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VideoDownload Converter removal guide

Video Download Converter is a potentially unwanted toolbar distributed by Mindspark Interactive network. This toolbar offers users the ability to download and convert youtube and other online videos.

While this may seem useful at the start, this toolbar monitors user browsing activity and records visited websites, clicked links, and even personal data, that it later uses to display injected ads through your browsing session.

When the toolbar is installed, it will automatically hijack your home page and search engine setting them to MyWay.com. This search engine uses google to display your search results, however, it injects ads into the search results to generate ad revenue.

Several anti-virus scanners have detected VideoDownloadManager as a Browser Hijacker, and are therefore not recommended to keep on your computer.

About Browser Hijackers

Browser hijacking is actually a form of unwanted software, commonly a browser add-on or extension, which then causes modifications in the browser’s settings. There are lots of reasons why you might experience a browser hijack; however commercial, marketing, and advertising are definitely the key purposes for their creation. Usually, it will force users to predetermined sites which are looking to increase their advertising campaign earnings. It may seem naive, but the majority of these sites are not legitimate and can pose a major threat to your online safety. Browser hijackers can also allow other harmful programs without your knowledge to further damage the computer.

How to determine if your browser has been hijacked
There are many symptoms that indicate the internet browser has been hijacked: the home page of your browser is changed suddenly; you find yourself constantly directed to a different web page than the one you intended; the main web browser settings are modified and unwanted or insecure resources are added to the trusted websites listing; unsolicited new toolbars are added to your web browser; you may find numerous pop-up adverts on your computer screen; your browser has instability issues or exhibits frequent errors; you can’t navigate to certain websites, such as computer security software related websites.

So how does a PC get infected with a browser hijacker?

Browser hijackers can enter a PC by some means or other, for example via file sharing, downloads, and e-mail too. Many web browser hijackings originate from add-on applications, i.e., toolbars, browser helper objects (BHO), or extensions added to browsers to provide them additional features. Some browser hijackers spread in user’s computers using a deceptive software distribution method called “bundling” (commonly through freeware and shareware). Some of the popular hijackers are VideoDownload Converter, Babylon Toolbar, Conduit Search, OneWebSearch, Sweet Page, and CoolWebSearch.

Browser hijackers might record user keystrokes to gather potentially invaluable information leading to privacy concerns, cause instability on computers, drastically disrupt user’s browsing experience, and eventually slow down the PC to a point where it becomes unusable.

The best ways to remove browser hijackers

Certain kinds of browser hijackers can be easily removed from your PC by uninstalling malicious software programs or any other recently added shareware. However, many hijacking codes are not very easy to get rid of manually, since they go deeper into the operating system. Moreover, manual removal demands you to do many time-consuming and complex procedures which are very difficult to carry out for beginner computer users.

You can go for automatic browser hijacker removal by simply installing and running reliable anti-malware software. Safebytes Anti-Malware has a cutting-edge anti-malware engine to help you prevent browser hijacker infection in the first place, and clean up any pre-existing issues. Together with anti-malware, a PC optimizer tool, similar to Total System Care, could help you resolve registry errors, remove unwanted toolbars, secure online privacy, and improve overall system performance.

What to Do if Malware Stops You From Downloading Or Installing Anything?

Every malware is detrimental and the magnitude of the damage will vary greatly depending on the type of malware. Some malware sits in between your PC and the internet connection and blocks a few or all internet sites which you want to visit. It would also block you from adding anything to your system, particularly anti-malware software. If you are reading this article, chances are you’re stuck with a malware infection that is preventing you to download and install the Safebytes Anti-Malware program on your computer. There are a few steps you can take to circumvent this problem.

Eliminate viruses in Safe Mode

In the event the malware is set to load at Windows startup, then booting in safe mode should prevent it. Just bare minimum required programs and services are loaded when you boot your computer into Safe Mode. Here are the steps you need to follow to take out viruses in Safemode.

1) After switching on the computer, press the F8 key before the Windows splash screen begins to load. This would invoke the “Advanced Boot Options” menu.
2) Make use of the arrow keys to select Safe Mode with Networking and hit ENTER.
3) When you are into this mode, you should have an internet connection once again. Now, utilize your web browser to download and install Safebytes Anti-malware.
4) Right after installation, run a complete scan and let the software remove the threats it detects.

Obtain the security program using a different browser

Some malware mainly targets particular browsers. If this sounds like your situation, employ another web browser as it could circumvent the virus. If you appear to have a trojan attached to Internet Explorer, then switch over to a different browser with built-in security features, such as Firefox or Chrome, to download your favorite anti-malware program – Safebytes.

