You should start with what Google browser Chrome did not limit its users in anything at all. That is, you have the opportunity to configure almost all system parameters and enable or disable any extension, plugin or widget to your liking.
The answer to the question, where did this restriction come from in the Chrome browser, lies precisely in your activity. Not popular search engines or add-ons in the form of extensions are not able to compete with the giants of the Internet platform. But they also need to somehow stay afloat and attract new users. Therefore, with a high probability they used an unfair way to promote their product - viral installations.
How does it happen
In order for you to become one of the "lucky ones" of this product (which may even be of poor quality and useless), you just need to download and install the program from an unofficial site. These negligent actions on your part will additionally install a couple more files with the program - it may not even be a virus, but an adware module or third party application which we will talk about next.
It is precisely after such a difference in the browser that the user is looking for a way to fix the problem and, in an attempt to change the search engine in the Chrome browser settings, receives the message “This setting is enabled by the administrator” (sometimes, if the browser is in English, it writes “this setting is enforced by your administrator”). But then the question arises - then who am I (the user) if there is no one else around and this is my home computer?
Eliminate this limitation
There are several places where malware implement their commands:
- In the shortcut of the Chrome browser;
- In the registry of the Windows system itself;
- In the group policy of the operating system.
Now we can consider ways to solve the problem for each of these places.
Fixing the browser shortcut
There is nothing complicated here. To prevent the shortcut from opening an unknown and viral search engine, check the command in the Target field in the browser shortcut Google Chrome. 
For this you should:
We fix the registry in the system and at the same time
To successfully clean and fix the registry, we perform everything in sequence:
- We press the Win + R combination and in the window that opens we write cmd (we launched the command line).
- Enter the following command: RD /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers”.
- We press Enter and we get a message that we have reset general rules user group policy.
- Next, we continue to correct the system policy data of an already defined user (our profile): RD /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy”.
- We write the command "gpupdate / force" (without quotes) and wait for a message that the group policy has been updated.
Now you can restart your computer and check the extension or search engine setting. The restriction "This setting has been enabled by your administrator" should disappear and you can customize the Google Chrome browser to your preferences.
Summing up, we can say that removing this “virus” is quite simple, but in order not to fall for this kind of malware again, we recommend the following:
- Install programs only from trusted and official sources;
- Pay attention to files in the installer;
- If the beginning of the installation already looks suspiciously bright, there are many settings items and there is an item " Additional settings(for experienced users)" – immediately cancel the installation and delete the installation file;
- Give preference to installing proven programs from friends, from disks or previously installed ones.
- a pop-up message that shows the Chrome browser infected with an adware or potentially unnecessary program. When it infects a computer, this malware changes the home page, the page that opens when creating a new tab, and the search engine that Chrome uses by default.
Moreover, immediately after such a substitution, any changes to these personal settings are blocked. The possibility of such blocking is provided by Google itself, freely distributing a software package designed to use the Google Chrome browser in a business environment (in the office). Thanks to him, system administrators can block or fix almost all browser settings. Of course, this "pleasant" opportunity was first used by malware developers. These programs are created only for one thing, by any means to force the user to watch ads or visit a particular site. But how to do it? Set as home page user the desired site and then block the possibility of changing it.
Check your computer for the following infection symptoms
Stages of treatment of your computer
1. Uninstall the program that caused the malware that hit your computer
Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista, 7
Click Start or click Windows button on keyboard. From the menu that opens, select Control Panel.
Windows 8
Click on the Windows button.
In the right upper corner find and click on the Search icon.
In the input field, type Control Panel.
Press Enter.
Windows 10
Click on the search button
In the input field, type Control Panel.
Press Enter.
The Control Panel will open, in it select the item Uninstalling a program.
You will be shown a list of all programs installed on your computer. Carefully review it and uninstall the program that you suspect as the cause of the infection. This is probably the last program you installed. Just take a closer look at the rest of the programs and remove all that seem suspicious to you or you are sure that you did not install them yourself. To uninstall, select the program from the list and click the button Delete/Change.
2. Remove the rules created by the virus and blocking the change of the search engine and home page
Press on the keyboard at the same time windows keys and X (H). In the menu that opens, select Command Prompt (Admin). A black window will open.
