Remove Firesearch.com Hijacker Virus

Can’t Remove Firesearch.com hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Firesearch.com Removal instructions!

So, the Firesearch.com website is your new homepage. Do you like it? To read this article you must have tried to remove it but, unfortunately, you failed. You are not the only one. This website is just a front. It is the face of a nasty browser hijacker. Luckily, we can help you. This parasite is an actual program that is installed on your machine. To restore your browser’s settings, you must remove it completely. If you decide to neglect it, however, this tool will turn your browsing experience into a nightmare. You have noticed the ads, haven’t you? They are simply everywhere. Previously ad-free websites are heavy on advertisements now. Discounts, great deals, and coupons are blinking in all imaginable colors. You will notice that your computer is also slower. You are not imagining this, your PC is slowed down by the hijacker. This utility runs on your CPU and uses RAM. And it uses a lot of it. The more ads you see, the slower your computer will become. Some older machines may start to freeze and crash frequently. You risk losing unsaved data. The Firesearch.com utility is a pest that must be deleted ASAP. It can never be beneficial to you. Yes, it displays discounts of products you are actually interested in. but what is the price? You are overlooking something essential. To display ads that will appeal to you, the hijacker must know what you are interested in. yes, that is right. This app is spying on you. It monitors your online activities. All of them. Which websites you visit, your bookmarks and even your search inquiries are not a mystery to the Firesearch.com hijacker. There is nothing private anymore. Be careful where you are logging into. Your usernames and passwords are being recorded, too. The collected data is not used for marketing purposes only. The furtive utility will sell every bit of information to third parties. Do yourself a favor. Remove this parasite immediately.

How did I get infected with?

To operate on your system, the Firesearch.com website needs your permission. And it has it. You were the one who gave it. Yet, it won’t be a surprise if you don’t remember doing so. The hijacker tricked you. It might have arrived as a bundled program to some freeware you downloaded off the web. Developers tend to attach additional software to the installation files of many free programs. If you are not careful, you will install those attachments without realizing it. Be vigilant. Opt for advanced installation wizard. This process is not complicated. Don’t hesitate to use it. It is a simple step-by-step installation wizard. Just like the standard one. Yet, only under the custom installation can you see a list of all extra programs that are about to be installed. We recommend deselecting them. If you truly needed such software, you would have downloaded it by yourself. Don’t rush. Read the terms and conditions. This is a good way to spot breaches. If you think that something looks suspicious, abort the installation. Other malware distribution methods include torrents, fake software updates, and corrupted ads. Only your caution can spare you troubles. Download your software from reliable websites only. And don’t neglect your anti-virus program. Keep it up to date.

Why is this dangerous?

Firesearch.com is a typical hijacker. It replaces your homepage, as well as, your default search engine. Which means only one thing: all search results you are seeing are corrupted. No matter the provider, the hijacker will “inject” fake entries among the results. These entries, most of the time, are advertisements. Yet, they are not marked as such. Doing an objective research will become an impossible task. Your security is no concern of this tool. It is programmed to make money for its owners. Hackers often use such utilities to spread malicious ads and links. If you have the misfortune to click on such an ad, you will be redirected to an infected website. There, a drive-by download will be executed. This type of download does not require the user’s interaction. It starts automatically. Thus, it is usually used for malware distribution. Don’t risk your computer’s security. To remove the Firesearch.com hijacker completely, follow our guide. However, if you are not confident in your computer skills, you can always download a trustworthy anti-virus program. The sooner this parasite is gone, the better!

How to Remove Firesearch.com virus

The Firesearch.com 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 Firesearch.com 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.

WARNING! Stopping the wrong file or deleting the wrong registry key may damage your system irreversibly.
If you are feeling not technical enough just use Spyhunter Professional Malware Removal Tool to deal with the problem!
>>Download SpyHunter – a Professional Remover.

Please, keep in mind that SpyHunter’s scanner tool is free. To remove the Firesearch.com infection, you need to purchase its full version.

STEP 1: Track down Firesearch.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Firesearch.com startup location

STEP 3: Delete Firesearch.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Firesearch.com 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.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Firesearch.com 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 Firesearch.com virus from the windows registry

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

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

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]

• 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:

STEP 3 : Clean Firesearch.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

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

• Open Mozilla Firefox

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

• Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Firesearch.com

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 Firesearch.com, 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.

• in the target field remove Firesearch.com 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 Firesearch.com 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.