Install security software on a USB drive

Here’s yet another solution which is utilizing portable USB anti-malware software that can scan your computer for viruses without the need for installation. Adopt these measures to use a USB drive to fix your corrupted computer system.
1) Download Safebytes Anti-Malware or Windows Defender Offline onto a clean PC.
2) Mount the pen drive on the same PC.
3) Double click on the downloaded file to run the installation wizard.
4) Choose a thumb drive as the location when the wizard asks you where you wish to install the application. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
5) Transfer the pen drive from the uninfected computer to the infected computer.
6) Double-click the EXE file to run the Safebytes program from the thumb drive.
7) Click on the “Scan” button to run a full system scan and remove viruses automatically.

Detect And Remove Viruses With SafeBytes Anti-Malware

If you’re looking to purchase anti-malware for your computer system, there are lots of brands and applications for you to consider. Some of them are good and some are scamware applications that pretend as legit anti-malware programs waiting around to wreak havoc on your personal computer. Make sure you choose a company that builds industry-best anti-malware and it has attained a reputation as reliable. One of the recommended software by industry analysts is SafeBytes Anti-Malware, the most dependable program for Windows computers.

SafeBytes anti-malware is really a powerful, highly effective protection tool made to help users of all levels of IT literacy in detecting and removing harmful threats from their PC. Using its cutting-edge technology, this application will assist you to remove several types of malware including computer viruses, trojans, PUPs, worms, ransomware, adware, and browser hijackers.

SafeBytes has got a plethora of amazing features which can help you protect your computer from malware attack and damage. Here are some of the features you will like in SafeBytes.

Active Protection: SafeBytes offers a completely hands-free real-time protection that is set to monitor, block and kill all computer threats at its very first encounter. It will continuously monitor your computer for hacker activity and also provides end-users with sophisticated firewall protection.

World-class AntiMalware Protection: This deep-cleaning anti-malware application goes much deeper than most antivirus tools to clean out your computer system. Its critically acclaimed virus engine locates and disables hard-to-remove malware that conceals deep inside your personal computer.

Fast Scan: SafeBytes Anti-Malware possesses a multi-thread scan algorithm that works up to 5 times faster than any other antivirus software.

Web Protection: Through its unique safety ranking, SafeBytes tells you whether a website is safe or not to visit it. This will make sure that you’re always certain of your safety when browsing the web.

Light-weight: This software is not “heavy” on the computer’s resources, so you’ll not find any performance troubles when SafeBytes is working in the background.

24/7 Support: You could get high levels of support around the clock if you are using their paid software.

To sum it up, SafeBytes Anti-Malware is pretty great for securing your computer against all sorts of malware threats. There is no doubt that your PC will be protected in real-time once you put this software program to use. So if you’re looking for the best anti-malware subscription for your Windows-based PC, we suggest the SafeBytes Anti-Malware software program.

Technical Details and Manual Removal (Advanced Users)

If you do not want to use malware removal software and like to remove VideoDownload Converter manually, you may do so by going to the Add/Remove Programs menu in the control panel and deleting the offending software; in cases of web browser extensions, you could uninstall it by going to the browsers Add-on/Extension manager. You may even want to reset your internet browser settings, and also delete temporary files, browsing history, and cookies.

Finally, examine your hard disk for all of the following and clean your registry manually to remove leftover application entries following an uninstallation. Please keep in mind that this is for advanced users only and could be difficult, with wrong file removal causing additional PC errors. Furthermore, certain malware is capable of replicating or preventing removal. Doing this malware-removal process in Safe Mode is recommended.

Files:
LOCALAPPDATA\VideoDownloadConverterTooltab\TooltabExtension.dll

Folders:
LOCALAPPDATA\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\ikgjglmlehllifdekcggaapkaplbdpje
LOCALAPPDATA\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\ikgjglmlehllifdekcggaapkaplbdpje
LOCALAPPDATA\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\ikgjglmlehllifdekcggaapkaplbdpje
LOCALAPPDATA\VideoDownloadConverterTooltab

Registry:
key VideoDownloadConverter at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
key VideoDownloadConverterTooltab Uninstall Internet Explorer at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

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Option 2 – Try recreating a new bootable drive

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Option 2 – Enable or disable Fast User Switching via Group Policy Editor

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  • Open the WinX Menu.
  • From there, open Command Prompt as admin.
  • Then type in the following command – don’t forget to hit Enter right after typing each one of them.
net stop wuauserv net stop bits
  • After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
  • Next, go to the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder and get rid of all the folders and files thereby tapping the Ctrl + A keys to select them all and then click on Delete. Note that if the files are in use, you won’t be able to delete them.
  • Once all the contents in the Software Distribution folder are deleted, restart your PC and then go back to Command Prompt and input the following commands again.
net start wuauserv net start bits
Since the folder has already been flushed, it will be populated afresh the instant your restart your computer and open Windows Update.
  • Now Open Settings and check for Windows Updates. Windows 10 should begin the download right away.

