Remove Alot Toolbar and search.alot.com (Removal Guide)

Alot Toolbar is a potentially unwanted program, which is promoted via other free downloads, and once installed it will add Alot Appbar, and change your browser homepage default search engine to search.alot.com.

Alot Search will display advertisements and sponsored links in your search results, and may collect search terms from your search queries.
Alot Toolbar got on your computer after you have installed a freeware software (video recording/streaming, download-managers or PDF creators) that had bundled into their installation this browser hijacker.
For example, when you install Alot AppBar, you will also agree to change your default browser homepage and default search engine to search.alot.com and install the Alot Toolbar.

However, when you uninstall Alot Appbar from your computer, your web browser’s default settings will not be restored. This means that you’ll have to remove Alot Toolbar and search.alot.com from your favorite web browser manually.

You should always pay attention when installing software because often, a software installer includes optional installs, such as this Alot Toolbar. Be very careful what you agree to install.
Always opt for the custom installation and deselect anything that is not familiar, especially optional software that you never wanted to download and install in the first place. It goes without saying that you should not install software that you don’t trust.

Alot Toolbar and search.alot.com – Virus Removal Guide

STEP 1 : Uninstall Alot Toolbar from your computer

1. To uninstall Alot Toolbar program from your computer, click the Start button, then select Control Panel, and click on Uninstall a program.
   If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for “control panel“. Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control Panel from there, then select Uninstall a program.
   
2. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove Alot Appbar and BargainMatch version 1.0.5.3  from your computer.
   

Please note that on some computers these programs might have a different name, search for any program developed by ALOT and uninstall it from your computer.
Because Alot Toolbar is installed with other additional programs, we recommend that you search and uninstall any other unwanted or unknown programs from your computer.

STEP 2 : Remove the Alot residual damage from your browser

Alot has installed two browser extensions (Alot Appbar and BargainMatch ), and has changed your homepage to alothome.com, and set your browser default search engine to search.alot.com

Remove Alot Toolbar from Internet Explorer

1. Remove Alot Toolbar extension from Internet Explorer.
   Open Internet Explorer,then click on the gear icon (Tools for Windows XP users) at the top (far right) and then  select Manage add-ons.
   
   From the Toolbars and Extensions tab, select Alot Appbar and Alot Appbar Helper, BargainMatch Preferences and BargainMatch Extension  add-ons then click on Disable.
   
2. Set Internet Explorer default search engine from Alot Search to Bing.
   To change your default search engine, click on the gear icon , select Manage Add-ons, and then, under Add-on Types, click Search Providers.
   Select Bing and on click the Set Default button.
   
   To remove Alot from Internet Explorer, select Alot Search and click on Remove.
   
3. Change your Internet Explorer homepage from alothome.com to its default
   To change your homepage, click on the gear icon , select Internet Explore options, and in the General tab,under the Home page section, click on Use default to restore Internet Explorer default home page.
   

Remove Alot Toolbar from Mozilla Firefox

1. At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu (on Windows XP, click the Help menu at the top of the Firefox window), and select Troubleshooting Information.
   
2. Click the Reset Firefox button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
   
3. To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens.
4. Firefox will close and be reset. When it’s done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish

Remove Alot Toolbar from Google Chrome

1. Set Google Chrome default search engine from Alot Search/em> to Google.
   Click the Chrome menu   button, then select Settings and click on Manage search engines in the Search section.
   In the Search Engines dialog that appears, select Google and click the Make Default button that appears in the row.
   
   Search for Alot Search in the Search Engines list, and click the X button that appears at the end of the row.
   
2. Change Google Chrome homepage from search.alot.com to its default.
   Alot has modified your Google settings to open their webpage whenever you start your browser, so we will need to revert this change.
   Click the Chrome menu   button, then select Settings and click on One the New Tab page in the On Startup section.
   

STEP 3: Remove Alot Toolbar registry keys with AdwCleaner.

1. You can download AdwCleaner from the below link.
   ADWCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will automatically download AdwCleaner on your computer)
2. Before starting this utility, close all open programs and internet browsers.
3. Double click on adwcleaner.exe to run the tool.
4. Click on Delete, then confirm each time with Ok.
   
5. Your computer will be rebooted automatically. A text file will open after the restart.
6. NEXT, double click on adwcleaner.exe to run the tool.
7. Click on Uninstall, then confirm with yes to remove this utility from your computer.

STEP 4: Run a computer scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

1. You can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free from the below link, then double click on it to install this program.
   MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a download page in a new window from where you can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free)
2. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the setup process. DO NOT make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware checked, then click on the Finish button.
   
3. On the Scanner tab, select Perform quick scan and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer.
   
4. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer as shown below.
   
5. When the Malwarebytes scan will be completed, click on Show Result.
   
6. You will now be presented with a screen showing you the malware infections that Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has detected.Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image. Make sure that everything is Checked (ticked) and click on the Remove Selected button.
   

STEP 5: Run a computer scan with HitmanPro

1. Download HitmanPro from the below link, then double click on it to start this program.
   HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download HitmanPro)
2. HitmanPro will start and you’ll need to follow the prompts (by clicking on the Next button) to start a system scan with this program.
   
3. HitmanPro will start scanning your computer for malware, as seen in the image below.
   
4. Once the scan is complete,you’ll see a screen which will display all the infected files that this utility has detected, and you’ll need to click on Next to remove these malicious files.
   
5. Click Activate free license to start the free 30 days trial and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   

If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove Alot Toolbar and Alot Search from your machine, please start a new thread in our Malware Removal Assistance forum.