Remove Sm.de Search Hijacker

Can’t Remove Sm.de hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Sm.de Removal instructions!

The Sm.de site is a bad sign. It’s a harbinger of trouble as it announces the presence of a hijacker. To see it on screen is to know, your system is no longer infection-free. It’s home to a browser hijacker, and that’s horrible news. These applications are malicious, invasive, and a colossal threat. They pose risks to both your system’s well-being, and your privacy. Once the program invades your computer, corruption ensues. It spreads its clutches, and in no time, you feel its influences throughout. The hijacker’s touch tends to manifest with your browsing first. All of a sudden, you can’t seem to go online, without getting flooded with intrusions. You get interrupted at every turn. Open a new tab? Get stuck with Sm.de. Type a search? Find Sm.de among the suggested results. Sm.de even replaces your preferred search engine and homepage. The website becomes your shadow. You can’t even touch your browser, without it making an appearance. And, don’t think you only face redirects. They’re not the only interference, you encounter. The hijacker also bombards you with ads. In-text, pop-up, banner. You see an avalanche of advertisements on your screen every time you browse. Going online turns into a nightmare. And, don’t think the incessant disruptions go unnoticed. They have repercussions. Your computer’s performance slows down to a crawl. And, your system starts to crash all the time. The hijacker throws you into a whirl of frustration, headaches, and unpleasantness. Don’t allow that! Protect yourself from its hazardous influences. Get rid of it the first chance you get. Once Sm.de pops up, take action. Find its exact lurking place, and delete it. The sooner, the better.

How did I get infected with?

How do you imagine, you end up with Sm.de, on your screen? Well, it pops up, courtesy of the hijacker behind it. But what about said hijacker? How did it come to be on your PC? Do you recall installing it? Well, you did. No hijacker can access a system without user’s consent. The tool has to ask if you, the user, agree to its admission. Only if you do, can it enter. No permission, no admission. The hijacker, behind Sm.de, is no exception. So, it’s safe to assume, it sought your approval, and you gave it. And, it’s not surprising that you have no memory of it. It’s not as straightforward an exchange as you may believe. The tool does ask for your consent, but it does it in the sneakiest way possible. It uses freeware, corrupted links, and spam emails as a way in. It even poses as a bogus system or program update. Like, Java or Adobe Flash Player. It’s quite masterful in the art of deception. The hijacker preys on your carelessness. For its invasion to prove successful, you have to be careless enough NOT to spot it. You have to give into naivety, and distraction, and NOT bother doing due diligence. That way, it manages to slip right by you, unnoticed. Even though, you gave it the green light. So, heed experts’ advice! If you wish to keep an infection-free PC, always be thorough! Take the time to be vigilant, and don’t rely on luck. When installing tools, updates, or anything off the web, be attentive. Even a little extra attention goes a long way.

Why is this dangerous?

Hijackers are pretty intrusive. But they not only mess with your system’s well-being. They also place your privacy in jeopardy. These malicious infections have instructions to spy on you. And, they follow through. As soon as the tool, behind Sm.de, settles, its espionage begins. The application starts to track your online habits, and records everything. That’s right. Everything. It catalogs every single online move you make. That includes your personal and financial details. Credit card and bank account information, passwords, all your sensitive data. And, once it deems it has gathered enough, it sends it. To whom? Well, it hands it over to the unknown individuals that unleashed it onto the web. Let that sink in for a moment. You get your private information stolen by a nasty cyber threat. And, then, exposed to strangers with agendas. Whichever way you look at it, that will NOT end well. Don’t allow it to happen. Protect yourself, and ensure your system’s well-being. Get rid of the hijacker menace as soon as the opportunity presents itself. It’s NOT worth keeping.

How to Remove Sm.de virus

The Sm.de 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 Sm.de 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 Sm.de related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Sm.de startup location

STEP 3: Delete Sm.de traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Sm.de 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 Sm.de 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 Sm.de 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 Sm.de traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Sm.de 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 Sm.de

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 Sm.de, 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 Sm.de 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 Sm.de 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.