How to Uninstall Quick Audio Converter Pro (Browser Hijacker/PUP)

What is Quick Audio Converter Pro? And how does it work?

Quick Audio Converter Pro is a browser extension that allegedly allows users to convert various audio file formats. This questionable browser extension was previously distributed in the Chrome Web Store but for some reason, it was removed. It was then found that Quick Audio Converter Pro is actually a browser hijacker that can modify the settings of a browser without any consent from users.
If installed, this browser hijacker will set the default start page and new tab URL to hxxp://search.hquickaudioconverterpro.com without your permission. And when you try to search for keywords or queries using it, it will generate search results from Yahoo. Although Yahoo is definitely a legitimate search tool, that doesn’t mean that Search.hinstantconverternow.com is also one. In fact, you will see tons of sponsored contents and links in the search results that outnumbers the related results to your search query. Additionally, it can also collect several browsing data such as:

Your name
Your address
Email address
Number of your page views
What links you clicked
Telephone number
Username and password
Browser type
Preferred language
Other browser-related data
Keyword query, search query text and search results you clicked on
Adverts clicked and cookie data
Your login times

As you can see, it gathers personally-identifiable information – this is definitely should ring your warning bells as it could lead to tons of privacy issues, one of which is identity theft. Thus, if you want to avoid such headaches, you have to uninstall Quick Audio Converter Pro from your computer before it’s too late.
How does Quick Audio Converter Pro spread over the web?
Like pointed out, Quick Audio Converter Pro was distributed in the Chrome Web Store before but was removed due to its questionable reputation. It can also be found on software bundles that are distributed on free sharing sites. In such packages, Quick Audio Converter Pro is added as one of the extra components along with other unwanted programs. This means that it could still be installed in your computer even without your permission. To avoid such instances, you must opt for the Advanced or Custom setting every time you install any software bundle.
Make sure to follow the removal instructions provided below to uninstall Quick Audio Converter Pro from your browser and computer.
Step 1: You need to close the browser infected with the browser hijacker. And if you can’t close it manually, you can close it using the Task Manager instead. Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys and open the Task Manager.
Step 2: Next, look for the process of your browser, right click on it and select End task or End process to close it.
Step 3: Afterwards, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “appwiz.cpl” in the field and press Enter to open the Programs and Features in Control Panel.
Step 4: From the list of programs installed, look for any programs that could be related to Quick Audio Converter Pro or any suspicious program you don’t remember installing under the list of installed programs and once you’ve found it, uninstall it.

Step 5: Edit your Hosts File.

Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
Go to System32/drivers/etc.
Open the hosts file using Notepad.
Delete all the entries that contain Quick Audio Converter Pro.
After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 6: Now you have to flush the DNS cache of your computer. To do so, right click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator). From there, type the “ipconfig /flushdns” command and hit Enter to flush the DNS.
Step 7: After that, restart your computer and then open your browsers and reset them back to their default state.
Google Chrome

Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
After that, click on Settings.
Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
Now restart Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox

Open Mozilla Firefox and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
Select Options and then move to the General menu.
Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

Launch Internet Explorer.
Next, click the wrench icon for Settings.
Then click Internet Options.
After that, go to the Advanced tab.
From there, click the Reset button. This will reset Internet Explorer’s settings to their default condition.
Now click OK to save the changes made.
Restart your computer.

Step 8: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 9: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated to the browser hijacker such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
%TEMP%

Step 10: Close the File Explorer and empty the contents of Recycle Bin.
Refer to the advanced instructions given below to ensure the removal of this browser hijacker from your computer as well as all the file residues it left behind.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot it.
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
Windows will now load the Safe Mode with Networking.
Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.