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

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

If you’ve been infected by a Searchudak.com there’s little to no way of missing it. Regardless of which of the popular browsers you’re using, Chrome, Firefox or Explorer, you will be bound to see numerous ads with the words “Powered by Searchudak.com” or similar on them, your search engine and/or homepage are likely to have been replaced with different ones and you will also be experiencing annoying page redirects all the time. These are the typical symptoms of a browser hijacker that has been integrated with your browser and is now wreaking havoc on your online experience. The effects of programs like Searchudak.com can be extremely annoying by the least, but there’s more to them than just the invasive advertising and the altered settings. We will explain more about this in the following article and beneath it you will find a removal guide, which will help you deal with this issue. Be sure to pay close attention to the instructions in order to remove all related files.

Why Searchudak.com is acting the way it is

Unless you’ve already been in close contact with programs of this type, you probably have a lot of questions right now. You might be asking yourself what this program is, why it’s on your PC and what you did to deserve this. First thing’s first and that’s Searchudak.com’s purpose: as a typical browser hijacker, it’s been programmed to display gazillions of ads for you to click on. The point? Money, of course. Each time you or someone else clicks on one of these ads – the developers profit. Therefore, the ads are so numerous and are placed so inconveniently. Browser hijackers are usually also programmed to keep a close eye on your browsing patterns, taking note of your recent search queries and the locations you visit online. This information is important to the developers, as they will strive to target you with ads that match your interests, based on the collected data. It’s quite possible that you’ve already started seeing ads that suspiciously correspond to those sunglasses you were looking up last night. Anyhow, to most – this fact is a problem. Especially given the idea that hijacker developers often sell the information they’ve gathered over to various third parties, of which you, as a user, will know nothing about. Still feeling safe?

Is Searchudak.com a “Virus” then?

Not quite. Searchudak.com is not a virus and it certainly isn’t classified as a security threat by experts in the field and by no means does it qualify as anything malicious. Nevertheless, the above does raise a few red flags and can therefore put Searchudak.com in the category of potentially unwanted programs. However, there’s more. Cybercriminals have been intensively spreading their viruses, such as the notorious ransomware, by injecting online advertisements with the malicious scripts. These are more commonly referred to as malvertisements and can literally be found anywhere, including among the ads seemingly distributed by programs like the one you’re dealing with at the moment. Note that these are very dangerous pieces of content and the consequences of interacting with one could result in loss of precious data or worse. There are also some other rather unpleasant aspects to keeping a browser hijacker on your machine, which could lead to compromising its performance. You could start experiencing sluggishness, malfunctions, crashes and errors of all kinds, due to the amount of resources necessary for the production of ads.

Steering clear from Searchudak.com in the future

It’s important to know how you likely contracted Searchudak.com in the first place in order to avoid it from now on. Software of this type is usually distributed alongside some other piece of programming, which one would be more likely to seek out and download. These could be various file converting programs, free games or other software that is typically found on open source download platforms, torrent and file sharing sites. If this rings a bell and you can recall downloading something like this from a similar source – that is probably how you ended up with a hijacker on your PC. However, downloading it alone isn’t enough. You need to install it and that usually happens when you proceed with the setup of the main program and go with the default setup. This is a common mistake and hijacker developers count on it for their software to actually reach the end user. Simply go with the custom/advanced option and you will be able to see what hidden added content came with the main install.

Searchudak.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 Searchudak.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 Searchudak.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 Searchudak.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 Searchudak.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 Searchudak.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.