The question of how to remove the Search Protect program is becoming very relevant today, since this hijacker of web browsers, along with its progenitor Internet Search, has recently become very active. But getting rid of this unwanted application, which can be activated in the system or in browsers as the main search engine or add-in, is quite simple. The following are several possible solutions to this problem, but most of them boil down to manual removal of the threat. Although this virus is not considered particularly dangerous, it is nevertheless capable of causing serious damage to the operating system and user computer in terms of increasing the load on system resources, spying, or adding ads and redirects to browsers, which can not only slow down their work, but also lead to complete dysfunction.
Search Protect: what is it?
First, a few words about understanding what this threat is and how it can affect computer systems that have an Internet connection.
How to remove Search Protect manually will be considered a little later and as detailed as possible, but first we dwell on the symptoms of infection. Like any other hijacker of this class, the application first completely changes the settings of the start page of absolutely all web browsers that are installed on the user’s computer, and then builds its own search engine (despite the ones offered in the list of main ones), which, alas, only redirects ( a so-called redirect) to Internet resources of an advertising nature or those on which similar viruses may be present.
Automatic threat detection by the same anti-virus scanners does not always work. But the question of how to remove Search Protect manually (and this is done in this mode) has a fairly simple solution that allows you to get rid of the virus once and for all. True, you have to, as they say, roll up your sleeves and follow the instructions below.
How to remove Search Protect: standard uninstall using Windows
For starters, you can try to use the standard section of programs and system components, presented in the "Control Panel". In the seventh version of the system and below, access can be obtained through the usual menu, called by pressing the "Start" button. For Windows 10, in order not to deal with transitions from one partition to another, it is better to immediately call the Run console and write the control line there.
How to remove Search Protect? Elementary! If the applet is in the list of installed applications (sometimes it can be indicated by Conduit), just select it and click the delete button at the top, then wait for the process to finish. But here, as they say, a two-edged sword - depending on which of the uninstallers works (either system or built-in). In neither case is there a guarantee that the application will be completely removed from the system.
Manual removal using your own uninstaller
Sometimes this technique does not work, or the program may simply not be displayed among installed applications. How to remove Search Protect in this situation? You need to use her own uninstaller.
It is strange, of course, but the threat is not only not masked in the system, but also has its own uninstall tool, which is presented as the Uninstall.exe executable file in the XTab directory located in the Program Files directory. But before performing these actions in the "Task Manager", you need to complete the virus process of the same name and all the others that are similar or simply suspicious by name.
Residual Debris Cleaning
After that, you need to check the system for the presence of residual components. First, check the user folders Local and Roaming in the AppData directory. After that, make sure to clean the temporary files in the TEMP directories (just search through the execution console by entering the% TEMP% parameter).
Then you need to clean the registry keys. But if you set Search Protect in the search field, you won’t get the result, since all the main keys correspond to the Condoit or Conduit names that you need to enter.
Using a third-party uninstaller
But in some cases, to simplify the procedure for removing the virus, you can use universal automated tools. For example, you can recommend the iObit Uninstaller application, which can be used as a program to remove Search Protect.
Only in such programs, after the standard means of uninstalling the selected application is triggered, it is additionally necessary to activate the in-depth search for residual components (usually this is a powerful scanning tool), and then delete all found objects, including registry keys, directories and files with the installation for their destruction.
System Scan and Browser Settings
But the solution to the problem of how to remove Search Protect manually is not limited only to these measures. On the agenda are the settings of the browsers themselves, in which, in fact, this virus is embedded.
The first step in any browser is to enter the add-ons (extensions) section and remove or disable the virus panels. In this case, they will have Conduit in the name.
After that, through RMB (right mouse button) on the browser shortcut you need to call the corresponding menu and view the full path to the executable EXE file. After expansion there should be nothing. If there is something, just delete and save the changes.
If manual cleaning does not help, the question of how to remove Search Protect can be solved by using utilities such as AdwCleaner or Rescue Disk programs that can scan hard drives even before the OS starts, identifying all threats or potentially dangerous applets present.