Remove Cratebox.net Hijacker

Cratebox.net is a type of browser redirect adware that can cause complex issues if it is continuously running on the internet browser program. This strange web site acts and behaves exactly like other browser hijackers, such as Qubscribe.com and Browsak.com. The mentioned suspicious domains mainly hit Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Therefore, computer users should take all necessary measures to be safe while browsing the web. Staying away from dubious file-download sites and torrent portals is one way to avoid having Cratebox.net hijacker on the browser.

The Cratebox.net hijacker

The presence of Cratebox.net causes sudden changes to the browser’s home page, new tab, and search engine. It may reroute your searches to definite web sites assigned by attackers. In addition, this threat can exhibit intrusive and upsetting ads while you surf the internet. Remember that this nasty search hijacker is able to collect and log all information relating to your browsing routine. Hence, it will not just mess up your surfing session, but Cratebox.net can cause privacy risks on the infected computer.

Screenshot of Cratebox.net

Is Cratebox.net a virus?

Clearly, the Cratebox.net hijacker is not as harmless as it looks. It simply appears like a natural search engine. Computer security professionals do not classify this browser hijacker as a computer virus. Its level of infection cannot ruin or bring your system into disaster. Through Cratebox.net, affected browsers will highly expose the system to suspicious programs, risky codes, and even malware infections. Thus, it is hard to guard your computer system from online threats while this dubious search tool is running on the computer.

In order to protect your browser and whole system from further damages, you must remove this Cratebox.net hijacker. Note that the sooner you eliminate Cratebox.net, the better the chance of keeping the computer safe from further attack. For this reason, we highly encourage the removal of the Cratebox.net hijacker using the procedures below.

Cratebox.net Removal Procedure

In this section, we will provide effective guidelines to get rid of the threat from an infected computer. To automatically remove malware, you may download the recommended scanner. For comprehensive instructions, please execute the manual step-by-step procedures.

 

Instant Removal : Scan the computer with antivirus program

Combo Cleaner is a trusted computer security and optimization tool equipped with a powerful virus and malware detection engine. This program can get rid of Cratebox.net browser hijacker and similar threats, whether it has infected PC, Mac, Android, or iOS.

1. Download the application from the following page:

2. Save the file to your preferred location.

3. Double-click the downloaded file CCSetup.exe and install with the default settings.

4. At the end of the setup process, click Finish to run Combo Cleaner.

5. The tool will update the database file; please wait for this process to complete.

6. To begin checking for threats like Cratebox.net, click on the Start Scan button. Wait for this scan to finish.

Screenshot of Combo Cleaner PC

7. At the end of the scan process, click on Remove all threats to delete Cratebox.net, including all harmful objects from the computer.

To fully optimize the features of antivirus and privacy scanners, users may have to upgrade to the premium version.

Please continue with the succeeding removal procedures if you are comfortable manually getting rid of the browser hijacker and malicious items linked to it.

Manual Removal : Steps to get rid of Cratebox.net

The steps below will guide you to manually remove Cratebox.net without having to purchase a recommended virus scanner. We have tested the procedures; hence, the attackers may make modifications overtime. As a result, terms, names, and images in the guide may differ from what users are seeing recently.

The procedure may require you to close the browser or restart the computer; therefore, we are suggesting to Bookmark or Print this page. You must be logged in to Windows with an Administrator account to be able to execute some of the tasks. Check here to know if you are currently using an account with Admin rights. 

Step 1 : Uninstall Cratebox.net from Windows

1. On your keyboard, press Windows Key + R. Type the appwiz.cpl command and click OK.

Screenshot of Run Command

2. The Program and Features window will open. Arrange the list in a chronological manner, with recently installed applications on top. To do this, click on the 'Installed On' column.

In this case, you must remove the fake Google\Chrome program, as shown in the image below. Also, uninstall VLC and Internet Guardian if present under C:\Program Files\.

3. Select Cratebox.net or a recently installed suspicious entry from the list.

4. Click on Uninstall to remove it from the Windows system. You can close the Program and Features window once this procedure is done.

Step 2 : Delete Cratebox.net Browser Extension

Most adware and unwanted programs use an application called a "browser extension" to be able to take over the settings of internet applications. Therefore, we highly recommend checking and removing the extension that is closely related to Cratebox.net. If it is not present, look for and delete any suspicious browser extension.

