There is no need to talk about the fact that today there are a huge number of varieties of viruses. They can manifest themselves in completely different forms. One of the newest can be called PluginService. How to remove it? In principle, there is nothing particularly complicated here, since it does not even disguise itself as any system or user processes. But it is not always possible to rely on the use of full-time antiviruses or the corresponding portable utilities, since the virus may not be detected, due to its specific structure.
What is a PluginService?
In general, PluginService is a classic browser hijacker that installs into all browsers present in the system in the form of a special panel (add-ons / extensions), while changing the start page, search system, setting up redirects to questionable Internet resources and adding to browsers are a huge amount of unnecessary advertising.
But the most unusual and sad thing is that PluginService protective programs just like a virus may not even recognize it, because it does not have obvious signs of signatures of trojans or computer worms. In addition, quite often this panel is installed in the form of related software that has the status of trusted.
But despite all its destructive actions and security holes, the question of how to remove PluginService from a computer is, in most cases, solved quite simply. Consider all the possible options.
How to determine the penetration of the virus into the system?
First of all, if the user notices a change in the start page, spontaneous transitions to incomprehensible pages or the appearance of advertising, you should check if the virus has entered the system. This may not necessarily be the PluginService. Other similar viruses can show their activity in the same way.
You can make sure that this is the described panel in the "Task Manager", where the active component PluginService.exe appears in active processes. How to remove it? In the first step, just try to complete the selected process. If the virus is not yet deep in the system, it will work. Otherwise, proceed with the steps below.
System diagnostics
Since antiviruses have already missed the threat, using them as a tool to check the system and solve the problem of how to remove PluginService is completely impractical. It is better to give preference to special utilities that focus precisely on such threats.
How to remove PluginService? As the simplest and most effective application, you can recommend AdwCleaner. In the program, you just need to activate the scanning process, and clear all the results found by pressing the corresponding button.
How to remove Skytech PluginService with regular Windows tools?
But it also happens that narrowly targeted utilities do not detect a virus (as already mentioned, in its structure it does not contain obvious signs of the virus). The second method to solve the problem of how to remove the PluginService toolbar is to use the capabilities of the Windows operating systems themselves.
First of all, it is necessary to open all installed web browsers one by one, go to the settings and sections of the additions (extensions) of each of them and uninstall or disable the corresponding panel.
The second step in how to remove PluginService will be the use of the programs and components section, where you need to find the name of the panel and click the uninstall button. But there are pitfalls. The fact is that the virus also installs its own additional modules into the system (IePluginService, SupTab, Extended Protection, WPM Service, Wsys Control, eSave Security Control). If they are in the list of installed programs, they should also be deleted.
Finally, you need to check the full paths to the browser executables using the properties section in the PCM menu on the program shortcuts. At the end (after the name of the program or its Launcher launcher with the extension .exe), nothing else should be written. If there are any additional posts, they need to be removed and the changes saved.
What to do if the panel is not removed?
It also happens that a virus blocks the uninstaller, so you can use the Unlocker utility to unlock access to the main file in the directory where it is installed (the directory is not hidden, and you can find it through a search in the "Explorer" by specifying the file name).
How to remove the PluginService toolbar using the uninstaller?
In principle, a much simpler and more acceptable method for most users to get rid of this threat is to use highly targeted programs like Revo Uninstaller or iObit Uninstaller. Such utilities allow for standard deletion, as well as for in-depth scanning for residual components in the form of files, directories, or registry entries.
They should be deleted with the activation of the file destruction function, as provided in the iObit Uninstaller program. Upon completion of all the steps, it is advisable to perform a complete restart of Windows, and after the restart, clean the system using some means of detecting and removing computer debris.
Additional measures
As a last resort, if nothing helps at all, you can advise the Kaspersky Rescue Disk disk utility, boot from it and check the system for viruses before it starts.
However, usually such actions are not required, since the virus, as already noted, is not masked in the system. But special attention should be paid not so much to the main applet as to its additional components, which, remaining in the system, can activate the virus again.