During recent days, no matter when I started to browse the Internet from Safari on my mac, I always got to a page which is called QuickSearch 0.0.4. I had no idea why. I also found that I could not get the result link I needed while I was searching on it. It was so weird. Thousands of ads and pop-ups are displaying on my screen as well. Google told that this is a browser hijacker. Oh, my god. Do I need to worry about my mac? Will this virus mess up the system of my mac? What should I do now? How can I remove this virus from my mac?
QuickSearch 0.0.4 is an annoying adware program which is defined as a kind of browser hijacker virus. This virus may be installed on your system as a browser add-on. This infection not only infects Windows computer systems but also attacks mac computer. This application differs from a legit search engines like Google and Bing. Usually, this adware pretends to be a good search engine which may claim that it can help you search the thing you need in the shortest time and save your time during the search. However, the reality is different from what it states before you install this adware on your system. The fact is that the search result this adware provided is fake information. If you click on the link it provides, you may be redirected to some unwanted websites.
You may be so worried about how you judge if your computer is infected by QuickSearch 0.0.4. There are a few symptoms that you can make sure if your computer gets the virus or not. Firstly, your browser settings and homepage are changed by this virus without your permission. Your default homepage is modified to be this virus’s domain. So, no matter you start to browse the Internet, you may be readdressed to QuickSearch 0.0.4. Secondly, you may find that tons of thousands of ads and pop-ups and sales advertisements are displaying on your screen which you are visiting to chock your system CPU. Thirdly, it may gradually degrade your system performance day by day if you leave it on your computer. Furthermore, the Internet and web browsers may be crashed while you are browsing the Internet. Last but not the least, this infection may get access to record your personal information like your log-in username and password, bank account information and so on, and then transmit to remote hackers who may misuse your data to make illegal profit. Hence, you may see that this virus is a great risk to your system and personal information security. All the above symptoms can indicate the existing of this malicious virus on your computer. You must manage to get rid of it as soon as you can.
1. It can be added to Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browsers without your notification.
2. You are rerouted to some unknown sponsored websites that you have never seen before when you surfing online.
3. You can get a bunch of popup ads show on the webpage which you are browsing.
4. It can be installed on your computer slightly.
5. This browser hijacker can introduce various infections and unwanted programs onto your system,
6. It can investigate your browsing behavior and gather your input information online.
7. It is also responsible for collecting computer user’s private information like IP address and online traces for unethical using of online marketing.
Note: If one of symptoms mentioned above is found in your computer, then you must know that your computer is being attacked by the browser hijacker. Since the browser hijacker is so dangerous, once your computer is infected, you should take actions to delete the hijacker. If you are not a computer expert, in case you lose your important data or damage your system, please welcome to contact Yoocare/Yoosecurity Online Expert for help now!
QuickSearch 0.0.4 hijacks your default browser to redirect your web search results and modifies your default homepage and browser settings. Manual removal is the most effective way to completely uninstall it from an infected computer’s operating system, for the season that this hijacker is so cunning and dangerous, antivirus programs cannot get rid of it permanently. Here are the manual guides for users to remove the annoying hijacker.
1. Clean Add-ons and Extensions
* Internet Explorer:
(1). Click Tools in the Menu bar and then click Internet Options
(2). Click Programs tab, click Manage add-ons and disable the dubious add-ons
* Firefox:
(1). Click Tools in the Menu bar and then click Add-ons
(2). Click Extensions, select the related browser add-ons and click Disable
* Google Chrome:
(1). Click Customize and control Google Chrome button → Tools → Extensions
(2). Disable the extensions of this virus
2. End Relevant Processes
(1). Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc together to pop up Windows Task Manager, click Processes tab
*For Win 8 Users:
Click More details when you see the Task Manager box
And then click Details tab
(2). Find out and end this hijacker’s processes
3. Show Hidden Files
(1). Click on Start button and then on Control Panel
(2). Click on Appearance and Personalization
(3). Click on Folder Options
(4). Click on the View tab in the Folder Options window
(5). Choose Show hidden files, folders, and drives under the Hidden files and folders category
(6). Click OK at the bottom of the Folder Options window
*For Win 8 Users:
Press Win+E together to open Computer window, click View and then click Options
Click View tab in the Folder Options window, choose Show hidden files, folders, and drives under the Hidden files and folders category
4. Delete Relevant Registry Entries and Files
(1). Delete the registry entries related to this browser hijacker through Registry Editor Press Win+R to bring up the Run window, type “regedit” and click “OK”
While the Registry Editor is open, search and delete its registry entries
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ‘Random’ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Random HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “CertificateRevocation” =Random
(2). Find out and remove the associated files
%AllUsersProfile%\random.exe %AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\random.exe %AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~random %AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\.dll HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Random “.exe”
Conclusion
QuickSearch 0.0.4 is an adware application, also known as browser hijacker or browser redirect. It may do lots of harmful thing on your computer after its installation. This virus mostly gets installed through freeware programs that you download from infected web pages; or through the spam emails you are reading; or through the suspicious and risky websites you are visiting. This virus may trick you by claiming that it may help you with tools which may add relevant social results and recommendations from your friends and contacts to your regular search results. As a matter of fact, it is not a good application but an adware that displays advertisements on social and shopping sites that you visit. The result links it provides my contain other viruses like spyware, malware etc.. If you click on the link, you may give the chance for other viruses to get into your system. In a word, it is not wise to keep QuickSearch 0.0.4 on your system. You’d better eliminate it when you detect it.
Suggestion: The above manual removal is quite dangerous and complicated, which needs sufficient professional skills. Therefore, only computer users with rich computer knowledge are recommended to implement the process because any errors including deleting important system files and registry entries will crash your computer system. If you have no idea of how to process the manual removal, please contact experts from YooCare Online Tech Support for further assistance.
Published by & last updated on May 22, 2015 12:33 pm
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.