Run the following commands.
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
Press Enter.
Enter
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
Press Enter.
Enter.
Press Enter and close the command prompt window.
3. Scan your computer and remove malicious extensions from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer using AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner is a small program that does not require installation on your computer and was created specifically to find and remove adware and potentially unnecessary programs. This utility does not conflict with antivirus, so you can safely use it. Uninstall your antivirus program no need.
Download the AdwCleaner program by clicking on the following link.
Download AdwCleaner
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Version: 8.0.3
After the program has finished downloading, launch it. The main AdwCleaner window will open.
Click the button Scan. The program will start checking your computer. When the scan is completed, you will see a list of found malware components.
Click the button cleaning. AdwCleaner starts disinfecting your computer and removes all malware components it finds. At the end of treatment, restart your computer.
4. Scan your computer and remove adware and malware using Malwarebytes Anti-malware
Malwarebytes Anti-malware it's wide famous program, created to combat a variety of malicious programs. It does not conflict with antivirus, so you can safely use it. You do not need to uninstall your antivirus program.
Download Malwarebytes Anti-malware using the following link.
Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
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Version: 3.8.3
Once the program has loaded, run it. You will see the Program Installation Wizard window. Follow his instructions.
When the installation is completed, you will see the main window of the program.
The program update procedure will start automatically. When it is completed, click on the button Run check. Malwarebytes Anti-malware will start scanning your computer.
When the computer scan is over, Malwarebytes Anti-malware will show you a list of found pieces of malware and adware.
In order not to infect your computer again in the future, please follow three small tips
- When installing new programs on your computer, always read the rules for their use, as well as all the messages that the program will show you. Try not to install with default settings!
- Keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs up to date latest versions. Also pay attention to what you have included automatic update Windows and all available updates already installed. If you are not sure, then you need to visit the site windows update, where you will be prompted how and what you need to update in Windows.
- If you are using Java, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player be sure to update them on time.
Hello.
Recently, when installing the program from the left site, at the same time it installed another search engine in my chrome, and it cannot be removed by regular methods.
In my case, I wrote "". And it couldn't be removed.
This can happen with any chrome browser, such as Google Chrome, Yandex chrome and others based on the chrome engine.
I went through firstsputnik and passed through several sites and switched to the mail.ru search engine.
Pretty annoying (especially when you consider that there is not the best search).
The methods from the article and the program did not help me.
At first I put up with such a thing, but after wandering through the forums I found a solution to remove firstsputnik from my browser.
Disable "This setting has been enabled by your administrator"
We will need to enter the command line as an administrator.
To do this, open " Start". enter in the search bar cmd , it will appear in the list of programs, right-click on it and select "run as administrator"
Then we enter following lines in turn (after entering each press enter).
RD /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
RD /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
gpupdate /force
If your console says access is denied, then most likely you launched the console without administrator rights.
If everything went well, you will see a success record. 
You just have to go to your browser, go to settings and click configure search engines. Then click next to the one you want "Use Default"
Error "Unable to find specified file».
If the job pops up "The specified file cannot be found", follow the steps below.
- Turn on the display of hidden and system files.
- Open folder: C:\Windows\System32\(or on the disk where you have windows installed) (if you have 64 bit system possibly C:\Windows\SysWOW64\.)
- Delete folders group policy And GroupPolicyUsers. (There may be only one folder).
- IN command line running as administrator, type: gpupdate /force
That's basically all, the options for deleting this parameter are considered, this parameter is enabled by the administrator from chrome browsers.
And the reason for this setting is that malicious programs change the policy in windows, enter the setting into the settings and block it. Therefore, antivirus and similar programs are useless here.
Until we meet again, clean internet for you. And take care of your computers
As you know, the promotion of any information resources, especially if they are purely promotional in nature, is a rather difficult task. Therefore, some developers go to all sorts of tricks, creating new search engines, which, from the point of view of computer security, are real malware. IN this case we are talking about the fact that some of these elements are built into browsers spontaneously.
At the same time, in the same Chrome, when you try to change the default search tool, the message “This option has been enabled by the administrator” may appear.
