Goodsearchez Malware

Browser Hijacker
by Violet George
December 13, 2022
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Goodsearchez

Goodsearchez is a rogue browser add-on specifically designed to take control of the browser it gets attached to, replace its homepage and/or search engine address, and flood it with obscure web advertisements. File-bundles and misleading site notifications are typical Goodsearchez distribution methods.

Goosearchez

Of all the annoying, nagging, irritating and obstructive forms of software you could unwillingly get on your computer, browser hijackers seem to be some of the most frustrating and also some of the most widespread ones. A browser hijacker is an application that looks and for the most part operates similarly to an extension for popular browsing programs like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and more.

However, if your regular free browsing add-on may or may not have some ad-generation functionality to help its developers financially support themselves, with hijackers the advertising materials that are put on your screen are ramped up to eleven! Constant intrusive page redirects, randomly generated advertising messages, discount offers, suggested downloads and so on and so forth is all likely to show up on your screen if a hijacker’s on your computer.

SUMMARY:

NameGoodsearchez
Type Adware/Browser Hijacker
Detection Tool

anti-malware offerOFFER Read more details in the first ad on this page, EULA, Privacy Policy, and full terms for Free Remover.

*Source of claim SH can remove it.

Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Goodsearchez!

How to remove Goodsearchez

  1. First, click the Start Menu on your Windows PC.
  2. Type Programs and Settings in the Start Menu, click the first item, and find Goodsearchez in the programs list that would show up.
  3. Select Goodsearchez from the list and click on Uninstall.
  4. Follow the steps in the removal wizard.

What we suggest you do first is, check the list of programs that are presently installed on the infected device and uninstall any rogue software that you find there:

  • From the Start Menu, navigate to Control Panel ->>> Programs and Features ->>> Uninstall a Program.
  • Next, carefully search for unfamiliar programs or programs that have been installed recently and could be related to Goodsearchez.
  • If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Goodsearchez.
  • If a notification appears on your screen when you try to uninstall a specific questionable program prompting you to just alter it or repair it, make sure you choose NO and complete the steps from the removal wizard.

Remove Goodsearchez from Chrome

  1. Click on the three dots in the right upper corner
  2. Go to more tools
  3. Now select extensions
  4. Remove the Goodsearchez extension
  • Once you open Chrome, click on the three-dots icon to open the browser’s menu, go to More Tools/ More Options, and then to Extensions.
  • Again, find the items on that page that could be linked to Goodsearchez and/or that might be causing problems in the browser and delete them.
  • Afterwards, go to this folder: Computer > C: > Users > *Your User Account* > App Data > Local > Google > Chrome > User Data. In there, you will find a folder named Default – you should change its name to Backup Default and restart the PC.
  • Note that the App Data folder is normally hidden so you’d have to first make the hidden files and folders on your PC visible before you can access it.

How to get rid of Goodsearchez on FF/Edge/etc.

  1. Open the browser and select the menu icon.
  2. From the menu, click on the Add-ons button.
  3. Look for the Goodsearchez extension
  4. Get rid of Goodsearchez by removing it from extensions

If using Firefox:

  • Open Firefox
  • Select the three parallel lines menu and go to Add-ons.
  • Find the unwanted add-on and delete it from the browser – if there is more than one unwanted extension, remove all of them.
  • Go to the browser menu again, select Options, and then click on Home from the sidebar to the left.
  • Check the current addresses for the browser’s homepage and new-tab page and change them if they are currently set to address(es) you don’t know or trust.

If using MS Edge/IE:

  • Start Edge
  • Select the browser menu and go to Extensions.
  • Find and uninstall any Edge extensions that look undesirable and unwanted.
  • Select Settings from the browser menu and click on Appearance.
  • Check the new-tab page address of the browser and if it has been modified by “Goodsearchez” or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.

