What is Websearch.searchtotal.info? Is it a legitimate and useful search engine? Your browser’s home page is locked by the domain and cannot be changed back? You are redirected to strange websites when you use the browser? You can’t get rid of it even though you have tried several antivirus programs? How to remove the nuisance?
Websearch.searchtotal.info is classified as a nasty browser hijacker that is masked as a legitimate search engine. It can redirect you to its own website or some other malicious domains. It can be downloaded into the computer with the assistance of unsafe free software, unknown E-mail attachments or pornographic video players. It makes full use of the computer system security vulnerabilities caused by computer users’ careless online actions.
As soon as Websearch.searchtotal.info infiltrates your computer, it begins to modify the Windows registry keys, the basic system settings and browser settings. At first, you find that your default home page and search engine are replaced and you have trouble in using the browser to get to some sites or search for information. Although it looks like a legitimate search engine, it can’t give you anything you want except for redirecting you to malicious websites that contain deceptive ads, Trojan viruses or malware. And the browser hijacker makes the infected computer run slowly. Some advertising windows pop up suddenly when you use the computer. So far, there is no an antivirus program that can fully remove it. In this case, many computer users may find it difficult to get rid of the browse hijacker. Manual removal can be the best choice.
1. It is able to become the startup page of your web browser via modifying browser settings. No matter which browser you are using (Internet Explorer, Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Opera), you can see the browser is occupied by it completely.
2. It may also install plug-ins, extensions and toolbars in the browser so as to record your search history as well as cookies.
3. You need to wait for a long time when visiting websites because the browser always gets stuck and is slow in reaction.
4. This annoying redirect may also result in unstable Internet connection and system freezes frequently.
5. You are forced to receive many advertisement windows when the computer is connected to the Internet.
XXX browser hijacker changes the homepage as well as browser settings, and redirects your web search results to random sites containing lots of illegal advertisements, even Trojan, rootkit or other malware viruses. Sometimes the antivirus software cannot identify it accurately and timely or remove it permanently. Therefore, manual removal is the best choice to uninstall it completely from your computer. Users can follow the manual guide here to have the hijacker removed instantly.
1. Clean Add-ons and Extensions
* Internet Explorer:
(1). Click Tools in the Menu bar and then click Internet Options
(3). Click Programs tab, click Manage add-ons and disable the suspicious 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 Websearch.searchtotal.info
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 Websearch.searchtotal.info’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 Websearch.searchtotal.info 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
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\run\Random.exe
(2). Find out and remove the associated files
%AllUsersProfile%\random.exe
%AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\random.exe
%Temp%\random.exe
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\random
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~random
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\.dll HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Random “.exe”
In a word, Websearch.searchtotal.info is a notorious browser hijacker that can hijack your browser, modify your browser settings and lead to many other problems on your computer. You can’t use your browser properly with it staying in your computer. Whenever you are trying to search for something on the Internet, you are always redirected to some strange websites instead of getting the information you want. In addition, the hijacker is able to track your browsing activity so as to know what you are currently interested in. Therefore, computer users should eliminate Websearch.searchtotal.info as soon as possible.
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 7:51 am
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