How to Remove Yahoo Search

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Important information! Yahoo search is not a malware – however, certain redirects to it are caused by malware, and since there seems to be very little information to be found by them, most users are searching for why their browsers automatically generate skewered Yahoo search redirects, we are referring to that on this page with “Yahoo Search Redirect Virus.”

Yahoo Search

Yahoo Search is a potentially unwanted piece of software that may force you to use Yahoo as your search engine by automatically rerouting you to its page. Putting up with the page-redirects of Yahoo Search may not only be annoying but could also be dangerous to your machine.

Unwanted advertisements (Ads) as those generated by Yahoo Search are one of the most common causes for infections with more dangerous viruses and they slow down your computer and make your online experience hell.

A typical example of a potentially unwanted program is the Segurazo Antivirus.

The Ads created by Yahoo Search can vary in shape, size, and form. They’ll most commonly be pop-ups and banners, but they could also create new pages (filled with Ads) or maybe even turn random words from texts you read into hyperlinks coupled with a pop-up Ad. What they all share is their function and unfortunately, there is absolutely no quality control over what sites they advertise – it’s whoever paid the creator.

If the Internet ads you see online seem to have recently become more annoying than usual and if they follow you around the web instead of staying only on the sites that typically have aggressive advertising activities, then you should consider the possibility of having a browser hijacker such as Yahoo Search on your machine. Or maybe you already know that you have this app on your system and are currently trying to find a way to put an end to the frustrating ads-generation that you are being subjected to each time you try to use your Firefox or Chrome browser (or, really, any other browsing software). Some other unpleasant symptoms that are likely to accompany the ads generation if you do indeed have a hijacker on your computer are sudden redirects to promotional webpages and unknown sites an well as an unwanted browser search engine and homepage modifications or replacements. All of this is typical for apps like Yahoo Search “Virus” and though it isn’t directly threatening or harmful to your machine, it could still hide its risks.

Yahoosearch

Yahoosearch is a web-redirect service that hijacks users’ browsers and keeps swithcing their search engine to Yahoo. Yahoosearch may suddenly make modifications to your default browser without asking an approval and keep track of your web browsing activity.

Nevertheless, the good news here is that you aren’t faced with a serious cyber-attack such as one from a Ransomware cryptovirus or a Spyware or a Trojan Horse. Hijackers actually have a low to medium risk level and are mostly not harmful on their own. In fact, some might even offer some form of free function in order to lure the user into keeping them on the system. The problem here is that this would still likely not make up for the ads invasion and, thus, it’s still better to simply eliminate the invasive software. Instructions on how you can quickly take care of the frustration brought on by Yahoo Search “Virus” by uninstalling the app are available in the following removal guide that we advise you to make good use of.

Yahoo! Search

Yahoo! Search is a browser hijacking piece of software that favors specific websites in its search results. Typically Yahoo! Search will redirect users to sites that generate Pay-Per-Click revenue.

We said that Yahoo Search is no Ransomware or Trojan virus but we also said that there is still a certain level of risk associated with such an app. The main reason for this lies in its rather aggressive advertising and page-redirecting agenda. You are not advised to interact with any of the commercial materials brought to you by Yahoo Search as they may not be safe or reliable. Of course, there will likely be many legitimate offers but it really only takes for you to interact with the one advert that is unsafe for your PC to get targeted by some anonymous hacker’s malicious virus program. With this in mind, it should be quite obvious why we always advise the readers of our articles to stay alert at all times when there’s a hijacker involved and never tough any of its commercial messages. Again, the removal of such apps is the key to keeping your PC safe. Just remember to also avoid obscure software sources and sketchy online content in general so that you don’t get any more browser hijackers installed on your computer from now on.

Most of the sites advertised on Yahoo Search are fake to some extent or another. Some will try to download other viruses on your computer, others will try to sell you hacked software as legitimate. Others may appear OK until the point you make a purchase and then they steal your credit card number. Not all will be fake of course, but it really isn’t worth the risk so you are best off staying away from those Ads.

Also, Yahoo Search may try to make you install a virus on your computer. It follows the standard scheme of free software installation, which Yahoo Search will go to lengths to make it seems legitimate. For example, Yahoo Search is not shy of creating fake error or warning messages claiming non-existing problems with your computer – stuff like missing plug-ins, required codecs, virus infestations or errors with the registry. You’ll then be prompted to download a program that could fix those, but in reality, you’ll be downloading a virus.

SUMMARY:

*Source of claim SH can remove it.

How to Remove Yahoo Search from Chrome?

Yahoo Search is considered to operate as a redirect virus that can reroute users’searches to intermediary sites that seek to generate revenue through sponsored visits and clicks. Users who have the Yahoo Search virus in their computers may have a hard time to search the web in peace and may find it difficult to remove the redirect virus from ther browsers.