The search engines that were originally installed are changed. But the saddest thing is that turn off set search standard actions in the browser settings is almost impossible. So you don't even have to try, it still won't work. But what then to do? First, let's figure out what this problem is generally connected with.
What is Google's Chrome Browser "This setting has been enabled by your administrator" error?
Not to mention the huge variety of such malicious software, among all the "innovations" it is worth noting a certain search engine called yamdex.net.
It just has as its main goal full integration into Chrome browser. And when you try to change the settings, a notification appears that the administrator has enabled this setting in Chrome settings. How to remove the appearance of this message? We'll have to use the most drastic methods. Antiviruses or adware detecters are powerless in such a situation. But in Windows systems, you can use the built-in tools. It's about command console and editor system registry.
Why does the message appear: "This setting has been enabled by your administrator" (Chrome Browser)?
In theory, if a user sees such a notification on his computer, this only means that a fundamental change in the settings for the browser has been made at the administrator level in the system. Don't confuse your own account admin, with super admin, which by default has more than high priority to change system settings on Windows 7 and above.
Probably, many people know that in order to perform certain actions in such systems, it is sometimes necessary to use the RMB menu with the choice of the application start line on behalf of the administrator. This is the same super-administrator. But malware can act through such a record.
In this case, antiviruses do not work because a higher priority of actions is used, and for the most part, such programs have a trusted status when they penetrate the system (this is absolutely enough for antivirus software to skip the threat).
Troubleshooting Options
But we digress a little from the topic. Considering the question of how to remove "this setting is enabled by the administrator" in Chrome Browser, one could of course suggest using the Group Policy Editor, but standard procedures do not always work. In addition, command line and registry manipulations are both faster and more efficient.
Thus, if the error “This setting is enabled by the administrator” is issued (Chrome suffers from this in the first place), you will first have to write a few commands in the console, and then check the settings in the system registry.
Using the command line
Now directly about the actions with the command console. We have a situation where the error “this setting is enabled by the administrator” appears (Chrome is used or another browser, in this case it doesn’t matter):
- The command line must be called exclusively as an administrator, for example, through the main menu, from the "Explorer" (cmd.exe file in the System32 folder) or from the "Run" menu (Win + R) by entering the abbreviation cmd.
- The first command is to delete group policy settings for all users: RD /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers". After entering it, the Enter key is pressed.
- The second command that removes similar options for the selected local user looks like that: RD /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy". After it is pressed again Enter.
- Finally, the command is used complete renovation group policy settings: gpupdate /force.
After executing all three commands, you need to call the browser and see if the error “this setting is enabled by the administrator” has disappeared (we consider Chrome just as an example).
Actions with the system registry
If the problem has not been fixed, you will have to use the registry editor, which is called through the Run console by entering the line regedit. By the way, it is here that you can make maximum settings that are not available for ordinary tools of Windows systems.
Now the solution itself:
- In the editor, you need to pay attention to the HKLM branch and, going down the directory tree through SOFTWARE and Policies, find the Google folder in which the Chrome directory is located.
- On the right side of the editor, we are interested in two keys: DefaultSearchProviderEnabled And DefaultSearchProviderSearchURL.
- Double clicking on each of them opens the editing window.
- The first parameter in the value column must be set to zero, for the second, simply delete the entire contents of this field, in each case saving the changes by pressing the "OK" button.
- For the changes to take effect, the entire system must be rebooted.
In theory, after that the error message will no longer appear.
Yes, just in case, through the properties of the browser shortcut in the path to the executable file, check if something else has been added there. After the EXE extension, nothing else should be there. If something is still there, just delete everything you don't need and save the changes.
Brief summary
As you can see, fixing such an unpleasant situation is not particularly difficult. Pay attention only to the fact that both the command console and the registry editor must be run exclusively on behalf of the administrator. Otherwise, either the settings will not be applied due to the lack of necessary rights, or you will receive the most common access denial.
returning to group policies(the settings of which actually changed), it remains to be noted that it is impossible to perform actions on the command line by analogy in the editor itself. But the registry, in comparison with the policy editor, has a higher priority for changing system settings. So using the policy editor settings in this case looks absolutely inappropriate.
