Free Streamz Browser Hijacker

What is feed.free-streamz.com?

Free Streamz is a browser app that supposedly allows users to listen to thousands of free live radio stations directly from their browsers. This may seem to be a useful tool to listen to music, however, this app is also classified as a browser hijacker, a potentially unwanted app (PUA).

Developers promote it using a deceptive method ('bundling') and most people download and install Free Streamz inadvertently. When installed, it changes browser settings (thereby promoting the feed.free-streamz.com fake search engine) and gathers browsing-related data.

In most cases, browser hijackers can be installed on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer. As mentioned, Free Streamz promotes a fake search engine by changing browser settings. In this particular case, once installed, it assigns the default search engine, homepage, and new tab URL to feed.free-streamz.com.

None of these settings can be changed or undone. Users who have this app installed are forced to visit feed.free-streamz.com when they open their browsers, new tabs, or search via the browser's URL bar. To undo these modifications, users must first uninstall the Free Streamz browser hijacker.

If used, feed.free-streamz.com provides results generated by Google (it simply redirects to google.com). Therefore, this search engine delivers no unique results. There is no point in using a search engine that operates in this way.

Furthermore, as with most browser hijackers, Free Streamz records information relating to users' browsing habits, including entered search queries, URLs of visited websites, IP addresses, geolocations, and so on. Some apps of this type target personal details.

People who develop these apps share the information with other parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse it to generate revenue. For these reasons, we strongly recommend that you uninstall Free Streamz and other installed browser hijackers immediately.

Having apps of this type installed and using them might cause problems with browsing safety, privacy or lead to more serious issues such as identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	Free Streamz.
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Browser Extension(s)	Free Streamz
Supposed Functionality	Free access to various radio stations.
Promoted URL	feed.free-streamz.com
Serving IP Address (feed.free-streamz.com)	13.84.45.249
Affected Browser Settings	Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine.
Symptoms	Manipulated internet browser(s) settings (homepage, default internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit the hijacker's website and search the internet using their search engines.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Many browser hijackers are promoted by offering potential users supposedly 'useful' tools, features, and other benefits. Unfortunately, in most cases, apps of this type are designed only to generate revenue for their developers and other parties. Few PUAs are legitimate or operate as promised.

Some examples of other browser hijackers are Fast Weather App, Easy Speed Test App, and Mega Media Start.

How did Free Streamz install on my computer?

Generally, people do not download and install apps such as Free Streamz intentionally - this is often the result of clicked intrusive advertisements. If clicked, many deceptive ads run scripts designed to download and install PUAs. In other cases, people end up having them installed when they download and install other software.

They download/install PUAs together with other (usually free) software when developers employ a deceptive marketing method called "bundling".

Developers include unwanted apps into set-ups of other software - they hide information regarding the inclusion (bundling) of PUAs in "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings of download/installation set-ups. Furthermore, not all people check the aforementioned settings, thus often granting permission to download/install additional, potentially unwanted apps.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Download and install software and browse the web with care. Download from official and trustworthy websites, and using direct download links. We strongly recommend that you avoid using third party downloaders/installers, Peer-to-Peer networks such as torrent clients, eMule, and other similar sources. All downloads and installations should be performed properly.

Check all "Advanced", "Custom", and other similar parts of any download/installation setup, and opt-out of additionally-included apps. Note that intrusive ads (especially those displayed on dubious pages) redirect users to other dubious, untrustworthy websites. Some might also cause unwanted downloads/installations.

Therefore, do not click these ads. If such redirects occur even without clicking ads (or ads of this type appear on all websites), check your browser for unwanted extensions, add-ons, plug-ins, and remove them immediately. Uninstall unwanted, suspicious programs installed on the operating system.

If your computer is already infected with Free Streamz, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Website promoting Free Streamz browser hijacker:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is feed.free-streamz.com?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Free Streamz application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove feed.free-streamz.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Free Streamz browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove feed.free-streamz.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove feed.free-streamz.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Free Streamz browser hijacker removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, "Free Streamz"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the feed.free-streamz.com website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Free Streamz browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window, remove hxxp://feed.free-streamz.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "feed.free-streamz.com".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the feed.free-streamz.com redirect, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "Free Streamz" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable "Free Streamz", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.feed.free-streamz.com) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list, look for "feed.free-streamz.com", and when located, click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the feed.free-streamz.com redirect, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "Free Streamz", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.

Change your homepage:

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window, disable "Free Stremz",  remove hxxp://feed.free-streamz.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "feed.free-streamz.com"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with feed.free-streamz.com redirect removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...

In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.

In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.

In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage and new tab settings:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".

Change your default Internet search engine:

To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the feed.free-streamz.com redirect, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

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