How to Remove SearchAwesome Redirects

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

You must be sick and tired of online adverts signed by SearchAwesome. You have a reason to be worried. This service is often reported for suspicious behavior. Security experts have categorized it as an adware parasite. The SearchAwesome adware enters your computer is silence and wreaks havoc in no time. It adds its malicious extension to your web browsers and takes full control of them. Firefox, Opera, Edge, Safari, there is no immune browser. The adware infects them alike. It uses your poor browsers to bombard you with adverts. For every ad you click on, its owners get paid. They get even more money for every sponsored web page you get redirected to. And so, their parasite does exactly this. It redirects your browser to sponsored online platforms. This parasite can ruin your browsing experience in seconds. It injects dozens and dozens of ads on every website you open. Previously ad-free pages are now so heavy on banners and in-texts that your browser barely displays them correctly. It freezes and crashes frequently. Your Internet connection, too, is not what it used to be. It is slower than ever. On top of that, your device seems to be underperforming. Thank the adware for these issues. If you don’t take action against this intruder, your conditions will worsen rapidly. The SearchAwesome adware gets more and more aggressive as the time passes. The parasite will drown you in a sea of advertisements. A sea of potentially dangerous advertisements. The adware doesn’t have a user-protection mechanism. Anyone willing to pay can promote without restrictions. Various crooks use this utility to redirect web traffic to dodgy websites. The adware exposes your security at high risk. Remove it before it lures you into some online scheme!

How did I get infected with?

The SearchAwesome adware is not an ingenious virus but a simple computer app. And just like any other application, it cannot enter your OS without your (the user’s) permission. No permission, no admission! As simple as that. But, do you remember approving its installation? We won’t be surprised if you don’t. Nevertheless, the adware asked you and you obliged. The exchange, however, was not straightforward. The adware asked you in the sneakiest way possible. This parasite hides behind software bundles, fake updates, torrents, and spam emails. One second of carelessness is all it needs to infect your computer. Your caution, however, can prevent it from succeeding. The task is not easy. You should be always on your guard. Especially when you are about to install a program. Do not rush. That is the golden rule. Take your time. Opt for the Advanced installation option. If it’s available, by all means, select it. Under it, you will be presented with a list of all additional programs that are about to be installed. Deselect these extras. More often than not, they are malicious. Besides, if you truly needed them, you would have downloaded them by yourself. This is your computer. You decide what to be installed on it. Don’t let others make this decision for you. Always make sure you know what you are giving your approval to. Read the terms and Conditions/End User License Agreement (EULA). If you spot anything out of the ordinary, abort the installation immediately!

Why is this dangerous?

The SearchAwesome adware is extremely intrusive. It forces numerous pop-ups on you. Every time you as much as touch your browser, dozens and dozens of adverts cover your screen. You cannot get a simple task done without being interrupted. Unfortunately, your comfort is not the biggest issue here. The adware has a darker side. This utility exposes both your privacy and security at risk. The parasite spies on you and threatens to expose the collected information. The adware knows your every online step. The collected data may not strike as too sensitive, but a capable advertiser needs very little to successfully target you with customized marketing campaigns. What if this advertiser has bad intentions? Numerous crooks use the SearchAwesome adware and its resources. They use the app to expose you to corrupted ads. The crooks show you what you want to see, but when you click on their links, you end up on bogus websites. Numerous online scams are promoted through the adware. What is even more frightening is that this parasite may redirect you to infected pages too. Do not put up with this situation. Remove the adware before it causes serious trouble!

How to Remove SearchAwesome virus

The SearchAwesome 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 SearchAwesome 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 SearchAwesome in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate SearchAwesome startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the SearchAwesome 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 SearchAwesome

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 SearchAwesome, 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 SearchAwesome 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 SearchAwesome 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.