Recently some malware managed to install itself on my computer. It is Websearch.searchannel.info. It has slowed my computer down and put a search engine on Google Chrome. I’ve seen a few guides on the Internet to remove this virus, but all of them didn’t work. I tried to do a system restore but for some reasons, my computer said I have no restore points so I can’t just roll back everything, unfortunately. I would really appreciate it if anyone who was recently infected by this horrible malware could tell me how they managed to get rid of it. Thanks in advance.
Websearch.searchannel.info is a bogus search page associated with annoying browser hijacker, adware or potentially unwanted program (also called PUP) that can take over your Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome of Safari. Although it seems like a regular page, it compromises your security in reality. Whenever you make a search using this spam search engine, you will find that the search results always surprise you. Instead of showing useful information you desire, it displays numerous sponsored links and ads against your will. This virus infiltrates into computers using unfair methods and tries to promote various sponsored websites. Once you are tricked to click the deceitful search results, you will experience annoying browser redirection, slow PC performance as well as unstable network connection.
Websearch.searchannel.info is a corrupted page as same as Websearch.searchisfun.info that only provides users untrusted search results. This hijacker seeks to advertise sponsored website and its advertising is not honest, therefore most of the users find it very annoying. The virus attacks browsers like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox mainly and it is hard to be removed. It blocks your firewall and escapes from any security products, then adds unwanted extensions, toolbars and add-ons without any permission. While it is functioning, it constantly distracts your attention by giving you annoying ads and badly decelerates the speed of your browser. It is worth mentioning that the links displayed Websearch.searchannel.info may lead to dangerous websites which are full of Trojans, rootkits other unwanted programs, therefore it is highly recommended users should take action to remove this virus as early as possible.
It belongs to browser hijacker virus which can totally mess up your browser setting.
It changes your default DNS configuration and blocks you accessing your favorite sites.
It may install some malware in your computer to make bad influence without your consent.
It degenerates your computer performance gradually.
Browser hijacker infection like Websearch.searchannel.info may enter your system as an add-on for your browser or bundled-up with some free software. Most of time, it can be downloaded from a website you visited, something you clicked on, or a pop-up that you did not request to view. You may not even know when and how you download this browser hijacker which compromises your internet security until you find your computer is fully messed up. A hijack virus is a type of computer virus known for its ability to disrupt your Internet browsing. It can redirect your Internet searches to random sites, disallow you from visiting certain Web sites, and change your Internet home page. In addition, it is able to slow your computer, decrease your available memory, and flood your computer with popup advertisements. When you detect the presence of such malicious hijacker, a complete removal is needed without any hesitation.
1. You keep getting random pop-ups opening in new browser tabs.
2. When clicking on Google search links you get taken to sites that have nothing to do with the subject you searched for.
3. Anti-virus and firewall software won’t start.
4. Internet stops working.
5. Unknown software has been installed without your authorization.
6. You can’t access reputable sites unless you type the URL into the navigation bar
Websearch.searchannel.info hijacks your browser to redirect your web search results and changes the homepage and browser settings. To completely uninstall it from an infected system, manual removal is the first choice because sometimes antivirus software cannot pick up the exact computer threat timely or remove it permanently. Now most browser hijackers are quite similar to spyware and adware threats and therefore cannot be removed with the help of popular antivirus products. Users can follow the manual guide here to get rid of this browser hijacker completely.
1. Clear all the cookies of your affected browsers.
Since this tricky hijacker virus has the ability to use cookies for tracing and tracking the internet activity of users, it is suggested users delete all the cookies before a complete removal.
Google Chrome:
Click on the “Tools” menu and click the “Clear browsing data” button.
Select “Delete cookies and other site data” to delete all cookies from the list.
Internet Explorer:
Open Internet explorer window
Click the “Tools” button
Point to “safety” and then click “delete browsing history”
Tick the “cookies” box, then click “delete”
Mozilla Firefox:
Click on Tools, then Options, select Privacy
Click “Remove individual cookies”
In the Cookies panel, click on “Show Cookies”
To remove a single cookie click on the entry in the list and click on the “Remove Cookie”
To remove all cookies click on the “Remove All Cookies” button
2. End the malicious process from Task Manager.
Once Websearch.searchannel.info redirect is installed, computer user may notice that CPU usage randomly jumps to 100 percent. At any time Windows always has many running processes. A process is an individual task that the computer runs. In general, the more processes, the more work the computer has to do and the slower it will run. If your system’s CPU spike is constant and remain at a constant 90-95%, users should check from Task Manager and see if there is a suspicious process occupying the system resources and then end it immediately.
(The name of the virus process can be random.)
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to quickly bring up Task Manager Window：
3. Show hidden files and folders.
Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.
Click the View tab.
Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click OK.
4. Remove all the malicious files related to Websearch.searchannel.info hijacker manually.
%AppData%Local[random].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main StartPage
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Websearch.searchannel.info is an undesirable and unwanted page that can pop up as your default homepage or a new tab without your permission. Such adware and pop-up is not necessarily malicious but it may promote bogus products and services. Once infected, the homepage of your browser will be changed without any permission. And the worse is you will not be able to reset it back too. You may start seeing tons of annoying pop-up notifications, banner ads, in-text links and similar content while browsing on the Internet. Besides, this virus will corrupt the local DNS (or Domain Name System) entries to accomplish their hijackers – therefore, these problems will remain embedded in your operating system even if you uninstall and reinstall all of your web browsers. It also tracks user’s web browsing habits, records addresses of visited sites and sends collected data to a remote server. As mentioned above, Websearch.searchannel.info virus has to be deleted manually without any hesitation.
Published by & last updated on March 1, 2015 7:08 am
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