Google Chrome

For Google Chrome Browser

1. Open the Google Chrome browser.

2. Input the strings below in the address bar and press Enter on the keyboard:

chrome://extensions

Screenshot of Chrome Extensions in PC

3. Look for Cratebox.net or a relevant entry and remove it from Google Chrome.

- Other names to look for: CrowdSearch, Realcitsgroup, InternetGuardian, VLC

Microsoft Edge

For Microsoft Edge Browser

1. On your keyboard, press Windows Key + R. Type the appwiz.cpl command and click OK.

Screenshot of Run Command

2. The Program and Features window will open. Arrange the list in a chronological manner, with recently installed applications on top. To do this, click on the 'Installed On' column.

Screenshot of Program and Featires

3. Select Cratebox.net or a recently installed suspicious entry from the list.

4. Click on Uninstall to remove it from the Windows system.

If Cratebox.net is still present on the browser and unwanted homepage and pop-ups persist, another option is to remove the hijacker from the browser settings.

5. Open the Microsoft Edge program.

6. Input the following string in the address bar and press Enter on the keyboard:

edge://extensions/

Screenshot of MS Edge Address Bar

7. Look for and Remove or Disable entries for Cratebox.net from the Installed Extensions area.

Screenshot of Edge Extension Removal

8. You may now close the window and restart the Microsoft Edge browser.

Mozilla Firefox

For Mozilla Firefox Browser

1. Open the Mozilla Firefox browser.

2. Type or copy and paste the strings below in the address bar and press Enter on the keyboard:

about:addons

Screenshot of Firefox Extension

3. Click on Extensions from the sidebar menu.

4. Look for an entry that pertains to Cratebox.net and Disable or Remove it from the browser using the options button.

Opera

For Opera Browser

1. Open the Opera internet browser program.

2. In the address bar, type or copy and paste the text below. Press Enter on your keyboard.

opera://extensions

Screenshot of Extensions in Opera Browser

3. Find the malicious extension and then, click on Remove button to delete it from the Opera browser.

Step 3 : Scan with AdwCleaner and Reset Chrome Policies

In addition to the procedure, we suggest scanning the computer with AdwCleaner tool. Possibly, there are some traces of Cratebox.net on the browser that were not deleted during the preceding steps. This tool will scan the computer and check for presence of malicious applications.

1. Follow the link below to download the tool called AdwCleaner.

2. When the download has completed, please close all running programs on the computer, especially browsers affected by Cratebox.net.

3. Browse the location of the downloaded file and double-click on adwcleaner.exe to start running the tool.

4. If Windows displays a prompt saying, "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" click Yes to proceed.

5. On the AdwCleaner dashboard, click on Settings.

Screenshot of AdwCleaner Policies

6. While in the Settings window, please turn On the Reset Chrome Policies, Reset IE Policies, and Reset Winsock.

7. Go back to the Dashboard and click the Scan Now button.

Screenshot of AdwCleaner Scanner

8. AdwCleaner searches the computer for malicious programs, extensions, plug-ins, adware, and any items that may be associated with Cratebox.net.

9. Clean or Remove all suspicious and harmful items identified after the thorough scan.

10. AdwCleaner will then prompt an option to run another repair, which will reset Winsock and other settings. Please click the Run Basic Repair button.

Screenshot of Basic Repair

11. A message will appear stating that "All processes will be closed..." Please click Continue.

Image of Basic Repair Message

12. After the cleanup procedure, rebooting the computer is required to finalize the removal of Cratebox.net as well as other detected threats.

Step 4 : Run the Final Scan Using Sophos Home Antivirus.

To remove Cratebox.net automatically, scanning the computer with this powerful virus and malware removal tool is recommended. This scanner does not just uncover known threats like viruses or malware; it is also effective in discovering browser hijacker like Cratebox.net.

1. Please click on the link below to download the program.

2. After downloading, locate the file SophosInstall.exe in the Downloads folder.

3. Install by double-clicking on the file.

4. If it prompts "Do you want to allow this app to make changes on your device?" please click Yes.

5. Next, it will display the Terms and Conditions page. Click the Install button to begin.

Screenshot of Terms by Sophos Home

6. Run the installation with the default settings. Please note that an internet connection is required in order to download important updates.

7. After finishing the installation, you must login to the dashboard. If you already have a Sophos account, please login. Otherwise, please enter your details and click on the Create Account button.

