TheSearch.net Virus Removal Guide

TheSearch.net virus is taking over my Firefox, please help me to remove it!! How come? Where does it come from? If it is a threat, how can I get rid of it? I have tried several different antivirus programs but none of them is working. How can I protect my PC from it? Is there any effective way to deal with this virus? And can I remove it without causing any system damage or file loss?” To learn how to solve the problems, you may consider keeping on reading the article below.

What is TheSearch.net?

When we refer to computer virus, the first impression that springs to mind may be the phishing websites which disguise as legit sites and then try to trick people into giving secret financial information by sending e-mails that look as if they come from a bank, credit-card account, etc. In this post we are going to talk about TheSearch.net virus which is deemed as a plague on the internet. It is classified as a redirect virus which forces users to visit its domain rather than go to the specific sites. It uses advanced techniques to intrude system through computer vulnerabilities and it can bypass the detection of system. It draws PC users’ attention to increase its traffic and make it more popular than before. It is more dangerous than you can imagine. It infects browsers through DLL plug-in, BHO, Winsock LSP and other forms. It is very easy to identify TheSearch.net redirection, For example, Internet Explorer is steered to malicious web pages while you were visiting normal sites, Internet Explorer browser home page or search page has been modified to undesired one and website address has been specified to phishing sites which can be very dangerous to common users.

Most users may wonder how TheSearch.net virus is able to enter their computers since they have had firewall and antivirus program installed to prevent malware from attacking their system easily. They have no idea about how this potential threat escapes from detect, neither can they remove the virus from their PC. But actually it is capble to infest the system with simple tactics. It utilizes the BHO techniques to intrude on the browser in an legal way which can help effectively avoid scanner of the celebrated security protection tool. This technique makes it hard to check it out and remove it. Even if you have carefully set up security to higher and higher level to prevent malicious sponsored ads from popping up every day, you still take risks to get infected with hijacker virus because security tools is attacked and modified by hijacker previously. To safeguard your PC, you should rely on a more powerful tool. You need to learn a new manual removal way to know how to detect and remove TheSearch.net virus in registry.

In the following are the steps to manually remove the virus. If you are familiar with computer, follow the steps to delete it manually.

Signs of Infection:

1. Your computer performance becomes slower and slower.

2. You need to wait more time for the web browser to respond when you attempt to open a webpage or watch an online video.

3.Your searches are redirected to the pre- determined results.

4. Browsers crash occasionally and network is interrupted now and then.

5. You will get many advertisement windows when you are using the Internet.

6.Your privacy related information will be intentionally followed.

Instructions to remove TheSearch.net manually:

TheSearch.net is a dangerous redirect virus that can change your browser settings and redirect you to the websites which may contain countless advertisements or various cyber threats, such as Trojans, rootkits, ransomware and other infections. Sometimes, your antivirus software cannot detect this threat nor delete it timely. Before making the changes, please back up the important materials in case they get lost. You can follow the guide below to manually remove the virus if you have acquired sufficient computer skills.

Step 1: Set the default homepage back

For Internet Explorer:
Click on Browser Tools
Select Manage Add-ons on the tools window
Click Search Provider
Here you can see many kinds of search engine option as Bing and Google, select your favorite one to be a default homepage.
Choose Search Results and click on Remove icon to eliminate it
Click Tools, select Internet Options and then the General tab. Here you can option a website you like and save it.
c. Select ‘Search Results’ and click ‘Remove’ to remove it;

For Google Chrome:
Open Customize and control
Click on Settings
Select on Basic Options icon
Here you can reset your homepage (e.g.Google.com）
Once you choose a default homepage, click on Manage Search Engines and then click Google to be your default search engine.
Remove it from the browser by clicking Search Result and then the X’ mark

For Mozilla Firefox:
Click Manage Search Engine
Select Search Results and then click Remove option, click OK
Open Tools, under the General tab, set Google.com as default homepage

Step 2: Locate related files of TheSearch.net and remove them from the computer
%AllUsersProfile%
%AllUsersProfile%\Programs\{random letters}\
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~r
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~dll

Step 3: Remove cookies on all browsers
Internet Explorer:
Click options on the browser and then choose Internet Options
Open General tab, click Delete Browsing History to remove all related cookies
Select cookies and click Delete

Firefox:
Click option
Select Privacy and then click on Remove Individual Cookies icon
Delete relevant cookies list on the box

Google Chrome:
Click option
Open Under the Bonnet tab
Select Privacy and then click Clear browsing data
Delete all cookies

Step 4: Remove malicious registry entries
Open Registry Editor on the start menu
Type in Regedit and click OK
Remove all the following registry entries
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “CertificateRevocation” = ‘1’
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments “SaveZoneInformation” = ‘0’

Conclusion

TheSearch.net is a piece of redirect virus that is developed by cyber violators whose aim is to obtain illegal gains from the cyber world as much as possible. But that doesn’t mean it is safe to your computer. Browser hijacker belongs to the member of phishing domain family. So users should run antivirus to check if the situation is safe. With the help of the browser hijacker, hackers can control your browser and change the way of how browser uses for Internet surfing and which content to display. By showing a large number of features such as interfering with the seamless user experience on your favorite browsers, they hook computer users into the operating system. Once being infested, the malware will totally control your computer and prevent you from modifying. There is no doubt that it is a terrible threat. If you have found it lingering on your computer, just eliminate it immediately.

Note: No matter you use manual or automatic removal to delete TheSearch.net Virus, please back up your system data in case they are missing.