Remove SearchPrivacy.co Homepage (Chrome and Firefox)

Can’t Remove SearchPrivacy.co hijacker? This page includes detailed SearchPrivacy.co Removal instructions!

SearchPrivacy.co is a deceptive search engine. It promises to both protect your privacy and provide accurate results. Needless to say, it delivers none of that. This is actually the nth browser hijacker you may come across out there. To be honest, your situation could have been much more problematic. Hijackers are relatively easy to tackle. Sure, they are irritating, obsessive and stubborn. However, we can’t compare SearchPrivacy.co to Trojan horses or ransomware. You could have downloaded a much more harmful parasite. Of course, you can’t afford to underestimate this program. No threat is to be overlooked. Many people prefer to keep the hijacker on board thinking it’s harmless. There is no such thing as a harmless cyber parasite, though. Get rid of this nuisance as soon as possible. SearchPrivacy.co’s trickery will test the limits of your patience. Firstly, it messes with your default browser settings. What about your permission, authorization, consent? What about your very own opinions about your very own computer? Now that your PC is compromised, crooks are the ones in charge. SearchPrivacy.co installs a malicious extension to your browsers. It also replaces the homepage and search engine with its domain. There are plenty of reasons why you should stay away from this domain. It only generates one specific category of web links. Sponsored web links. By boosting traffic to some particular pages, crooks gain revenue. To top it all, their profit comes directly at your expense. The search results displayed by this parasite are sponsored and unreliable. They might be leading you directly to malware. Before you know it, you may compromise your already compromised PC further. Are you willing to risk it? If not, tackle the intruder now. SearchPrivacy.co generates both perfectly safe and corrupted links. The problem is that you can’t tell which is which until you click. Our advice is not to take any chances with this parasite. Its presence also slows down the PC speed. The virus causes your browsers to frequently crash and freeze. Your Internet connection might become unstable too. Last but not least, hijackers jeopardize your privacy. Ignore SearchPrivacy.co’s empty promises. This tool is just as dangerous as all browser hijackers that are roaming the Web. To prevent serious privacy issues, take action now.

remove SearchPrivacy.co

How did I get infected with?

SearchPrivacy.co has an official website. You can even find a download option there. More often than not, hijackers don’t offer a download button. You could have installed this program because you actually believed its functionalities. However, did you install it on purpose? Chances are, you didn’t. Infections are particularly tricky and rely on your distraction online. Crooks only need one moment of haste to infest your device with malware. To outwit crooks, you must pay attention to what you download. Freeware and shareware bundles are among the most popular infiltration techniques. There could be a malicious bonus program attached to the software in the bundle. Take your time in the installation. Otherwise, you’ll end up installing the virus too. Opt for the Advanced or Custom option in the Setup Wizard. This will help you be in control of the process so no sneaky parasite could land on board. Check out the Terms and Conditions or EULA. Make sure you protect your computer before it’s too late.

Why is this dangerous?

SearchPrivacy.co won’t enhance your browsing experience. It will cause you an immense headache and expose you to malware. Since the moment this program gets installed, its shenanigans begin. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer are now modified behind your back. SearchPrivacy.co installs its nasty plugin without bothering to ask for permission. This pest of a program injects your once trustworthy browsers with sponsored, unsafe links. Restrain yourself from clicking any of them open. If you’re unlucky enough, this might bring along some much more troublesome viruses. Why let hackers harass you? Take measures and regain control over your hijacked online experience. The sooner, the better. SearchPrivacy.co also collects browsing-related information. IP addresses, passwords, usernames, email addresses. Even your browsing history gets diligently monitored and sent to crooks. Hackers have numerous monetizing platforms to choose from. They will indeed find a way to gain profit out of your sensitive details. Are you still hesitating? To delete the hijacker manually, please follow our detailed removal guide down below.

How to Remove SearchPrivacy.co virus

The SearchPrivacy.co 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 SearchPrivacy.co 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.

WARNING! Stopping the wrong file or deleting the wrong registry key may damage your system irreversibly.
If you are feeling not technical enough just use Spyhunter Professional Malware Removal Tool to deal with the problem!
>>Download SpyHunter – a Professional Remover.

Please, keep in mind that SpyHunter’s scanner tool is free. To remove the SearchPrivacy.co infection, you need to purchase its full version.

STEP 1: Track down SearchPrivacy.co in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate SearchPrivacy.co startup location

STEP 3: Delete SearchPrivacy.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down SearchPrivacy.co in the computer memory

  • Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
  • Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

end-malicious-process

  • Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate SearchPrivacy.co 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 SearchPrivacy.co virus from the windows registry

  • Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

win-plus-r

  • A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

regedit

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]

delete backgroundcontainer

  • 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:

hosts-redirect-virus

STEP 3 : Clean SearchPrivacy.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

  • Open Google Chrome

  • In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
  • Remove the SearchPrivacy.co by clicking on the little recycle bin
  • Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

disable SearchPrivacy.co from chrome

  • Open Mozilla Firefox

  • Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
  • Disable the unwanted Extension
  • Go to Help
  • Then Troubleshoot information
  • Click on Reset Firefox

remove SearchPrivacy.co from 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

remove SearchPrivacy.co from ie

  • Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by SearchPrivacy.co

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 SearchPrivacy.co, 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.

safebrowsing-biz-shortcut-removal

  • in the target field remove SearchPrivacy.co 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 SearchPrivacy.co 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.

Leave a Comment