8. Once you are in the Sophos Home console, click the Scan button to start checking the computer for Cratebox.net components.

Screenshot of Sophos Home

9. Scanning may take a while; please wait for this process to finish.

10. After scanning the computer, Sophos Home will start cleaning or deleting files infected with Cratebox.net.

11. You may now close Sophos Home. The computer is now free from Cratebox.net, as well as associated malware and viruses.

The above procedures should have totally eliminated Cratebox.net browser hijacker. However, if you find that there are still remnants of the malware, please proceed to the next steps below.

Step 5 : Fixing the Homepage and Search Engine

Google Chrome

For Google Chrome Browser

1. Open the Google Chrome browser. Type or copy and paste the following on the address bar. Then, press Enter on the keyboard:

chrome://settings

Screenshot of Chrome Settings Page

2. Go to the left sidebar and click On Startup.

3. Select "Open a specific page or set of pages" in the right panel.

Chrome On Startup Screenshot

4. Locate the unwanted Homepage URL, click on More Actions icon (3-dot), and select Remove or Edit.

5. If you choose Edit, enter the desired web address as your home page, replacing Cratebox.net. Click Save.

6. To set the default search engine, go to the left sidebar, and this time, select Search Engine.

Screenshot of Search Settings

7. Click on the Manage search engines and site search button in the right panel.

8. Find the unwanted Search Engine in the list. Click on More Actions icon, and then click Delete.

9. Go back to the left side bar and click Search Engine.

Default Search Engine Screenshot

10. In the right panel, choose a valid entry from the "Search engine used in the address bar."

You can now restart the Google Chrome browser to see if the unwanted homepage and search engine related to Cratebox.net are gone.

Microsoft Edge

For Microsoft Edge Browser

1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser on your computer.

2. In the address bar, type or copy and paste the string below, then press Enter on the keyboard:

edge://settings/startHomeNTP

MS Edge Start Page Screenshot

3. Go to the "When Edge Starts" area. Under the "Open these pages" section, click More Actions (3-dot).

4. Select Edit to open the Edit Page window.

5. Input your desired address to replace the homepage settings of Cratebox.net.

Screenshot of Home URL

6. Click the Save button. You may now restart Microsoft Edge browser.

Mozilla Firefox

For Mozilla Firefox Browser

1. Open the Mozilla Firefox browser on your computer.

2. Type or copy and paste the following on the address bar, then press Enter on the keyboard:

about:preferences

3. Click Home in the sidebar area.

Firefox Preferences Screenshot

4. Under "Homepage and new windows", you may choose Firefox Home (Default) or Custom URLs.

5. If you chose Custom URLs, input the desired URL to replace Cratebox.net settings.

6. To configure the default search engine, select Search in the left sidebar to display the settings.

Screenshot of Firefox Default Search

7. Under the "Default Search Engine" list, please select a legitimate one (i.e., Google).

8. Scroll down to "Search Shortcuts" and select an unwanted search engine.

Remove Search from Firefox Image

9. Click on the Remove button to delete the unwanted search engine. You may now restart the Mozilla Firefox browser.

Opera

For Opera Browser

1. In the address bar of Opera browser, type or copy and paste the text below. Press Enter on your keyboard.

opera://settings/searchEngines

2. Scroll down to the "Search Engine" section and find your desired name (i.e. Google Search)

Screenshot of Default Search

3. Click on the ellipses icon (3-dot) and select Make Default.

4. In the same section, click the ellipses icon of the unwanted search engine and select Delete to remove the malicious search engine from the Opera browser.

Screenshot of Removing Search Engine

5. Go back to the Basic section and scroll down to the "On Startup" section.

Screenshot of Opera Homepage Settings

6. Find the unwanted homepage address, click its ellipses icon (3-dot), and choose between Remove or Edit.

7. If you choose Edit, enter the desired web address as your homepage, replacing Cratebox.net. Click Save.

System Compatibility Notice

Logo of Windows

We ensured that our method to get rid of Cratebox.net is compatible with the majority of Microsoft operating systems (Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows 11). To prevent complicated steps, the commands used in the instructions are common, useful, and tested. If you encounter any compatibility problems when following this tutorial, please message us or leave your comment below, and we will reply and make the required modifications.

Watch the Tutorial Video

Cratebox.net Removal Guide

About the author

Discussion

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Scroll to Top