Remove Search.pch.com Hijacker from Chrome/Firefox/IE

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

Search.pch.com is a malicious website, whose sudden appearance will bring you nothing but headaches and issues. Think of it as a harbinger of trouble, the lightning before the storm. Once it shows up, it’s a clear indication that your computer is no longer infection-free. Search.pch.com is like big, bright neon sigh that there is a browser hijacker, lurking somewhere on your PC. That’s right. A hijacker. As you may or may not know, hijackers are one of the worst types of cyber threats, which you can catch. Its place fits among other dangerous threats, like ransomware or Trojans, so you can imagine the damages it can do. A hijacker slithers its way into your system through deceit and then wreaks havoc for as long as you allow it to remain. That’s why it’s best to remove the dreaded tool from your computer as soon as you become aware of its existence. You’ll spare yourself a ton of grievances and unpleasantness. The problems will begin with a vexatious, never-ending stream of pop-up advertisements and redirects to the Search.pch.com site, meddling with your browsing each time you surf the web. Then, you’ll go on to suffer frequent system crashes, and a slower computer performance, both caused by the incessant meddling of the pop-ups and the forcing of the page on you. And, as if these issues were not enough, you’d also be faced with a severe malware risk and the quite real possibility of being faced with an abundance of unapproved, unwanted changes. All of this, only topped by a grave security threat. Do yourself a favor, and don’t let it get that far. Prevent the nasty hijacker from causing all of this damage and expose your private life – an outcome bound to occur should you allow it to stay on your PC. Protect yourself and your system, and delete the malicious infection, hiding behind the Search.pch.com website. Nothing good follows the page’s popping up. Accept that now and take action. The site is a warning, so treat it as such.

How did I get infected with?

Hijackers don’t just show up on your computer. This infection, like most of the other, roaming the web, requires your approval to install itself on your PC. Let’s say that again. The tool is bound to ask for your permission on its installment, and unless you grant it, it cannot enter. So, since you’re in your current predicament, the infection behind Search.pch.com must have asked, and you must have complied. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in this mess. However, don’t think that the hijacker just comes out and openly asks approval. Oh, no. It does it through guile, deception and trickery. More often than not, it turns to the old but gold means of invasion, which includes hiding behind freeware, spam email attachments, corrupted links or sites. Also, it can pretend to be a fake update. Imagine the following scenario. You are utterly convinced you’re updating your Java or Adobe Flash Player, but you’ll be wrong. In actuality, you’ll be giving the green light to the disguised hijacker. Infections prey on carelessness. So, be sure not to provide it. Be more vigilant, thorough, and cautious instead of naive, distracted and in a rush. Remember that even a little extra attention today can save you a ton of troubles tomorrow.

Why is this dangerous?

As was already explained, Search.pch.com is no ordinary page. It’s unreliable, invasive and harmful, and hides many dangers. It may appear as nothing more than a mere website, but looks ca be deceiving. A hijacker is using the page as a front, lurking behind it and wreaking havoc from the shadows. Search.pch.com is a search engine of Publisher Clearing House, which is a marketing company. Although the company seems to be a legitimate one, the PCH Search tool is quite obnoxious and, frankly, useless. You can gain no benefits from its existence on your PC, but only grievances. It all starts with the hijacking of your preferred search engine and homepage. Suddenly, you’ll find them switched to Search.pch.com without your knowledge or approval. And, that won’t be the only reshuffle, which will be forced on you. Oh, no. Hijackers are free to perform any and all changes to your system without bothering to ask for permission of even inform you. They can spring these changes on you as a surprise. And, imagine your surprise to turn on your PC one day, and find it brimming with malware. Oh, yes. The pesky PCH Search tool can install as many malicious applications as it so wishes. As you can imagine, that’s quite the dangerous feature. But that’s not the only threat, which will be thrown your way. Each time you attempt to go online, your browsing will be disrupted by myriads of pop-up ads and unwanted redirects to the Search.pch.com site. It’s hardly surprising how the infection’s endless meddling inevitably leads to frequent system crashes, as well as slow down your computer’s performance to a crawl. The hijacker won’t just test your patience with its invasive disruption of your browsing activities, and its forced reshuffles and malware installs. The hijacker does more than just mess up your system. It also jeopardizes your privacy. The nasty tool is programmed to spy on you from the moment it sneaks into your PC. It keeps tracks of your browsing habits and catalogs every online move you make. When it deems it has gathered a sufficient amount of data, it proceeds to send it to the third parties behind it. Think about it. Unknown individuals with access to your personal and financial information. Are you going to allow that? Are you prepared to grant access to your private life to strangers with questionable agendas? Here’s a hint: don’t. As soon as the Search.pch.com website appears on your screen, do what’s best for you and your PC, and find where the hijacker behind it is lurking. Once you locate its hiding spot, delete it! The sooner, the better.

How to Remove Search.pch.com virus

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Search.pch.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.

The Search.pch.com 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 Search.pch.com from Add\Remove Programs

STEP 2: Clean Search.pch.com from Chrome Firefox or Internet Explorer

STEP 3: Permanently Remove Search.pch.com leftovers from the System

STEP 1 : Uninstall Search.pch.com 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 Search.pch.com homepage from Chrome, Firefox and IE

• Open Google Chrome

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

How to Permanently Remove Search.pch.com 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.