Remove Metacrawler Search Hijacker from Chrome/Firefox/IE

Suddenly Metacrawler Search took over your homepage and you cannot remove it.

Metacrawler Search is a troublesome browser hijacker that slithers onto your PC system in complete silence. If you wondered what’s the only thing worse than having a dangerous parasite on your computer, it’s having a parasite and not knowing about it. The silver lining here is that hijackers aren’t that subtle once they manage to get installed so at least you will quickly realize you have been infected. However, the good news about your current situation is about to end here. Despite the fact that Metacrawler search doesn’t really shine with originality in any department as it strictly follows the classic hijacker pattern, this parasite is impressively efficient. It has a rich bouquet of issues and threats to offer you and having in mind how resourceful this thing is, you should be feeling slightly nervous already. The Metacrawler search virus not only hijacks your browsers but it also modifies their settings much further till your machine is practically buried in cyber problems. After the parasite replaces your default search engine and default browser homepage with its own malicious domain, it simply proceeds to wreaking havoc on your computer thus exposing you to all kind of malware. Once Metacrawler search infects your browsers, the virus starts redirecting you and generates its enormous pile of unreliable search results, questionable ads and other potentially dangerous web links. In addition, the hijacker sneakily monitors your browsing-related activities thus jeopardizing your privacy. Remember, the more time you spend with a hijacker on board, the more damage it could cause you. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to get rid of the parasite as soon as you detect its pesky presence on your machine. A virus doesn’t belong there. It’s quite obvious that a PC infection cannot be beneficial for you, so why tolerate it?

How did I get infected with?

Being a typical hijacker, Metacrawler search usually crawls into your machine using stealth and deceit. If you can’t remember installing it voluntarily, that still doesn’t mean you didn’t do so. Parasites are nothing but computer programs so in order to land on your machine, they need your permission first. You just don’t necessarily have to know that you’re agreeing to download a PC infection. That is why it’s incredibly important to pay close attention to the software you’re giving green light to unless you’re willing to end up infected with a whole bunch of nasty viruses. Compared to some other types of parasites, Metacrawler search isn’t even among the most dangerous ones and yet it’s perfectly capable of demolishing your entire Internet experience. To protect your machine from infections, always select the Custom/Advanced option instead of the Basic option when you’re installing software. Keep an eye out for potential intruders when you download questionable programs from questionable websites, especially if you’re dealing with freeware or shareware bundles. Don’t hesitate to deselect any sneaky intruder included in the bundle because it’s much easier to deny a virus access instead of uninstalling it later on. Also, it’s highly recommended to restrain yourself from clicking third-party web links, spam email-attachments and spam messages from unknown senders.

Why is this dangerous?

As mentioned above, hijackers are certainly not a threat to be taken lightly. Once Metacrawler search begins to modify your browser settings, you will not be able to stop its shenanigans unless you delete the parasite itself. And you better do so fast. This program was not developed to enhance your browsing experience (even though on theory it should); it was only designed to generate web traffic. The hijacker redirects you towards the questionable and possibly corrupted web links thanks to which its creators gain profit. As you probably figured out already, if crooks get paid enough, they will flood your PC screen with malware without any seconds thought about the potential danger they might be exposing you to. All search results displayed by Metacrawler search are modified and trusting them would be a bad move. Even if you don’t fall victim to some devious cyber scam with some bogus product offer (which you easily could), you may still accidentally install parasites on your already infected computer. Do you really think you need more infections in your life at this point? Alongside the corrupted search results, the hijacker also generates malicious commercials and other web links which are just as unreliable as everything else we already mentioned. Long story short, tolerating Metacrawler and its never-ending pile of sponsored links makes you a sponsor to cyber criminals and we assume this is not a situation you feel comfortable being in. To top it all, the hijacker successfully monitors your entire browsing history, search queries, pages visited, IP addresses and even some personally identifiable data which poses the immense danger of identity theft. This parasite not only tracks your browsing activities, not only messes with your very own browser settings behind your back but it also exposes you directly to harmful web links. This virus should NOT be left unattended as it goes out of hand quickly. Do you want to protect your machine, your privacy, your further cyber security and your nerves? Delete the hijacker. In order to remove the nasty Metacrawler parasite manually, please follow the comprehensive removal guide you will find down below.

How to Remove Metacrawler search virus

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Metacrawler search 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.

The Metacrawler search adware is specifically designed to make money. It generates web traffic, collects sales leads for other dubious sites, and will display advertisements and sponsored links within your web browser.

STEP 1: Uninstall Metacrawler search from Add\Remove Programs

STEP 2: Clean Metacrawler search from Chrome Firefox or Internet Explorer

STEP 3: Permanently Remove Metacrawler search leftovers from the System

STEP 1 : Uninstall Metacrawler search from your computer

Simultaneously press the Windows Logo Button and then “R” to open the Run Command Window

 

Type “regedit”

 

navigate to HKCU\software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Modify the string with a value data and set it to google.com for example.

STEP 2 : Remove Metacrawler search homepage from Chrome, Firefox and IE

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Metacrawler search 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

How to Permanently Remove Metacrawler search Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

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.