Jan 29, 2016

Search.searchotva.com Hijacker Removal

I downloaded a word application 2 days ago and now Search.searchotva.com is my search engine and I can’t get rid of it at all. It’s really annoying! I have windows 7 and I can’t find where I need to delete it at all. Please help!

Search.searchotva.com Description:

Search.searchotva.com is a misleading search engine that connected with browser hijacker, adware or potentially unwanted programs. It is mostly distributed via corrupted software installers. This application replaces your homepage and default search provider on its own. It doesn’t allow you to use any other legitimate search providers like Yahoo, Bing and Google but just keeps redirecting you to Search.searchotva.com. Although the page looks like a regular search provider, it only displays results that are not relevant to your search queries. The virus may affect one or more browsers at the same time. It is prone to attack Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari.

It is a clear sign that your PC has been hijacked by Search.searchotva.com hijacker. You will find your homepage and default search provider changed and your browser may keep crashing and freezing. It has a great effect on the functioning of user’s computer. Every time you try to visit your favorite page, you will be redirected to another page that may sell you unwanted products. In addition, computer users may be presented with various ads or unwanted search results while surfing the internet. The hijacker stops your browsing activities and may probably disconnect your Internet by modifying your DNS setting without your permission. It may also install unwanted applications, browser helper objects (add-ons, extensions, toolbars), and third party programs to your computer without your awareness to slow down your PC performance. Hence, don’t hesitate to remove Search.searchotva.com hijacker from your computer.

The following instructions require certain levels of computer skills. If you’re not sure and are afraid to make any critical mistakes during the process, please live chat with YooCare Expert now.

Search.searchotva.com Redirect Image:

search.searchotva.com

Potential Dangers Caused by A Hijacker Virus:

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.

How Can Search.searchotva.com Hijacker Get On Your PC?

Browser hijacker infection like Search.searchotva.com 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.

It May Initiate the Following Symptoms:

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

Malicious Browser Hijacker Manual Removal Guides:

Search.searchotva.com 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.
clear-browser-data

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”

delete-browsing-history-1

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

Remove-All-Cookie1

2. End the malicious process from Task Manager.

Once Search.searchotva.com hijacker 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:

task-manager

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.

show-hidden-files

4. Remove all the malicious files related to Search.searchotva.com 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

Video Shows You How to Safely Modify Windows Registry Editor:

If your start page was replaced with Search.searchotva.com, then your browser must have been attacked by browser hijacker virus or you may download potentially unwanted programs or adware accidentally without your awareness. This hijacker can attack web browsers including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. It can display crazy coupons and deals ads at every corner of the compromised web browser, in all kinds of forms including pop-up, pop-under, in-text, banner or contextual advertisements to interrupt online activities. Your search engine or homepage can be changed to unfamiliar website against your will. And your browser performance also gets reduced. New tab or even window with advertisement can be opened on any of your web browsers unexpectedly. To sum up, browser hijacker is not a fair marketing and it can cause many inconveniences to internet users so you have to delete it without a doubt.

Note: If you are not a computer expert and have no idea how to perform the removal, please contact experts from YooCare Online Tech Support for further help.

Published by & last updated on January 29, 2016 3:45 am

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