Eradicate the Chromium Threat: Comprehensive Guide to Cleaning Your PC with MalwareFox

If you have noticed that a new web browser named Chromium has randomly appeared on your desktop without you or any other user installing it, then it is the Chromium Virus installed on your system as a malicious program by hijacking your browser.

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In this guide, we will discuss what the Chromium virus is and how to remove it from your system.

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What is Chromium?

Chromium is an open-source web browser project created by Google, and the browser build by compiling its codes is known as Chromium browser. Google started the Chromium project in 2008, and since then, it has become the base for many popular browsers. The two most popular browsers of the internet world – Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are based on Chromium Engine. Other big chromium-based browsers are – Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi.

What is Chromium Virus?

It is essential to know that Chromium is itself a legitimate web browser. However, because of its open-source nature, cybercriminals are regularly maliciously using Chromium as a medium to spread their ill-disposed codes to thousands of systems. Since Chromium is an open-source project, its source code is readily and freely available on the internet for everyone to use. Cyberattackers modify Chromium’s code to inject their malware and spread it through various means.

This maliciously modified version of Chromium that harms the user’s system in many ways is popularly known as Chromium Virus. It is a form of the Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) .

Signs that Chromium Virus is on your System

When the malicious Chromium browser enters your system, you will notice some unusual changes happening automatically that will indicate the virus’s presence. Here is the list of some indications that confirm the infiltration of the Chromium virus.

You will notice the Chromium browser on the desktop that got installed automatically.
The default web browser is changed to Chromium.
There is some illegitimate search engine set as the default.
You see a lot of advertisements while browsing the internet.
The system becomes slow and sluggish.
The other browser you are using is hijacked, and settings are modified to promote fake search engines and web pages.

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How to remove Chromium Virus from the PC?

If you experience all or some of the signs mentioned in the previous section, your system is infected with an illegal Chromium browser. The Chromium virus usually enters your device after a browser hijacker takes control of your browser’s settings.

To remove the Chromium virus, you have to first catch and remove the culprit browser hijacker, which is the root cause, and then remove the Chromium,

For that follow these steps:

Restart your PC in Safe Mode

Windows Safe Mode is the perfect environment to find out and solve the critical errors in the system. In safe mode, only system programs and some crucial programs run. Safe mode would most likely kill the applications and files that try to run automatically on your system. Follow this guide to boot your Windows 10 PC in Safe Mode.

Remove Web Extensions From Browser

You might have accidentally installed a malicious browser web extension that is responsible for the infected Chromium download.

If you have many web extensions installed in your Chrome browser, it is time to sort them out and at least disable, if not delete, the ones you rarely use. However, you must remove the useless web extensions instead of disabling them. Because, even after disabling them, they might use the CPU processing power while checking for updates and performing updates.

Here are the steps to manage the web extensions on the Chrome Browser:

Click on the three dots at the top-right corner.
Bring mouse cursor over More tools and from the extended menu choose Extensions.
All the extensions would be on your screen
Look for the ones you want to disable or remove.

Reset Web Browser Settings

If the browser is adding Chromium continuously even after multiple uninstallations, then resetting the browser can fix the problem.

Open Chrome and navigate to Settings by clicking on the three-dots at the top right.
Click on advanced Advanced.
Under Reset and cleanup, click on “Restore settings to their original defaults.”

Select Reset settings on the next prompt.
Relaunch your browser.

Uninstall Chromium Browser and Suspicious Applications

Uninstall the Chromium browser and other suspicious applications you find on your system from the Settings.

Right-click on the taskbar and select the Task Manager.
Watch out for the applications that are consuming the system memory even though you did not install or launch them.
Right-click on the suspicious application and open its file location.
Delete the file from its root location.

Open Control Panel and click on Uninstall a program and check for suspicious apps. One by one, select and uninstall them.

Delete Temporary Files

The temporary files folder can also be a carrier of malicious files responsible for the Chromium virus. You should delete all the temporary files and folders regularly for the smooth running of the system. Removing the temporary files would also clear the unnecessary clutter from your system and free-up the valuable space.

Here are the steps to eliminate thre temporary files:

Open the Run command window.
Type %temp% and hit the enter key.
This run command would navigate you to this path: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp, that is, the temp folder.
Select all Files and Folders of this folder and delete them. Don’t hesitate to delete them, as they are not essential for any of your tasks.
Next right-click on the Recycle Bin and select Empty Recycle Bin.

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Install an Antimalware and Perform a Scan

Manually removing malware can be a tedious task, and it takes a lot of time and effort on our part. Sometimes, it may get irritated for you if you are not much into technology. There is no need to worry; you can get a robust antimalware like MalwareFox that will scan for malware and remove it.

MalwareFox is reliable security software that promises to protect your system and helps to handle malware and viruses. MalwareFox will scans, detect, and remove Malware and offers real-time protection. It also protects your PC from the most dangerous malware such as Ransomware, Zero-Day Attack protection, Grayware, Keyloggers, etc.

Download Malwarefox and install it .
Perform a full system scan to get rid of every malware that is troubling your system.

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How to stay away from the Chromium Virus?

Cybercriminals always look for ways to infect devices with malware programs. Chromium being a reputed name will always be the soft target for spreading the malicious code. It becomes essential to stay away from the illegitimate Chromium browser.

Here are some tips for staying away from Chromium virus.

Keep installed an allrounder antimalware program and regularly update it.
Do not go for the suspicious freeware downloads. Freeware programs are one of the primary malware carriers.
If you want to use Chromium browser, get it from the official sources.
Always stick yourself to secure websites because malware usually chooses unprotected sites to initiate the attack.
Try to avoid opening an email attachment from an unknown source.
Do not fall into the trap of intriguing banner ads and pop-ups. Just clicking on them can infect your browser with a browser virus .

Are Chrome and Chromium browsers the same?

NO. Chrome and Chromium are two different browsers made by the same company Google. Chromium is an open-source browser whose browsing engine is used by many top browsers. Chrome is one of the Chromium-based browsers that can be said as the advanced and more featured version of Chromium.

How Chromium virus enter my system?

There are multiple ways through which the Chromium virus can enter your system, such as bundled software program, clicking on malicious ad banners, drive-by download, malicious email attachments, and more.

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Eradicate the Chromium Threat: Comprehensive Guide to Cleaning Your PC with MalwareFox