Remove Trustedsurf.com Hijacker from Chrome/Firefox/IE

Suddenly Trustedsurf.com took over your homepage and you cannot remove it.

Ironically enough, if you trust Trustedsurf.com, you’ll have a bad time. This is definitely not the legitimate, fast, secure and attractive search engine you were promised. Quite the opposite; Trustedsurf.com is a browser hijacker. That means you’re now stuck with a virus and unless you take quick measure, this virus will successfully cause you harm. Hijackers in general get out of hand in no time; Trustedsurf.com isn’t an exception. Keep in mind that the longer you tolerate Trustedsurf.com’s shenanigans, the more problematic they become. After your computer gets infected (usually, without your knowledge), the hijacker starts modifying your browser settings. It shouldn’t come as shocking news that a hijacker would hijack your browsing experience, right? You will notice that both your default search engine and favorite browser homepage have been replaced with Trustedsurf.com’s domain. Obviously, you’re now forced to use the parasite’s search engine every single time you surf the Web. It’s supposed to provide you quick access to some of the most popular websites at the moment such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo and Pinterest. It’s also supposed to display accurate search results. As you probably figured out already, Trustedsurf.com falls short of all expectations you might have had. Remember, this thing is malicious. Its one goal is to boost web traffic towards some specific websites that may or may not be harmless. By generating sponsored web links (which is what the hijacker does) it helps hackers gain easy illegitimate profit online. The problem is, crooks’ revenue comes at your expense. You’ll be constantly bombarded with unreliable, highly suspicious and highly invasive web links. As you could imagine, you could easily end up on a compromised website infested with malware. That’s all it takes – one single click at a search result generated by the “trusted” Trustedsurf.com. If you want to prevent further cyber damage, and we assume that you do, stay away from the parasite’s questionable search engine. Also, make sure you avoid all the third-party ads, various product commercials, misleading pop-ups and fake software updates Trustedsurf.com might try to force on you. This is not a trustworthy program. There are plenty of harmless search engines online; why would you stick to the corrupted one? The hijacker also causes privacy issues, spies on your online activities, slows down the PC speed significantly and serves as a back door to malware. Long story short, Trustedsurf.com drastically worsens your browsing experience. It has to be deleted and the sooner you do so, the better.

How did I get infected with?

Trustedsurf.com’s official website doesn’t offer a download option. That should be your very first red flag concerning this program’s reliability. It also poses the question how exactly Trustedsurf.com ended up on board when it’s pretty obvious you didn’t install it. Well, one thing you should know about viruses – they travel the Web in silence. For example, one of the most commonly used infiltration techniques out there is freeware or shareware bundling. It allows hackers to infect your machine with a rich variety of parasites and it’s just as stealthy as crooks want it to be. All you have to do order to compromise your PC is install some bundled programs without paying much attention to the process. Unless you opt for the advanced option in the Setup Wizard, you’re practically leaving your device completely exposed to malware. Furthermore, reading the Terms and Conditions (which many PC users prefer to skip) could prevent virus installation as well. Same thing goes for the End User License Agreement (EULA). Being cautious online surely takes more time than simply clicking “I accept” but caution WILL save you time in the long run. Don’t  neglect your own safety and make sure you protect your computer from infections.

Why is this dangerous?

Trustedsurf.com follows the classic hijacker pattern. This nuisance starts wreaking havoc immediately after installation and its one concern is to generate as many sponsored web links as possible. Just to make your life a little bit more problematic, Trustedsurf.com is compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Once it takes down all your browsers, the hijacker simply proceeds to mess with their settings. As we mentioned already, this virus displays unreliable, potentially malicious search results that help hackers gain profit online. There is no doubt that you’re constantly one click away from malware as long as your device is corrupted. The question is, why would you allow it? In addition, the parasite collects your passwords and usernames, steals your browsing history and might even attempt to spy on some personally identifiable data as well. It goes without saying that your overwhelmed browsers may start crashing/freezing. The Internet connection itself is unstable. To put an end to all the problems Trustedsurf.com brought upon you and to uninstall the hijacker for good, please follow the detailed removal guide that you will find down below.

How to Remove Trustedsurf.com virus

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Trustedsurf.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.

The Trustedsurf.com adware is specifically designed to make money. It generates web traffic, collects sales leads for other dubious sites, and will display advertisements and sponsored links within your web browser.

STEP 1: Uninstall Trustedsurf.com from Add\Remove Programs

STEP 2: Clean Trustedsurf.com from Chrome Firefox or Internet Explorer

STEP 3: Permanently Remove Trustedsurf.com leftovers from the System

STEP 1 : Uninstall Trustedsurf.com from your computer

Simultaneously press the Windows Logo Button and then “R” to open the Run Command Window

 

Type “regedit”

 

navigate to HKCU\software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Modify the string with a value data and set it to google.com for example.

STEP 2 : Remove Trustedsurf.com homepage from Chrome, Firefox and IE

• Open Google Chrome

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

How to Permanently Remove Trustedsurf.com Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

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.