How to Remove Search.bt-cmf.com Redirect

Can’t Remove Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Search.bt-cmf.com Removal instructions!

The appearance of the Search.bt-cmf.com website as your new homepage is a clear sign that your computer is infected with a browser hijacker. Unfortunately, it is true. You have the Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker on board. Luckily, we can help you to remove this parasite completely. Before we continue, let’s take a moment to explain what the hijacker does and why is it so important to remove it completely. First of all, the Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker is not a full-fledged virus. It is a malicious program that is designed to generate ad-revenue for its owners. Don’t get too relaxed, though. The hijacker employs techniques that can bring harm to your machine. The Search.bt-cmf.com utility is designed to inject advertisements on every website you visit. Yet, the tool does not check what is being promoted. Hackers and people with questionable interests often take advantage of such applications. They use them to spread corrupted content. If you click on a malicious advertisement, you may download malware or viruses on your PC. And, unfortunately, there is no way to tell which adverts are corrupted and which are not. In fact, there is no way to detect every ad you are exposed to. The hijacker is a master deceiver. This program injects fake entries among the search results you are provided with. These entries are advertisements. Yet, they are not marked as such. It doesn’t matter which search engine you use. The hijacker can manipulate the results. Doing objective online research becomes an impossible task. The Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker has no place on your computer. You will be much better without it. Follow our detailed removal guide or download a trustworthy anti-virus application. You have options. Remove this parasite for good!

How did I get infected with?

The Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker did not appear by itself. This program, as any other app, needs your permission to be installed. And you provided it. There is no other way. Yet, you don’t remember installing the hijacker. We are not surprised. You are not the only one. The Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker uses trickery. It travels hidden in software bundles, spam email attachments, and torrents. A little extra caution can prevent these techniques from succeeding. Whenever you are installing a program, opt for the advanced option in the Setup Wizard. It can be a button or tab. Only under the Advanced method will you be able to examine all applications that are about to be installed. Developers often attach extra programs to the installation files of many free apps. Make sure you examine the extras carefully. Don’t install unverified apps. Before you click that “Yes” button, read the Terms and Conditions/EULA and do some online research. Only your vigilance can keep your PC clean.

Why is this dangerous?

The Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker is a menace. It can ruin your browsing experience in seconds. This tool bombards its victims with hundreds of commercials. Every website you open is covered in ad banners and in-text ads. Pop-up and pop-unders appear at the most unexpected times. On top of that, your browser gets redirected to unknown pages. All these advertisements slow your computer down. Your browser may start to freeze and crash. Some older machines may experience system crashes too. And this leads to data loss and a lot of frustration. Yet, these issues are barely scratching the surface of the problem. They can be considered minor compared to what the hijacker does behind your back. The Search.bt-cmf.com utility is never idle. It lurks in the shadows and collects information about you and your online habits. The hijacker monitors your browser related data. It uses the collected information for better ad targeting. Unfortunately, it may record personally identifiable information and other sensitive data too. This information will not be used for marketing purposes only. The hijacker will sell it to third parties. There are many interested buyers. They range from desperate advertisers to dangerous hackers. Can you imagine what may happen if a hacker buys your usernames, passwords, IP and email addresses? Keeping the Search.bt-cmf.com hijacker on board is not worth the risk. Track this parasite down and delete it on the spot!

How to Remove Search.bt-cmf.com virus

The Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Search.bt-cmf.com startup location

STEP 3: Delete Search.bt-cmf.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.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 Search.bt-cmf.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.