How to remove QuantumAsteroidus

What is QuantumAsteroidus

QuantumAsteroidus is a malicious browser extension that poses as a legitimate utility while engaging in deceptive practices to manipulate user settings. It primarily infects popular web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari, exploiting the “Managed by your organization” feature to gain elevated permissions. Once installed, this rogue extension can alter default search engines, redirect web traffic, and inject intrusive advertisements, significantly disrupting the user experience. Additionally, it may collect sensitive browsing data without consent, leading to potential privacy breaches. The extension’s ability to make these changes often goes unnoticed by users, making it difficult for them to remove it through conventional means. Cybersecurity experts classify it as a browser hijacker due to its capacity to impose unauthorized configurations and overwhelm users with unwanted pop-ups. Ultimately, QuantumAsteroidus serves the interests of its creators, who profit from pay-per-click schemes, while users are left grappling with the adverse effects on their browsing habits and overall system performance.

How QuantumAsteroidus infects computers

QuantumAsteroidus typically infects computers through deceptive methods that exploit user trust and browser vulnerabilities. Often, it masquerades as a legitimate browser extension or utility, luring users into downloading it from unverified sources or bundled with other software. Once installed, QuantumAsteroidus alters browser settings, including the default search engine and homepage, while also implementing the “Managed by your organization” policy to prevent easy removal. This tactic not only grants the extension elevated privileges but also allows it to inject advertisements and redirect web traffic without user consent. Additionally, it may collect browsing data, further compromising user privacy. Users are often unaware of its presence until they begin experiencing unwanted ads and browser behavior changes, highlighting the importance of vigilance when installing browser extensions and software.

1. Download QuantumAsteroidus Removal Tool
2. Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Control Panel and Applications
3. Remove QuantumAsteroidus extensions from browsers
4. Reset browser search and homepage settings
5. Alternative way to remove QuantumAsteroidus search redirects
6. Clean browser shortcuts from QuantumAsteroidus
7. How to protect from threats like QuantumAsteroidus

Remove QuantumAsteroidus manually for free

Here is a manual step-by-step tutorial for full QuantumAsteroidus removal from your computer. This works 99% and was checked with the latest versions of the QuantumAsteroidus an installer on operating systems with the latest updates and browser versions.

Note: QuantumAsteroidus can be installed as Google Chrome extension as Administrator (you may see Installed by enterprise policy or Your browser is managed by your organization inscription near it), and this will not allow removal. Therefore, before starting removal process, perform these actions:

1. Start the Command Prompt by clicking the Start menu button and typing command prompt (or just searching for “command prompt” in Windows 10 search field). Right click on the Command Prompt result and choose Run as Administrator.



2. Type in and execute the following commands:

   
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
gpupdate /force

Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Control Panel or Applications

To start removing QuantumAsteroidus you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “QuantumAsteroidus”. It should uninstall correctly, however, we recommend you to use IObit Uninstaller to clean leftover items after uninstalling. Here are instructions for Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, or Mac.

Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Windows XP:

1. Click on Start button.
2. Choose Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Find QuantumAsteroidus-related or other suspicious program.
5. Click Uninstall.

Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Windows 7:

1. Click Start button.
2. Then go to Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a Program.
4. Find QuantumAsteroidus-related or other suspicious program and click Uninstall.

Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Windows 8:

1. Hover mouse pointer to the bottom-right corner to see Menu.
2. Click Search.
3. After that click Apps.
4. Then Control Panel.
5. Click Uninstall a Program under Programs.
6. Find QuantumAsteroidus-related or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Windows 10:

There are 2 ways to uninstall QuantumAsteroidus from Windows 10

Way one

1. Click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the System tile.
4. Click Apps & features and locate QuantumAsteroidus-related or other suspicious program in the list.
5. Click on it and then click Uninstall button near it.

Way two (classic)

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Programs and Features.
3. Locate QuantumAsteroidus-related or other suspicious program in the list.
4. Click on it and then click Uninstall button above.

Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Windows 11:

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the Apps tab on the left side.
4. Click Apps & features and locate QuantumAsteroidus-related or other recently installed suspicious program in the list.
5. Click on 3-dots icon near it and then click Uninstall button near it.
6. Depending on the type of application (Windows Store app or classic Win32 app) it will be removed immediately or you will need to confirm the action and go through standard uninstall procedure.

