When the Chrome browser starts to behave strangely, download and run this tool. Google has released Software Removal Tool for Windows in Beta, which, when you download and ran on your computer, scans for suspicious programs that changes Chrome settings and lets you remove them.
Chrome Settings hijacked without your knowledge? Chrome now Prompts to Reset those
Software Removal Tool does a Factory Reset of Chrome
"If you notice Chrome behaving strangely (for example, showing you unusual startup pages, toolbars, or pop-up ads you can’t get rid of), it may be due to an unwanted program on your computer. " SRT help page says.
"You may be able to fix the problem by downloading and running the Software Removal Tool. Think of this as a “factory reset” of Chrome. It restores Chrome’s original settings and removes programs that affect its behavior."
Using SRT
This tool has no UI and runs in the background, when it is running, you can notice its process ‘software_removal_tool.exe’ on the Processes tab in the Task Manager
1. Download and run the tool, immediately it starts searching for suspicious programs on your computer, shows a message how many programs it found, if found .
2. Click ‘Remove suspicious programs ‘and wait for the tool to show ‘removal complete’ message.
3. Click ‘Continue’ to quit the tool (you may be prompted to restart your computer, do so)
4. After that, Chrome will automatically open and asks to reset browser settings, click ‘Reset’.
Chrome Canary now shows a disable button for the extensions that overrides its Settings
Note: SRT don’t show the name of programs it detected, there can be false positives. So you may have to think twice before clicking on remove suspicious programs.
If chrome is still behaving weirdly after running this tool, then your Google browser may have affected with malware which this tool can’t get rid of.
Unstoppable and takes long time
Note: This tool has run more than one and half hour on our computer, and it continues to scan, we can’t able to stop or kill software_removal_tool process (even the unlocker can’t), in the end, we’ve to shut down the computer to close it.
Download Software Removal Tool
What’s your take on this tool released by Google? Share your opinions with us in the comments.
I’ve been fixing computers for years and Chrome can get hijacked just as easy as any other browser. One thing I’ve hated is that someone can put an extension on and you cannot disable or remove it – This extension is managed and cannot be removed or disabled – it can be removed of course. But you can’t always remove these types by just resetting. I’m saying this from experience.
Will this program remove those types when resetting the browser will not? With no visible controls and no info about so called suspicious programs, a recipe for disaster. I will wait and see how this tool evolves before I even think of downloading it.
First, it finds the number of programs(without showing their name)causing trouble to Chrome and lets you remove them, after possible system restart, Chrome browser will open automatically and prompts you to click on the Reset button.
Sure, you don’t to download and test this tool when your Chrome is running fine and normal.
Well, I had a problems with ads popping up out of nowhere. I downloaded and ran the search, too it like 2 seconds before it gave me a notification of one program that was causing trouble. It took another second to remove it. Then it asked me to restart the computer. After rebooting the browser opened automatically prompting me to reset the settings to default. And now my problem is gone, You got it wrong about the time it takes because its not searching your hard drive for programs, just the programs affecting chrome. Worked for me!