How to Delete Goodsearchez

  1. Open task manager
  2. Look for the Goodsearchez process
  3. Select it and click on End task
  4. Open the file location to delete Goodsearchez
  • Access the Task Manager by pressing together the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys and then selecting Task Manager.
  • Open Processes and there try to find a process with the name of the unwanted software. If you find it, select it with the right button of the mouse and click on the Open File Location option.
  • If you don’t see a “Goodsearchez” process in the Task Manager, look for another suspicious process with an unusual name. It is likely that the unwanted process would be using lots of RAM and CPU so pay attention to the number of resources each process is using.
  • Tip: If you think you have singled out the unwanted process but are not sure, it’s always a good idea to search for information about it on the Internet – this should give you a general idea if the process is a legitimate one from a regular program or from your OS or if it is indeed likely linked to the adware.
  • If you find another suspicious process, open its File Location too.
  • Once in the File Location folder for the suspicious process, start testing all of the files that are stored there by dragging them to our free online scanner available below.
  • Each file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracy
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    • If the scanner finds malware in any of the files, return to the Processes tab in the Task Manager, select the suspected process, and then select the End Process option to quit it.
    • Go back to the folder where the files of that process are located and delete all of the files that you are allowed to delete. If all files get deleted normally, exit the folder and delete that folder too. If one or more of the files showed an error message when you tried to delete them, leave them for now and return to try to delete them again once you’ve completed the rest of the guide.

    How to Uninstall Goodsearchez

    1. Click on the home button
    2. Search for Startup Apps
    3. Look for Goodsearchez in there
    4. Uninstall Goodsearchez from Startup Apps by turning it off
    • Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Goodsearchez-related entries from the Registry. The easiest way to do this is to open the Registry Editor app (type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter) and then open a Find dialog (CTRL+F key combination) where you have to type the name of the threat. 
    • Perform a search by clicking on the Find Next button and delete any detected results. Do this as many times as needed until no more results are found. 
    • After that, to ensure that there are no remaining entries lined to Goodsearchez in the Registry, go manually to the following directories and delete them:
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Random Directory. 
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run/Random
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Main/Random

    What is Goodsearches?

    The homepage, the search engine, the toolbar buttons as well as other elements of your browser may be altered to further increase the effectiveness of the advertising activity that the Goodsearchez app is supposed to conduct. Some users, understandably, may actually think that their computer has been attacked by a malicious ransomware cryptovirus or Trojan horse infection since the intrusive activities launched by browser hijacker apps may indeed at times be really overwhelming and quite disturbing.
    The good news is that this is probably not the case if any of the aforementioned symptoms are currently occurring on your computer. Hijackers are not typically intended to cause damage or to be used in cyber-criminal agendas. For example, the Goodsearchez hijacker, despite being a really irritating newly released piece of software, is not really an innately harmful app. However, in case you are one of the many user who have recently had it installed on their machines, you likely want to remove it, in which case we would suggest that you take a look at the uninstallation guide down below.


    Is Goodsearchez dangerous?

    As we previously pointed out, apps such as Goodsearchez are different from Trojans, ransomware, spyware and other similar cyber threats in the sense that their purpose and abilities are not aimed at messing with your computer system and with the data that’s on your machine’s HDD or at causing some other issues concerning your virtual security and safety.
    Despite that, however, we strongly advise you to get rid of Goodsearchez or Jvids.ru if it is presently on your computer as this will help you protect your computer from potential future dangers and hazards. What we mean by that is the increased number of advertisements, page redirects, banners, pop-up requests and so on will invariably increase the chances of you landing on some sketchy web location with questionable contents. Since this is something you certainly would not like to happen, it is better if you uninstall Goodsearchez using the guide in this article and/or the automatic removal tool we have provided on this page. Also, remember to stay away from danger on the Internet in the future – browser hijackers are mere annoyances in comparison to some of the worst malicious programs that you may come across online.


    About the author

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    Violet George

    Violet is an active writer with a passion for all things cyber security. She enjoys helping victims of computer virus infections remove them and successfully deal with the aftermath of the attacks. But most importantly, Violet makes it her priority to spend time educating people on privacy issues and maintaining the safety of their computers. It is her firm belief that by spreading this information, she can empower web users to effectively protect their personal data and their devices from hackers and cybercriminals.

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