Chromesearch.today “Virus” Removal

Can’t Remove Chromesearch.today hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Chromesearch.today Removal instructions!

The Chromesearch.today is classified as a browser hijacker. This parasite enters your device in complete silence and takes control over your web browsers. Yes, that is right. Browsers. If you have more than one installed, be certain, all of them are infected by the hijacker. This tool is programmed to turn you from a visitor into a customer. To reach its goal, the Chromesearch.today hijacker uses aggressive and misleading advertising strategies. The hijacker blocks its competitors’ commercials and replaces them with its own. Additionally, it injects extra ad banners and in-text adverts on every website you open. The hijacker can redirect your browser to third-party websites and open pop-ups. The furtive tool will flood you with commercials. You will hate the experience. Soon, you will notice that your computer underperforms. This is also a symptom of the infection. The Chromesearch.today hijacker is not a light program. It uses a lot of computer resources. The more commercials it displays, the slower your computer becomes. The hijacker can cause both your browser and PC to freeze and crash frequently. This may lead to data loss and even to the Blue Screen of Death. The hijacker is a pain in the neck. Luckily, it can be removed completely. All you should do is to select a removal method: either automatic or manual. For manual removal, please, follow our detailed guide down below. If you prefer automated solutions, download a trustworthy anti-virus app and run a full-system scan. The sooner you clean your device, the better!

remove Chromesearch.today

How did I get infected with?

The Chromesearch.today search engine appeared out of the blue. You haven’t expected such a page to replace your preferable homepage. At this point, many PC users jump to the conclusion that they were hacked. That is not the case. The Chromesearch.today hijacker is not a full-fledged virus. It is a malicious program. And as any other program, it needs your permission to be installed. The hijacker, however, doesn’t need to ask you openly. This furtive utility uses stealth installation and misleading descriptions to lure its victims into installing it unintentionally. Freeware, shareware, and pirated copies of licensed software often become hosts of such parasites. Whenever you are installing a program, opt for the Advanced option in the Setup Wizard. Only under the Advanced installation will you be able to see all additional apps that are about to be installed. Again, only under the Advanced method, will you be presented with a list of all changes that are about to be made. Examine the list carefully. Deselect all suspicious programs. More often than not, these third-party apps are malicious. Make sure you understand what you are giving your approval to. This is your computer after all. You have the right to know what is happening with it. Read the Terms and Conditions. If you spot anything out of the ordinary, abort the installation immediately.

Why is this dangerous?

There is nothing positive about the Chromesearch.today hijacker. This program entered your computer uninvited and modified your preferred settings. It is not just your homepage that got replaced. The Chromesearch.today utility has selected a new default search engine for you. All search results you are provided with are approved by the furtive app. This utility can manipulate the results as it sees fit. As we mentioned, it blocks its competitors’ content. The hijacker also injects sponsored entries among the organic search results. Yet, it doesn’t mark the commercials as such. With the Chromesearch.today hijacker on board, you cannot trust the results you are provided with. No one can tell which entries are promoted and which are organic. Dodgy websites pay hefty sums for their links to be displayed. What if you get redirected to an infected website? This scenario is also possible. The hijacker doesn’t verify the advertisers. All sorts of crooks and hackers take advantage of such applications. If you click on a corrupted ad or if you get redirected to an infected page, viruses or other malware will get installed on your machine. The Chromesearch.today hijacker may also redirect you to scam websites. So, be vigilant and doubting. With the hijacker on board, you are far more likely to end up on a scam page than on a legit website. Question everything. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t!

How to Remove Chromesearch.today virus

The Chromesearch.today infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Chromesearch.today infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down Chromesearch.today related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Chromesearch.today startup location

STEP 3: Delete Chromesearch.today traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Chromesearch.today related processes in the computer memory

  • Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
  • Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

end-malicious-process

  • Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Chromesearch.today startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

  • Open any folder
  • Click on “Organize” button
  • Choose “Folder and Search Options”
  • Select the “View” tab
  • Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
  • Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
  • Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Chromesearch.today virus from the windows registry

  • Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

win-plus-r

  • A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

regedit

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

  • and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

delete backgroundcontainer

  • Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

hosts-redirect-virus

STEP 3 : Clean Chromesearch.today traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

  • Open Google Chrome

  • In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
  • Remove the Chromesearch.today by clicking on the little recycle bin
  • Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

disable Chromesearch.today from chrome

  • Open Mozilla Firefox

  • Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
  • Disable the unwanted Extension
  • Go to Help
  • Then Troubleshoot information
  • Click on Reset Firefox

remove Chromesearch.today from firefox

  • Open Internet Explorer

  • On the Upper Right Corner Click on the Gear Icon
  • Click on Internet options
  • go to Toolbars and Extensions and disable the unknown extensions
  • Select the Advanced tab and click on Reset

remove Chromesearch.today from ie

  • Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Chromesearch.today

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Chromesearch.today, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

  • Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
  • go to Network and Internet
  • then Network and Sharing Center
  • then Change Adapter Settings
  • Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

You must clean all your browser shortcuts as well. To do that you need to

  • Right click on the shortcut of your favorite browser and then select properties.

safebrowsing-biz-shortcut-removal

  • in the target field remove Chromesearch.today argument and then apply the changes.
  • Repeat that with the shortcuts of your other browsers.
  • Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Chromesearch.today Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible registry leftovers or temporary files.

Leave a Comment