How to Remove ForgeSearch.com Redirect

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

The ForgeSearch.com website has a nice, elegant design. Yet, you have not approved it as your new home page, have you? No, of course not. This malicious website is the face of nasty browser hijacker. This parasite has managed to enter your computer and modified your browser’s settings. The ForgeSearch.com hijacker is a malicious ad-supported program. It generates revenue for its owners by pay-per-click scheme. Basically, for every advert you click on, its owner will be paid. And trust us, you will see a lot of advertisements. With each passing day, the marketing campaign will get more and more aggressive. Soon, you will be drowned in a sea of advertisements. Every website you visit will be covered in ad banners. Pop-up and pop-unders will interrupt your normal browsing sessions. On top of that, your browser will get redirected to shady websites. Prepare to be introduced to numerous “great opportunities,” financial software and PC performance boosters. Do not trust a word you read. The ForgeSearch.com hijacker is paid to display this content. It is not paid to check who the advertiser is or what is being promoted. The crooks take advantage of such applications. They redirect the users to websites that are partaking in scams and financial frauds. Luckily, this parasite is completely removable. Provided you act promptly, of course. Follow our guide or download a trustworthy anti-virus program. You have a lot of options. The sooner you remove this pest, the better.

How did I get infected with?

To travel the web, the ForgeSearch.com hijacker uses not one, but many techniques. Torrents, spam emails, fake software updates, freeware/shareware bundling and so on and so forth. You have heard about these techniques, haven’t you? All of them have something in common. To succeed, they rely on your carelessness. Let’s take the bundling method as an example. Developers attach their malicious apps to the installation files of many free programs. If you use the standard installation process, these extras will be installed without your further approval. Yet, if you are careful, you can deny their installation. How? Well, it is not that complicated, actually. Whenever you are installing a program, especially if it is a free one, opt for an advanced/custom option. Under the Advanced Setup, you will be presented with a list of all additional programs that are about to be installed. Do not rush. Take your time to examine the list carefully. Research the apps online and read the terms and condition. Install only the tools you trust. Keep in mind that you can deselect all extras and still install the program you originally planned to set up. A little caution today can spare you tons of problems in the future.

Why is this dangerous?

The ForgeSearch.com hijacker should be removed upon discovery. Many PC users have nerves of steel. They ignore the advertisements. But this may cause them a lot. The hijacker is not just an ad-displaying utility. This app is programmed to spy on its victims. It monitors your online activities and sells the collected data to third parties. Thus, if you use your computer to pay the bills and to make an online purchase, the hijacker will record your usernames, passwords, credit card information and billing address. Can you imagine the consequences if hackers get in possession of such sensitive information? The stream of bad news is not ending here. Even the adverts displayed by the hijacker are potentially dangerous. As we already mentioned, the ForgeSearch.com hijacker does not verify what is being promoted via its services. Hackers use such apps to spread corrupted links and ads. One click is all it takes for a virus to be downloaded on your computer. So be careful. There, unfortunately, is no way to tell which ads are corrupted and which are not. Do not risk clicking on such a corrupted ad. Remove the hijacker as soon as possible.

How to Remove ForgeSearch.com virus

The ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.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.

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

STEP 2: Locate ForgeSearch.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.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 ForgeSearch.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.