Remove QuantumAsteroidus from Mac:

1. In the Finder sidebar, click Applications.
2. QuantumAsteroidus might have an Uninstaller.
3. Otherwise, drag QuantumAsteroidus from the Applications folder to the Trash (located at the end of the Dock).
4. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

Cannot uninstall QuantumAsteroidus in Windows

In some cases, QuantumAsteroidus won’t uninstall and gives you the message, that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall QuantumAsteroidus. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing the QuantumAsteroidus folder and files. This happens because the process or service does not allow you to do it. In this case, I will recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 or Malwarebytes or uninstall QuantumAsteroidus in Safe Mode. To boot in Safe Mode do the following:

1. Reboot your computer.
2. While it starts booting press F8 button.
3. This will open Advanced Boot Options menu.
4. Choose Safe Mode and wait until Windows loads.
5. Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program and remove QuantumAsteroidus or other suspicious program

>> See detailed instructions and video tutorial on how to boot in Safe Mode

Cannot uninstall QuantumAsteroidus in MacOS

If you can’t uninstall QuantumAsteroidus using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries of QuantumAsteroidus. Follow instructions below:

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag QuantumAsteroidus from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with QuantumAsteroidus.
4. Click Delete button.

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling QuantumAsteroidus from Control Panel or Applications often does not bring the desired effect. It sometimes has a browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove QuantumAsteroidus extension from your browsers manually.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
3. Find QuantumAsteroidus extension.
4. Click the Remove button to remove them.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Find QuantumAsteroidus extension.
4. Click three-dots icon near it and choose Remove in the menu.
5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
6. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Click Extensions tab.
3. Find QuantumAsteroidus extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Microsoft Edge:

1. Start Microsoft Edge browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) edge://extensions.
3. Find QuantumAsteroidus extension.
4. Click Remove link under the name of extension.
5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
6. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

Note: There is no feature to remove browser extensions from browser in latest version of Internet Explorer. To remove QuantumAsteroidus from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable QuantumAsteroidus, please, do the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu Manage Add-ons.
4. Select Toolbars and Extensions.
5. Click Disable QuantumAsteroidus or other suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, QuantumAsteroidus does not install in Opera browser however you can always double check. Do the following:

1. Start Opera browser.
2. Go to Tools > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
3. Find QuantumAsteroidus or other suspicious extensions.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

QuantumAsteroidus installs a search engine, that hijacks your browsers. Here is the instruction to reset your browser’s homepage, new tab, and search engine to default values.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings.
3. On the left panel expand Advanced options.
4. Choose Reset and clean up.
5. Click on Restore settings to their original defaults link and confirm by clicking Reset button.

Google Chrome > Settings > Advanced

Reset and clean up

Reset Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Refresh Firefox… button.
4. Click Refresh Firefox button in opened dialog window to confirm.

Reset Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Go to the Privacy section of Safari’s preferences.
3. Click Remove All Website Data button.
4. In opened window click Remove Now button to remove data stored by websites in Safari.
5. Go to the Advanced section of Safari’s preferences.
6. Click the Show Develop menu in menu bar option.
7. In the menu click Develop and select Empty Caches from this menu.
8. Again, go to Safari menu and choose Clear History….
9. Choose to clear all history and click Clear History button.

Microsoft Edge:

1. Start Microsoft Edge browser
2. Click on 3-dots icon in the top-right corner and choose Settings.
3. On the left panel find and click Reset settings option.
4. Click on Restore settings to their default values link and confirm by clicking Reset button.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu choose Internet options.
4. Click Advanced tab.
5. Click Reset button.
6. Choose Delete personal settings and click Reset.

Opera Browser:

1. Start Opera browser and click on Opera icon in the top-left corner.
2. Choose Settings and click Advanced on the left side and choose Browser.
3. Scroll down to the very bottom and click on Restore settings to their original defaults link.
4. Confirm by clicking Reset button.

How to block ads and pop-ups, promoting QuantumAsteroidus


AdGuard main window

AdGuard general settings

AdGuard browser assistant

QuantumAsteroidus, in most cases, is promoted by ads and pop-ups on doubtful websites. These sites can redirect users’ browsers to QuantumAsteroidus ads, generating advertising revenue for the attackers. The malware is often offered through these ads, leaving users puzzled about the origin of the software. In some cases, users may unknowingly install the QuantumAsteroidus extension, which then injects advertisements into the websites they visit and redirects their search queries. Additionally, the malware can be distributed through other channels such as peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, misleading ads, and compromised or shady websites that trigger automatic downloads To protect your PC and browsers from phishing websites, pop-up ads, banners, malicious scripts it is recommended to use AdGuard. Download free trial here:

Download AdGuard for Windows

Download AdGuard for Mac

How to protect from threats, like QuantumAsteroidus, in future


SpyHunter 5 Dashboard

SpyHunter 5 Results

SpyHunter 5 System Guard

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like QuantumAsteroidus may become a real headache as they are hard to remove and break your privacy. To keep safe from such threats we recommend you always use antivirus and one of the anti-malware programs available on the market. One of the best anti-virus programs is SpyHunter 5. It can protect your PC from threats like QuantumAsteroidus.

Download SpyHunter for Windows

Download SpyHunter for Mac