Search Conduit Malware Removal

Can’t Remove Search Conduit hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Search Conduit Removal instructions!

Search Conduit malware falls under the Browser Hijacker category. It is a sneaky trickster which slithers into your system and corrupts everything. The hijacker wreaks utter havoc. This malware scans your system and infects all installed browses. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, there is no immune program. The hijacker alters their settings and turns them into ad-displaying tools. Once the hijacker calls your browsers “home,” brace yourself. You are in for trouble. The parasite forces numerous reshuffles on you. It replaces both your homepage and default search engine. No matter how hard you try, you cannot undo the changes. You may also notice that the parasite has installed unwanted browser extensions and toolbars. Search Conduit is a complete and utter menace. It is a nasty parasite that doesn’t miss a chance to mess with your web browsing. This invader exists to make money for its publishers. It does this at your expense. The hijacker profits from a tricky pay-per-click scheme. Basically, the parasite displays various ads and gets paid when you click on them. The more ads you see, the bigger the chance you click. And thus, it floods you with in-text, pop-up and banner adverts. The ads, however, are not randomly selected. No, the hijacker doesn’t rely on luck. It makes a custom ad selection for you. To choose the right ads, it studies your online habits. The hijacker spies on you and uses the collected information against you. Search Conduit opens your browser to surveillance and targeted ads. The problem is that the ads come from unknown third parties. Anyone can use the hijacker as an advertising platform. Do not play games with the hijacker. You cannot win. Your best course of action is the immediate removal of the hijacker. The sooner you remove it, the better!

How did I get infected with?

The Search Conduit malware cannot hack your system. This parasite needs your, the user’s, permission to get installed. As you can imagine, though, the parasite knows how to trick you into approving it. The hijacker uses tricks to sneak in behind your back. It lurks behind software bundles, torrents, and fake updates. The devil hides in the fine print. Its distribution methods deliver it to your system. That’s all they do. They cannot install the parasite. Only you can do that. If you don’t pay close attention to the details, you are very likely to give Search Conduit the green light it needs. Do not make its job easier. No anti-virus app can protect you if you give into naivety. Choose caution over carelessness. One keeps the parasites away, the other — invites them in. Don’t visit shady websites. Download software from reliable sources only. When available, use the Advanced/Custom setup option. Very often, the apps we download off the web come bundled with bonus programs. The extras, more often than not, are parasites like the Search Conduit malware. You can deselect all unwanted apps under the advanced installation. Don’t rush. Take the time to do your due diligence. Read the terms and conditions. Use an online EULA analyzer if you cannot spare enough time to read the whole document. If you notice anything suspicious, abort the installation.

Why is this dangerous?

Search Conduit has no place on your computer. It ruins your browsing experience, as well as jeopardizes your security. This parasite gets paid to display ads, not to verify them. As long as it gets paid, anyone can use it to advertise. As you can imagine, numerous crooks take advantage of the parasite and its resources. The crooks display misleading and fake offers. They redirect web traffic to phony, phishing, and scam websites. The more time Search Conduit has on your computer, the bigger the chance it redirects you to a dangerous website. Not to mention that it might record sensitive information. The hijacker spies on you from the moment it invades. This parasite knows your every online step. Even the Incognito mode of your browser cannot hide you. The collected data might not strike as too sensitive, yet, a capable advertiser needs very little to successfully target you. What if this advertiser has bad intentions? Spare yourself numerous future headaches. Remove the hijacker before it gets a chance to lure you into an online trap!

How to Remove Search Conduit virus

The Search Conduit 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 Search Conduit 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 Search Conduit related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Search Conduit startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

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

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Search Conduit 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 Search Conduit

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 Search Conduit, 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 Search Conduit 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 Search Conduit 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.