Malicious Domain Request 22 can appear in antivirus programs such as Norton Antivirus. Usually the problem occurs when visiting websites that try to redirect you to unwanted pages that may “invade” you computer through software bundling and automatic installers and replaces the settings (homepage, search engine, toolgar, etc) in the main browser with its own custom ones. The purpose of such webistes is to expose you to as many ads and page redirects as possible.
Generally, Malicious Domain Request looks like a regular browser extension, which promises to provide you with some free functionality. In reality, however, this app behaves like a browser hijacker that uses aggressive marketing strategies to earn pay-per-click revenue. Let’s explain to you exactly this it works. When the application gets installed on your system, it immediately alters the settings of your default browsing program (it doesn’t matter if you are using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or another one). Changes may appear in your preferred homepage domain or search engine- in fact, both of those browser components may get replaced with some sponsored custom ones. You may also notice that every time you search for something on the web, different ads, pop-ups, banners and automatic page-redirect links may start to appear on your screen.
More Information
In case that you already receive “malicious site: malicious domain request 22” on your PC, our advice is to be careful and to not click on its ads. Otherwise, you may be confronted with a sudden redirect to a third-party webpage, which may be sponsoring different unreliable products or services. There is no need to say that some third-party web pages may also be compromised and even dangerous. Therefore, it’s better to not visit them at all if you want to keep away from nasty threats like Ransomware, Trojans and other hidden viruses. In fact, most security specialists strongly recommend NOT to trust the content that browser hijackers such as Malicious Domain Request may display and to use reliable methods to have their changes uninstalled and their ads removed.
Remove Malicious Domain Request 22 Method 1:
- Open Norton Antivirus
- Go to “Security History”
- Click “Stop Notifying Me”
Notice: This will stop all “Malicious Domain Request 22” notifications from the source. However this will not remove the PUP or make any changes made to the browser settings. The Questionable Malicouse Domain will still active
Remove Malicious Domain Request 22 Method 2:
Android user, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.
Mac user, please use our Mac Malware Removal guide.
The following guide will help our readers get rid of the unpleasant Malicious Domain Request software. Follow the instructions and complete each step for best results. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them using our comment section down below.
Preparation: Entering Safe Mode and Revealing Hidden Files and Folders
Before you proceed with the actual removal instructions, you will need to take two extra steps in order to ensure that the guide has maximum effect.
For best results, we advise our readers to boot into Safe Mode prior to attempting to remove the virus. If you do not know how to do that, here is a separate How to Enter Safe Mode guide.
Also, in order to be able to see any potentially undesirable files, you should reveal any hidden files and folders on your PC – here is how to do that.
Removing Malicious Domain Request [WINDOWS]
Step 1: Checking the Task Manager
Open your Task Manager by using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys and go to the Processes tab. Look for any suspicious processes. For example, any unfamiliar process that uses high amounts of RAM and/or CPU. If you aren’t sure if a certain process comes from malware, tell us in the comments.
Right-click on any process that you consider shady and select Open File Location. Delete anything from the file location of the process.
Step 2: Disabling Startup programs
Use the Winkey + R keyboard combination to open the Run search bar and type msconfig. Hit Enter and in the newly opened window, go to the Startup tab. There, look for suspicious entries with unknown manufacturer or ones that have the name Malicious Domain Request on them. Right-click on those, and select disable.
Step 3: Uninstalling unwanted programs
Go to Start Menu > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program. Click on Installed On to sort the entries by date from most recent to oldest and look through the programs that come at the top of the list. Right-click on any entries that appear shady and unwanted and then select Uninstall to remove them from your PC. If you see the name Malicious Domain Request in the list of programs, be sure to remove the software without hesitation.
Step 4: Checking for shady IP’s
Open your Start Menu and copy-paste notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts in the search bar. In the notepad file, look below Localhost and see if there are any IP addresses there. If there are some, send them to us in the comments and we will tell you if you should take any action.
