Remove Search.searchptp.com Hijacker

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

The appearance of the Search.searchptp.com website as your new homepage is not a coincidence. This page is the face of a nasty browser hijacker. Unfortunately, it’s true. Your computer harbors an infection. You have the Search.searchptp.com hijacker on board. This parasite is the reason why your PC performs poorly recently. It is also behind the increased number of online commercials you are exposed to. The hijacker is a malicious ad-generating application. Following a successful installation, the hijacker takes control over your web browser. It adds its malicious extension and starts displaying commercials. The hijacker injects banners, hyperlinks, and in-text ads on every website you open. It can also redirect your browser to promoted websites. For every advert you click on, the owners of the hijacker will get paid. And so, their creation is programmed to block their competitors’ content. You are seeing only approved by the hijacker advertisements. By doing so, the hijacker limits your sources of information. It is turning you into an easy target. And believe us, the hijacker will eventually convince you that you’ve been offered great deals. With every passing day, you will see more and more adverts. You will be drowned in a sea of commercials. The displayed ads, however, are not random. You will notice that all adverts are somehow related to your hobbies, interests or needs. The Search.searchptp.com hijacker monitors your browser related data and uses the collected information better ad-targeting. Thus, if you enter “sneakers” into some search engine, the hijacker will show you adverts for sports shoes. These ads, however, are not verified, so don’t get your hopes up. With the Search.searchptp.com hijacker on board, you are very likely to be redirected to bogus websites.

How did I get infected with?

The Search.searchptp.com hijacker uses a lot of trickery. This parasite relies on your carelessness and negligence to succeed. Be vigilant instead. You can prevent malware infections. All you should do is to pay attention to the fine print. The hijacker tends to use software bundles. Whenever you are installing a program, opt for the Advanced/Custom option in the Setup Wizard. Developers often attach extra programs to the installation files of many popular apps. If you use the standard Installation, these extras will be installed automatically. Your approval will not be needed. So you won’t be asked. Under the Advanced method, however, you will be given the opportunity to deselect the extras. Install only the apps that you trust. Do not rush. Take your time to read the terms and conditions. Make sure you know what you are giving your approval to. You can safely deselect all extras and still install the program you originally planned to set up. Other malware distribution methods include torrents, spam emails, malvertising and fake software updates. You let the Search.searchptp.com hijacker on board. Do not repeat this mistake ever again. Always do your due diligence. Even a little extra caution goes a long, long way!

Why is this dangerous?

The Search.searchptp.com hijacker is extremely annoying. It can ruin your browsing experience in seconds. Yet, if you let this app remain active on your computer for too long, it may cause serious harm. The hijacker is not safe. It bombards its victims with countless commercials. Yet, these adverts are not verified. Anyone willing to spend some money can use the hijacker to promote. Hackers included. If you have the misfortune to click on a corrupted ad, you may download more malware or viruses. Avoiding the ads is not a solution either. The Search.searchptp.com hijacker is designed to generate clicks. When you least expect it, the hijacker will open pop-ups right under the cursors of your mouse. Even worse, this utility injects fake search entries among the search results you are provided with. These entries are adverts, yet, they are not marked as such. With the hijacker on board, you can never be sure which results are organic and which are adverts. There is no need to live like this. The Search.searchptp.com hijacker is removable. You can delete it either automatically or manually. Choose your removal method and act! The sooner, the better!

How to Remove Search.searchptp.com virus

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

STEP 2: Locate Search.searchptp.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

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