Option 2 – Try using the DISM tool

Running the DISM Tool helps in repairing the Windows System Image as well as the Windows Component Store in Windows 10. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.
  • Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
  • Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them:
    • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
    • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
    • exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
  • Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish.
Note: If it happens that the Windows Update client is broken, you need to run the following command to repair it then restart your PC and click on Update once again.
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:RepairSourceWindows /LimitAccess
Note: The Windows Upgrade error, with error code 80240020 is an expected error message that happens when the upgrade requires customer user action. Thus, you need to do the following steps to resolve this particular Windows Upgrade error.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Then type “regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
  • After that, navigate to this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWindowsUpdate
  • Now right click on WindowsUpdate located in the left pane and then create a new key and name it as “OSUpgrade
  • Next, right-click in an empty space in the left pane and create a new DWORD and name it “AllowOSUpgrade” and enter “1” as its value.

Option 3 – Try running the Windows Update in a Clean Boot State.

Putting your PC in a Clean Boot state can also help you install Windows Updates or Upgrades without any trouble because, during this state, you can start the system with a minimum number of drivers and startup programs that will surely help you in isolating the root cause of the issue.
  • Log onto your PC as an administrator.
  • Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
  • From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
  • Clear the “Load Startup items” checkbox and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
  • Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” checkbox.
  • Click Disable all.
  • Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
  • After that, try to install the Windows Updates or upgrade again.
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What to do if the Windows 10 Control Panel is not opening
The Control Panel is one of the most important tools in Windows which allows users to control and change various settings. However, there are cases when it experiences some problems like when users aren’t able to open it. Recently, a lot of users complained about not being able to open the Control Panel. To be more specific, users were able to open it but only lasted for a second, and then it’s gone. This is not just some issue you can ignore as this will prevent you from accessing some major settings in your computer and you won’t be able to perform some important task without it. According to security experts, this issue is most likely caused by a bug in the Windows Update. If you have installed an update recently, then it’s most likely the culprit. Aside from the Windows Update, there are also other things that can cause this issue. Some of them are the IDT audio panel and a control panel file that causes conflicting issues with the control panel that leads to this problem. Aside from these aforementioned cases, the Windows Error reporting services could also be one of the causes of this issue. As you can see, since there are a lot of possible causes for this problem, this post prepared a lot of options as well which you have to check out. Follow each one of them and see which one worked best for you.

Option 1 – Try updating your Windows 10 PC

If you haven’t updated your PC to the latest version of Windows 10, then you should. A lot of users found that the issue with the Control Panel was fixed right after they updated their Windows 10 PCs. This is probably because Microsoft has probably released a fix on one of the latest updates.

Option 2 – Try uninstalling the IDT Audio Panel

For some users, uninstalling the IDT Audio Panel from their PCs did the trick. You can also try doing the same thing to fix the vanishing Control Panel. According to these users. The IDT audio panel was the one that’s causing the issue. To uninstall the IDT audio panel, here’s what you have to do:
  • Tap the Win + R keys at the same time to open the Run dialog box.
  • Then type in “appwiz.cpl” in the field and tap Enter to open the “Uninstall or change a program” screen of the Control Panel.
  • From there, look for the IDT audio panel, select it and then select the Uninstall option and follow the next on-screen instructions that appear.
Note: If you are unable to locate the IDT audio panel or you simply can’t access the Uninstall or change program screen or you can’t keep Control Panel open for a long time, here’s what you can do:
  • Tap the Win + R keys at the same time once again to open the Run dialog box.
  • And in the field, type in “devmgmt.msc” and hit Enter to open the Device Manager.
  • After opening the Device Manager, look for the “Sound, video and game controllers” option and double-click on it.
  • From there, locate the IDT audio panel or “IDT High Definition CODEC” and select Uninstall and follow the next instructions that appear.

Option 3 – Try deleting or renaming IDTNC64.cpl

IDTNC64.cpl is a control file in the control panel. However, it might be the one that’s causing the problem as it could be conflicting with the control panel. As a result, the control panel crashes after a second or more. Many users have fixed the problem by either renaming or deleting this file – the safer option would be is renaming it.
  • Tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
  • In the address bar located at the top, type in “C:\Windows\System32” and tap Enter to open this folder.
  • From there, look for the IDTNC64.cpl file, right-click on it and select the Rename option.
  • You can name the file anything you want but it’s better if you rename it to “oldcpl”.
  • After you rename the file, try opening the Control Panel again. It should work fine now.

