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Can’t Remove Searchmine.net hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Searchmine.net Removal instructions!

Searchmine.net is a malicious search engine. It may appear as a useful and reliable search tool to use, but it’s not. It’ the exact opposite. It’s untrustworthy and hazardous. You see, the page pops up as a sign of an invasion. To see it, is to know that your PC harbors a browser hijacker. These types of threats are dangerous and damaging. And, so is the one, behind Searchmine.net. Don’t underestimate it! To do so, is a mistake. Don’t make it. Acknowledge the website as the sign of trouble it is, and take immediate action on it. Hijackers cause quite the harm to your system. They spread corruption, from the moment they enter. You can’t make a move, without suffering the consequences of their stay. They bring headaches, troubles and frustration your way. You suffer interference, lagging, and system crashes. Not to mention, your privacy is at risk. Oh, yes. The infection spies on you from the moment it invades. It tracks your online activities, and keeps a record of all you do. Let that sink in. It means, the hijacker has access to all manner of personal and financial data. Credit card and ban account data, passwords, logins, sites you frequent. When it determines it has collected enough information, it sends it. It exposes the stolen data to the unknown individuals behind it.

How did I get infected with?

The tool, behind Searchmine.net, is sneaky. It gets you to approve its install, while keeping you clueless. How? Well, it’s rather simple. The hijacker resorts to trickery and finesse. It employs the help of the old but gold invasive methods, and preys on your carelessness. You see, it has to ask whether you agree to allow it in. If you don’t, it can’t proceed with invasion. That’s why, it does its best to get you to say YES to its inquiry. It lurks behind fake updates, corrupted links, freeware. It has its pick of tricks. Each one rests on your gullibility, haste, and distraction. After all, if you’re thorough, and do your due diligence, you can catch the threat in the act. You can spot it, attempting invasion, and deny it. Caution helps you to do that. The lack thereof has the opposite outcome. It incites infections into your PC. So, make the right choice, and be careful. Even a little extra attention can save you a ton of trouble.

Why is this dangerous?

Hijackers make for horrendous companions. They make an utter mess of your system. Once the tool settles, it spreads its clutches throughout. And, it doesn’t take long before you suffer the consequences of its corruption. You first spot its touch, when you go online. You discover a switch in place. One, you neither approved nor had prior knowledge of. The hijacker replaced your default homepage and search engine. And, the Searchmine.net page is there, now. It appears, every time you open a new tab. It shows up among the suggested results, after you type a search. The ads, you get bombarded with? They’re ‘Brought to you by Searchmine.net.’ Not to mention, ‘Waiting for Searchmine.net,’ and ‘Connecting to Searchmine.net’ pop up, non-stop. The continuous intrusion is more than a mere annoyance. It has consequences. It slows down your computer to a crawl, and turns lagging into a daily ordeal. Not to mention, it leads to frequent system crashes. Add to that unpleasantness the privacy risk, and it’s evident. The hijacker has no place on your computer. And, you’d do best to remove it the first chance you get. Don’t waste time in debates. Once Searchmine.net appears, heed its warning. Accept the presence of the hijacker, and act. Do your best to find its exact hiding place, and delete it as soon as you do. Your future self will thank you for it.

How to Remove Searchmine.net virus

The Searchmine.net 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 Searchmine.net 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 Searchmine.net related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Searchmine.net startup location

STEP 3: Delete Searchmine.net traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Searchmine.net 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 Searchmine.net 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 Searchmine.net 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 Searchmine.net traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Searchmine.net 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 Searchmine.net

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 Searchmine.net, 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 Searchmine.net 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 Searchmine.net 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.