Searchoko.com “Virus” Removal (Chrome/Firefox)

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In this article we are going to try and help you remove Searchoko.com “Virus”. Our instructions cover all Windows versions as well as most browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer etc.

Welcome to the Searchoko.com removal guide. On this page we are going to show you how to remove this browser hijacker from your system in a few easy steps. You’ve probably landed here because you are feeling heavily disturbed by the page redirects you are experiencing and the rather unwanted changes that Searchoko.com has imposed on the homepage and search engine of your favorite Chrome or Firefox browser. If this is your case, then here we’ve prepared some detailed instructions on how to completely remove this browser hijacker and restore your normal browsing activity. But before you follow the instructions, we would like to tell you a few words about this program and the way it operates.

What is Searchoko.com?

We just said above that Searchoko.com falls under the category of browser hijackers. What does this mean? In shorts, this is a program, which is created to display all sorts of ads, banners, pop-ups and promotional messages. It aggressively redirects you to sponsored pages of partners or different businesses that gain targeted traffic and clicks. Usually, all programs that fall into that category of software are used for one main purpose – they display huge amounts of ads with the sole idea to collect paid clicks and earn money for their developers. You have probably heard about the popular Pay-Per-Click scheme and in your case, this is exactly what Searchoko.com is created for – it hijacks your browser and floods your screen with sponsored pages and ads that you are forced to click on if you want to get rid of them. But unfortunately, sometimes closing the tabs and ads forcefully doesn’t help much because they are replaced by new ones so quickly that you are left with no option to browse the web in peace. If this is the case with you, you may wish to uninstall Searchoko.com and save yourself from its intrusiveness permanently. However, if you try to search for this program in the standard control panel options, you won’t find it there because it integrates deeply into your system and you will need a bit more understanding to successfully remove it.

Is Searchoko.com a “Virus”?

Speaking from a legal point of view, most browser hijackers are legitimate programs and so is Searchoko.com. So no, Searchoko.com is not a virus. This means that unlike viruses or malware like Trojans, Ransomware, Spyware, etc., these programs operate according to the law and are not considered dangerous. And there is no need to be. Browser hijackers are online marketing tools and what they do is serve the online marketing industry by displaying paid ads, banners, pop-ups and promotional messages. There is nothing wrong with that activity except for the fact that sometimes, the intrusiveness of these messages may interfere with the users’ browsing and quickly grow into a real disturbance and source of irritation. Mostly, this is due to the almost unstoppable advertisements and the constant page redirects that may send users to unknown or rather useless web locations. Sometimes, in its attempts to display more ads and respectively gain more clicks and profit, the browser hijacker may dominate the system resources and cause sluggish performance of your PC. It may also track down your latest web searches, analyze them and try to match them with the sponsored pop-ups it displays in the hopes of you clicking on something that you find relevant. All this could really be annoying, but surely, not as dangerous as a virus or Ransomware infection that could do way more harmful things to your machine.

Distribution methods:

When it comes to removing the source of the ads, you should know where they come from in the first place. Now, this has a lot in common with your online habits and the web locations you get most of your software from. If you often download applications from torrents, open source download platforms, direct downloads from the web, different online installers, free setup managers or spam emails, there is a great chance of you finding a browser hijacker there. It is usually bundled inside the installer, so if you don’t manually check what is inside of it, you will automatically get the browser hijacker installed along the software you desire. This usually happens by default without notice, that’s why, to avoid such hidden installations, we would advise you to always check what the bundle you are going to install contains. You can read the full description in the EULA or save these extra minutes by simply clicking the advanced/custom/manual option in the setup. It won’t take you more than a few seconds to uncheck the boxes next to the programs you don’t want, but it will surely save you from the disturbance of uninstalling them later. Unfortunately, many users don’t know about this option, and they usually end up with a bunch of undesired software on their system. The good news is that now that you’ve read this, you know what to do when you need to install software in the future. But when it comes to removing Searchoko.com, you may still need to follow the instructions in the removal guide below.

Searchoko.com “Virus” Removal

Many types of malware will restrict your access to their core files. It is highly recommended that you reboot your PC in safe mode before attempting to use this guide.

• To enable Safe Mode reboot you PC, then hit F8 repeatedly. When the corresponding menu opens please select Safe Mode with Networking.

WARNING! If you are using Windows 8,0 or later and/or your operating system is installed on a fast SSD drive this may fail to work. In this case click here to see how to start your PC in Safe Mode.

#1: Uninstall the malicious program from your control panel

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Enter control panel to look for any suspicious programs, which may have installed on your PC. To do that:

1. Navigate to your Desktop
2. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
3. In the Run window that just opened type appwiz.cpl

4. Go through the list of programs and find Searchoko.com or anything else that may seem suspicious. Right-click on it and choose the uninstallation option

WARNING! Carefully read any confirmation messages that may be created in the process. Sometimes you may get offers to download more Adware applications and this can be linked to either the Yes or the No answer depending on the wording!

• Optional:

Go through the list of programs again and check online for any potentially unwanted programs. We have an article that covers this awesome free software that makes sure that your computer is free from bloatware and programs that you don’t need.

#2: Remove Searchoko.com From Chrome

Now we’ll remove the extensions that the malware has attached to your browser.

1. Open your Google Chrome browser.
2. Type chrome://extensions/  in the URL address bar and press Enter.
3. Click on “Developer Mode” on the top right and look for the extension installed by Searchoko.com and anything that might be related to it. Copy their IDs (the string of letters), then remove them by clicking on the trash bin icon.

1. Type Regedit in the Windows Start Menu and press Enter. Go in : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Extensions and delete the entries corresponding to the suspicious IDs you recorded.

#3: Remove Searchoko.com From Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Type “about:support” in the URL address bar and press Enter.
3. Click on the “Refresh Firefox” button on the right and confirm.

#4 Remove Searchoko.com From Internet Explorer

1. Open your Internet Explorer internet browser.
2. Click on the Gear icon on the up right, then on manage add-ons.
3. Go through the list disable any suspicious extensions.

#5 Remove any leftover parasitic processes

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From the task manager:

1. Use Ctrl + Shift + Esc and open the Task manager, then click on the Processes
2. Go through the list of processes and look for unknown or otherwise suspicious entries.
3. If you see anything suspicious right click on the process and shoes Open File Location, then terminate the process and delete any files you find in the directory.

WARNING! If the directory you open from this menu has no files inside of it it’s probably because the malware has hidden them. You need to reveal hidden files and folders in order to be able to see them. Click here if you don’t know how to do that.

From the start menu:

1. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
2. In the Run window that just opened type msconfig
3. Click on the Startup tab.

This menu controls which programs are loaded when windows starts after a reboot. Disable anything that seems suspicious. Optionally you can also disable any program that you don’t need and also has a high impact on your startup time.

Feel free to write to us in the comment section with any questions that you may have. Also if we have been helpful to you please share this article to help us reach more people like you.