Remove Search Protect by Conduit “Virus”

Can’t Remove Search Protect ads? This page includes detailed ads by Search Protect Removal instructions!

Search Protect by Conduit is not a legitimate service. It is forced on you by the nasty Conduit adware. This parasite uses numerous tricks to lure you into letting your guard down. One second of carelessness is all it needs to infect your system. This adware is a complete and utter menace. It corrupts all installed web browsers and turns them into ad-displaying slaves. Brace yourself. You are in for trouble. The adware modifies your browsers. It alters their settings and locks the changes. No matter how hard you try, you cannot restore your preferences. The nasty parasite replaces both your home page and default search engine. It forces its Search Protect engine on you. If you type a search query, however, you would notice that the results are flooded with adverts. Well, this search engine is not trustworthy. The adware corrupts the results. It injects fake entries among the results you are provided with. These fake entries are adverts, yet, they are not marked as such. Do you think that this is safe? Search Protect by Conduit threatens to redirect you to dangerous websites. This parasite gets paid to display ads, not to verify them. Numerous phony websites pay for their links to be displayed at the top. Hundreds of crooks use the adware to target potential victims. Do not play with your luck. Your browsers are no longer trustworthy. The nasty Conduit adware jeopardizes your security. Take action against the invader. Remove the adware ASAP!

How did I get infected with?

The Search Protect by Conduit website appears courtesy of a parasite. The question is: how did the adware manage to infect your system? Through trickery, of course. The sneaky parasite cannot get installed without your approval. It, however, knows how to lure you into unwanted actions. The parasite preys on your naivety. It lurks in the shadows and waits for you to make a mistake. Don’t make its job easier. Only your caution can protect you. Don’t let your guard down. Torrents, spam emails, software bundles, and fake updates deliver the adware to your system. That’s all they do. These methods cannot install the parasite. Only you can do that. If you, however, give into carelessness, you are very likely to install the parasite unintentionally. Bear in mind that no anti-virus program can protect you if you act recklessly. Choose caution over carelessness. One keeps the parasites away, the other — invites them in. Always take the time to do your due diligence. Even a little extra attention goes a long, long way!

Why is this dangerous?

The Conduit adware enters your OS through trickery and becomes your shadow. The parasite follows you around the web. It displays ads on every website you visit and redirects your traffic to sponsored pages. It interferes with your every online action. The adware even modifies the search results you are provided with. This invader knows no boundaries. The more time it spends on your system, the worse your situation becomes. The nasty adware gets more and more aggressive with each passing day. It gets paid when you click on its adverts, so it drowns you in a sea of coupons and discounts. The numerous adverts, however, are not good enough for the adware. The parasite does not display random ads. No, it studies your browsing habits and bases the ads on the collected data. In other words: it spies on you and uses the collected information against you. Conduit analyzes and catalogs your every online action. Even the Incognito mode of your browser cannot protect you. You are under constant surveillance! It’s just a matter of time before this parasite discovers something sensitive. Do not risk it! Even the information that seems unimportant can be used against you. The crooks use every bit of data. They use it to create irresistible ads. The crooks show you what you want to see, but when you click, bad things happen! Spare yourself many future headaches. Clean your system now!

How to Remove Search Protect virus

The Search Protect 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 Protect 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 Protect in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Search Protect startup location

STEP 3: Delete Search Protect traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Search Protect 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 Protect 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 Protect 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 Protect traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

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

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 Protect, 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 Protect 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 Protect Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your system 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.