Option 4 – Try to disable the Windows Error Reporting Service

As mentioned earlier, the Windows Error Reporting Service is also known to cause the issue so some users disable it and got the issue fixed.
  • Tap the Win + R keys.
  • In the field, type in “MSConfig” and hit Enter to open System Configuration.
  • After opening System Configuration, go to the Services tab and look for the Windows Error Reporting Service and uncheck its checkbox.
  • Click the Apply button and click OK. You should now see a date in the Disable Date column. Then check if the Control Panel is now working properly if not, restart your computer and check once more. That should fix the problem.

Option 5 – Try opening Control Panel via Run

This option is more of a workaround than a solution as it does not really fix the issue with the Control Panel but rather helps you in accessing the controls at the very least.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open Run.
  • Type in “appwiz.cpl” in the field and tap Enter to open the Uninstall or change program screen of the Control Panel.
  • Next, copy and paste “Control panel all control panel items” on the address bar located at the top-mid part of your screen. You must not type the given address and simply copy and paste it. After that, you will see a list of control panel controls you can use.
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How to Fix DISM Error 1726 in Windows 10
What is DISM Error 1726? Every time you encounter some issues in your Windows 10 computer, especially when it comes to corrupted system files, you can always use the SFC scan and if the SFC can isn’t able to resolve the issue, there is also the DISM tool you can use which usually resolve the vast majority of system file corruption sufficiently. However, there are times when even the DISM commands experience issues as well. Such is the case with the 1726 error: “The remote procedure call failed”.

Some users reported that this DISM problem happens right before the process is supposed to end. According to experts, this error in DISM occurs due to any of the following reasons:

  1. A third-party program might have interrupted the DISM operation and is the one that triggered the 1726 error: “The remote procedure call failed”.
  2. The error could also pop up when there is a pending corruption repair. This usually happens when you tried to run a DISM command previously that was terminated manually or was halted because of some malfunction.
  3. Lastly, the error could also occur because the process that’s responsible for the procedure is disabled or was prevented from running.
Whichever the case is, here are some suggestions that might help you in resolving the 1726 error: “The remote procedure call failed”.

Option 1 – Try updating your PC to the latest Windows build available

Since the problem is specific to certain builds in Windows 10, you need to make sure that your computer is updated before you try other troubleshooting steps. Thus, follow the steps below to update your Windows 10 PC.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Then type “ms-settings:windowsupdate” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Update screen.
  • After that, click on Check for Updates and then follow the next on-screen instructions to apply the latest Windows update.
  • Once the update has been installed, restart your PC and run the DISM command again and see if the problem is fixed.

Option 2 – Try to change the Startup Type of the Remote Procedure Call service

As stated early on, the error might also be caused by a disabled Remote Procedure Call service or RPC or that it might be prevented from running for some reason. In case you don’t know, RPC is the service control manager for both COM and DCOM servers and it’s responsible for performing object variation requests, exporting resolution as well as distributing collection for the servers. And so if the server is disabled, all programs that are using COM and DCOM including the DISM commands, will not function correctly. Thus, you need to make sure that the RPC service is scheduled to enable itself on every system boot. To do so, here’s what you have to do:
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open Services.
  • From there, scroll down until you see the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service and then right-click on it and select Properties.
  • Then go to the General tab and change the drop-down menu next to Startup type to Automatic.
  • After that, click the Apply button and then OK to apply the changes made.
  • Restart your PC and run the DISM command once again at the next startup.

Option 3 – Try to modify the RpcSs registry key value

If the option didn’t work, you can also try enabling the RPC service using the Registry Editor. Before you proceed, make sure to create a System Restore point first and then follow the steps below afterward.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter or click OK to open the Registry Editor. And if a User Account Control prompt appears, just click on Yes.
  • After that, navigate to this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Services RpcSs
  • After selecting the aforementioned registry key, go to the right pane and double-click on the Start value.
  • Next, change the Value data of start to 2 and click OK to save the changes made.
  • Exit the Registry Editor and restart your PC and check if the 1726 error in DISM has already been resolved or not.

Option 4 – Try to disable the Windows Search service temporarily

Some users also recommended disabling the Windows Search service for the meantime as it could be the one that’s interrupting the DISM process.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • In the field, type “services.msc” to open the Services window again and hit Enter to open it.
  • Next, scroll down over the services list and double-click on the Windows Update service.
  • Afterward, go to Windows Search properties and click the General tab and then click the Stop button to stop the service from running temporarily.
  • Now try running the DISM commands again and see if the problem’s fixed or not.
  • Restart the Windows Search service and then restart your PC as well.
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