learn

Best regards

Tommy Jin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist