How to Remove Search.rspark.com Hijacker

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

Search.rspark.com is a harbinger of bad news. This website is the face of a parasite. Its sudden appearance indicates the presence of a browser hijacker. Somewhere in the corners of your OS, a sneaky intruder lurks and causes issues. Brace yourself! The appearance of the Search.rspark.com website is just the beginning. The hijacker follows programming to drown its victims in a sea of adverts and annoying redirects. The parasite injects various banners on every website you visit. Even web pages that used to be ad-free get heavy on coupons and discounts. Pop-ups appear every time you so much as touch your browser. Random website text turns into hyperlinks. Notifications appear out of the blue. Questionable websites load in new tabs and windows. That’s the nature of the hijacker. It uses every opportunity to interrupt you with ads. Click nothing, though. These “great offers” are unreliable. The hijacker behind them has no filters nor security mechanisms. This parasite exists to generate revenue for its owners. These people are inclined to accept questionable offers. As long as they get their fees, the crooks are free to spread deceptive and false content. Do not put yourself through this. Heed the experts’ advice: as soon as the Search.rspark.com website pops up, take action! Find where the hijacker lurks and delete it upon detection.

How did I get infected with?

A hijacker forces Search.rspark.com on you. As for the parasite, it didn’t appear out of thin air. The hijacker always asks whether you, the user, agree to allow it in. It, of course, does so in the sneakiest way possible. This trickster lurks behind the fine print. It hides in freeware, fake updates, and spam messages. Its methods trick you into installing the hijacker unintentionally. Your caution, however, can prevent these tricks from succeeding. Even a little extra attention can spare you an avalanche of problems. So, don’t be lazy. Always take the time to do your due diligence. Don’t visit questionable websites. Download software from reputable (preferably official) sources only. And don’t skip installation steps. More often than not, the apps we download off the Web come bundled with bonus software. If you rush, you might install malicious extras. Do not give into naivety. No anti-virus app can protect you if you act that recklessly. Choose caution over carelessness. If available, use the advanced/custom setup option. Under it, you will be able to deselect all unwanted extras. Make sure you know what you install. Read the terms and conditions before you agree to them. If you cannot go through the whole document, scan it with an online EULA analyzer. Opt out of the installation if you notice anything suspicious!

Why is this dangerous?

There is no such thing as a safe hijacker. The one behind the Search.rspark.com website is not an exception. This intruder is a nightmare. It meddles from day one and makes your browsing experience a hellish one. The parasite floods you with numerous unreliable and potentially dangerous ads. Everything “Brought to you by Search.rspark.com” threatens to get you in trouble. And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. Something much more dangerous happens in the shadows. The tricky hijacker jeopardizes your privacy. This parasite spies on you from the moment it invades. The parasite records and analyzes your every online move. Which websites you visit, what links you follow, what videos you watch. The Incognito mode cannot hide you. The hijacker knows everything. And if you are not careful, it might steal sensitive information. Do not discard the parasite as a mere annoyance! Some pieces of data, your search queries, for example, may contain personal and financial details. Can you imagine what may happen if this data falls into the wrong hands? Do not take unnecessary risks. Remove the hijacker before it gets you in serious trouble. Delete this parasite ASAP!

How to Remove Search.rspark.com virus

The Search.rspark.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.rspark.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.rspark.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Search.rspark.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

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