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Step 5: Cleaning-up the browsers
You will also have to uninstall any undesirable browser extensions from your browser programs. Here’s how to do that for some of the more popular browsers:
Chrome
Open Chrome and open its main menu. Go to More Tools > Extensions. Look through the list of extensions and uninstall any that you think could be suspicious. To remove them – click on the trash can icon next to each extension.
You can also use a specialized Chrome CleanUp tool if you cannot manually remove a certain extension. Here is an article where you can learn more about the CleanUp tool.
Firefox
Open Firefox and go to its Menu. Select the Add-ons button.From the left panel, select Extensions and take a look at the different entries. Remove any of the that might be unwanted.
IE
Once you open your IE browser, click on the Tools button at the top-right corner of the program and from the drop-down menu select Manage Add-ons. Check each one of the four different groups of add-ons and search for anything that seems undesirable. If you find anything, click on it and them select Remove.
Edge
Open the main menu of Microsoft Edge and go to Extensions. Find the extensions that you believe could be unwanted and right-click on them. Then, select Uninstall.
Step 6: Checking the Registry Editor
Open the Run search bar again and type regedit in it. Hit Enter and once the Registry Editor opens press Ctrl + F. In the search field type Malicious Domain Request and click on Find Next. Tell us in the comments if any results came up when you searched for Malicious Domain Request in your PC’s Registry.
Step 7: Deleting recent entries
For this step, you will have to open your Start Menu and copy-paste the following lines, one by one:
- %AppData%
- %LocalAppData%
- %ProgramData%
- %WinDir%
- %Temp%
Hit Enter after each one to open a file directory. In the directories, delete the most recent entries that you find there. In the Temp folder, delete all files.
Step 8: System Restore
In order to be fully sure that the unwanted software has been removed from your machine, you can also try using a Restore Point to roll back your system its last stable configuration. However, in order to do that, you would have to previously had had a restore point created. On most systems, such points get created automatically but this isn’t always the case.
- If you want to learn how to configure System Restore and how to manually create Restore Points, follow this link.
- Open your Start Menu and type System Restore.
- Click on the first result – a setup wizard should open.
- Read the brief description of the process and select Next.
- Now, choose a restore from the presented list. You can also check the Show more restore points option in order to reveal any other restore points that might be saved on your PC.
- Click on Scan for affected programs to see what programs will get deleted or restored after you use the Restore Point. (optional)
- Click on next and take and then select Finish.
- A warning window will appear telling you that once the process starts, it shouldn’t be interrupted. Select Yes and be patient as this might take some time. Do not do anything on your PC throughout the duration of the process.
Step 9: Windows Refresh/Reset
Use this method only if nothing else has worked so far as it is a last resort option. If you do not know how to do it, this separate guide will give you the information that you need.
Malicious Domain Request is an ad-supported application that continuously delivers third-party ads on your screen in the form of banners, pop-up ads, or links.
The annoying application can often be added to a free application bundle and distributed through it. Therefore, we strongly advise you to carefully examine the Terms of Service/Software Privacy Policy and the Advanced/Custom installation settings and specifically look for statements that allow third-party software to make changes to your browser and your system. Uncheck anything that is not related to the main application that you want to install and leave behind any potentially unwanted applications.
Quick ways to uninstall Malicious Domain Request
If you have decided to remove Malicious Domain Request from your system, it is a good idea to carefully examine the instructions prepared by our team. To your relief, most ad-supported applications are easy to remove so you can even get rid of them manually. All you have to do is correctly locate all the hijacker-related files on your computer and delete them. To facilitate this task, we have prepared a manual removal guide with screenshots and easy-to-follow instructions. However, if you want real-time computer protection against browser hijackers (and other nasty viruses like Trojans, Spyware, Worms etc.) in the future as well as an automatic way to eliminate Malicious Domain Request, we recommend that you download a specialized computer security application (like the one on this page) and perform a full system scan with it.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Malicious Domain Request |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Symptoms | Annoying ads may flood your screen every time you open your browser. |
| Distribution Method | Frequenlty found inside program bundles, free installers, torrents, automatic setups, free download links, ads. |