Remove Watch TV Online Now

What is Watch TV Online Now

Watch TV Online Now refers to an extension, classified as a browser hijacker, that will supposedly make accessing streaming services and TV easier. It’s one of those extensions that tries to appear useful while it focuses on redirecting users to sponsored websites. Redirecting users is the main purpose of these hijackers. They aim to generate traffic and revenue by redirecting users to certain sites but they do not check them for malware. So while hijackers aren’t classified as malware infections, their redirects could lead users to dangerous sites promoting malware and scams.

Your browser’s settings will be changed so that search.hwatchtvnow.co is set as the homepage, new tabs and search engine. This extension tries to appear useful by providing shortcuts to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu on the site, showing the weather, and linking to news sites. A lot of hijacker promoted sites look essentially identical to this. They want you to use the search engine but we don’t recommend that. The hijacker will expose you to loads of sponsored content in order to redirect you, and you already know that those sites won’t always be safe. Because of this, we strongly recommend you delete Watch TV Online Now from your browser.

If you continue reading, we will explain how the hijacker could have entered your computer if you don’t remember installing it.

How does a browser hijacker install

Browser hijackers are pretty useless so users have no reason to install them. Because of this, they come attached to free programs and essentially trick users into installing them. Programs you get from those free download websites usually have something attached to them, whether it’s a hijacker, adware or a potentially unwanted program. The attached offers are optional but they are set to install alongside automatically. To prevent them from doing so, users need to manually deselect them. However, in most cases users aren’t even aware of them.

To make them visible when installing freeware, you need to opt for Advanced or Custom settings instead of Default. Default settings will hide the offers are allow them install alongside. However, Advanced settings will display everything that has been added, and you will be able to deselect everything.

Some of those offers may appear useful but if they’re using software bundling to install, nothing good will come of them. And they can be annoying to get rid of once they’re already installed.

Should you remove Watch TV Online Now

The hijacker will attach itself to popular browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Once it’s attached, it will change browser’s settings so that search.hwatchtvnow.co is set as the homepage, new tabs and search engine. These changes are performed without explicit permission, and until you get rid of the hijacker, you won’t be able to reverse them.

The site looks identical to many other browser hijacker promoted ones. Since Watch TV Online Now is supposed to help access streaming and TV services easier, the site has a couple of shortcuts to services like Netflix and Hulu. It also shows the weather and links to Gmail. It also has a search engine box, and if you were to use it, you’d get results from Saferbrowser Yahoo Search, which means that search results would be altered to contain links to sponsored sites. All hijackers do this because their main intention is to redirect to certain sites so they could generate traffic and revenue.

If the extension appeared out of the blue and you don’t remember installing it, keeping it is not recommended. First of all, you have no use of it. Second, it could redirect you to highly questionable websites that could be hiding malware or promoting scams. And finally, the hijacker will track your activities, recording what sites you visit, what you search for, your IP address, etc.

Watch TV Online Now removal

You should be able to uninstall Watch TV Online Now both manually and automatically. However, if you have little experience with uninstalling programs, using anti-spyware would be recommended because the program would do everything for you. If you try to remove Watch TV Online Now manually, you would need to make sure all related files are gone so that the hijacker cannot recover.