What is QuickPDFMerger Toolbar? And how does it function?

QuickPDFMerger Toolbar is a browser toolbar created by Mindspark Interactive Network Inc. It is designed to work on various browsers like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc. This dubious browser toolbar offers free access to customized new tab experiences as well as quick access links to popular sites like Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Instagram and many more. It also allows users to share and convert files like PDF files. As useful as this browser toolbar may look, it’s not really what it seems to be as security experts found out that it’s actually a browser hijacker that could hijack your browser’s settings the instant it gets installed.
If installed, it will quickly change the default new tab page, homepage, and the search provider to its own settings without your consent. This kind of behavior is common for browser hijackers. As a result, whenever you browse the internet, you will experience sudden redirects to suspicious websites. Apart from redirects, you will also see tons of ads from banners, in-text links to pop-ups and many others. Some of them could even reroute you to unknown and questionable websites that may contain malicious programs or content that could harm your computer. It was also determined that like other browser hijackers, the QuickPDFMerger Toolbar is also capable of tracking down your browsing activities so it can collect data. It may include your IP address, search queries, websites you’ve visited, ads clicked and other browsing-related information. The collected data may be used and shared with third parties in order to deliver you with more ads. Needless to say, instead of improving your browsing, QuickPDFMerger Toolbar only ruins it.
How is QuickPDFMerger Toolbar disseminated over the web?
Like other browser hijackers developed by Mindspark Interactive Network Inc., QuickPDFMerger Toolbar is disseminated using a technique known as software bundling. This technique is commonly used by developers of browser hijackers and PUPs in order to sneak their dubious programs into computers without knowledge from users. This is the reason why using the Advanced or Custom setup is advised. This recommended setup allows you to get rid of any extra components added in the bundle. Thus, you need to use it for every software bundle installation.
Deleting QuickPDFMerger Toolbar isn’t as easy as you think so you need to use the following removal instructions to do it right.
Step 1: The first thing you need to do to delete QuickPDFMerger Toolbar is to open the Control Panel. To do so, tap the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.

Step 2: Look for any suspicious program that is affiliated with QuickPDFMerger Toolbar and then Uninstalls it.

Step 3: Close all the browsers infected with QuickPDFMerger Toolbar. If you’re having a hard time closing them, you can close them using the Task Manager just tap on Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
Step 4: After you open the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the infected browser’s process and end 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 host’s file using Notepad.
• Delete all the entries containing QuickPDFMerger Toolbar.
• After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 6: Reset all your browsers to default to their default state.
Google Chrome

1. Launch Google Chrome, press Alt + F, move to More tools, and click Extensions.
2. Look for QuickPDFMerger Toolbar or any other unwanted add-ons, click the Recycle Bin button, and choose Remove.
3. Restart Google Chrome, then tap Alt + F, and select Settings.
4. Navigate to the On Startup section at the bottom.
5. Select “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
6. Click the More actions button next to the hijacker and click Remove.

Mozilla Firefox

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

Internet Explorer

1. Launch Internet Explorer.
2. Tap Alt + T and select Internet options.
3. Click the General tab and then overwrite the URL under the homepage section.
4. Click OK to save the changes.

Step 7: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 8: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated to browser hijacker such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

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

Step 9: Close the File Explorer.
Step 10: Empty the contents of Recycle Bin.
Follow the advanced instructions below to ensure the removal of QuickPDFMerger Toolbar as well as all the file residues it left behind using a trusted program named [product-name].
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
2. 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.

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

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

10. After the scan is completed click the “Fix, Clean & Optimize Now”button.