If you want to remove Yahoo Search from Google Chrome you can change your default search engine:

1. Start Google Chrome.
2. Click on the Chrome icon at the top right corner of your screen.
3. Now go to Settings.
4. Then in the Search Engine section select a search engine in the Search engine used in the address bar field.
5. Remove Yahoo Search and add your preferred search engine.

It is advisable you continue with our Yahoo Search removal guide below.

How to get rid of Yahoo Search

Yahoo Search may create web browsing annoyance to many, thus, in the guide that follows, we will explain you exactly how to remove it. Please follow the instructions carefully, in order to get rid of all the components that Yahoo Search may have installed on your computer.

Firstly, Bookmark this page as you will need it for reference in order to complete the removal of Yahoo Search. 

Next, Reboot the affected computer in Safe Mode.This is the diagnostic mode of a compuer’s Operation System which allows you to troubleshoot the OS and determine what is causing you issues.

WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!

*Source of claim SH can remove it.

After you successfully reboot in Safe Mode, open the Windows Task Manager (The quickest way to do that is to press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys together). Once the Task Manager opens, go to the Processes Tab (also named as “Details” Tab if you are using Windows 8 and 10). Now is the time to use your compuer skills and determine which of the active processes could be related to Yahoo Search. Be careful here as there are a lot of processes that are essential for your Operating System and should not be stopped.  

Once you find the questionable processes, Right click on each one of them separately and from the menu that opens choose Open File Location. You can use the free online virus scanner on this page to upload and scan the files found in that location to see if they are dangerous:

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Should the scanner flags the files as threats, end the processes related to them and delete their folders.  

As soon as you are done with the instructions in step 2, press the Start and R keys from the keyboard together. A Run dialog box will open where you need to type the following: appwiz.cpl

Hit the Enter button to execute the command and you will enter in the Control Panel. There you have to check for questionable-looking entries that have unusal names or seem related to Yahoo Search. Once you detect them, select the Uninstall option.

Next, go to the search field and type msconfig. Hit enter and this will open the System Configuration window:

From the tabs, selet the one that says Startup. You will see a list of entries with checkmarks. Locate the entries that could be linked to Yahoo Search or have an “Unknown” Manufacturer and look suspicious and remove the checkmarks before them.

*Source of claim SH can remove it.

After you are done with removing the checkmarks of the Startup entries, it is time to check if your Hosts file has been hacked or not.

Press the Start and R keys together and in the Run dialog that opens paste the following command: 

notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts

Click OK and a file looking like this will open: 

If you detect different suspicious IPs below “Localhost” as shown on the image, please, write us in the comments below this article for additional instructions as this might indicate that you have been hacked.  

Here is also what you might do next:

• From your Start menu find the Network Connections and open it.
• Select the Network Adapter you are currently using and right-click it
• Then, from the menu chose Properties>Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP), and then click on Properties.
• Check if the DNS line is set to Obtain DNS server automatically and in case that it is not, then set it yourself.
• After that, click on Advanced > and select the DNS tab at the top of the dialog box. Remove any rogue DNS that you find in this field and click OK to confirm the aciton.

Next, it is time to clean your browsers. Please keep in mind that Yahoo Search might have affected all your browsers so apply the steps below for all the browsers that are in use to prevent it from appearing again after you reboot the system. 

NOTE: In our example we are showing the steps in Google Chrome, but you can do same for Firefox and IE (or Edge).

Go to the browser’s shortcut and right-click on it. From the menu that opens, select Properties.

Once the Properties dialog opens, select the Shortcut tab. Head to where it says Target and remove everything that is written after .exe as shown on the image:

  If you are using Internet Explorer, here is how to Remove Yahoo Search from it:

Open the IE browser and select the icon that looks like a gear (  ). From the menu, choose Manage Add-ons.

Once in the Add-ons seciton, try to locate the entries that could be related to Yahoo Search and Disable them. 

After that go back to the gear icon but this time choose the Internet Options and change the URL to whatever you prefer (if it has been hijacked). Then, select Apply to applly the changes.

 Remove Yahoo Search from Firefox:

If Firefox is the browser that has been affected, open it and click on the menu icon   . Once the menu opens, select Add-ons and then choose the Extensions tap.

Find the unwanted extension from the list and Remove it by clicking on the “Remove” button.

Remove Yahoo Search from Chrome:

Close the Chrome browser if it is opened. After that, navigate to the following directory:

 C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data. Find the Folder named “Default”:

Rename the “Default” folder to Backup Default and Restart Chrome.

Finally, open the Registry Editor (The quickest ways it to type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter).

Once you get inside the Editor, open the Find dialog (press CTRL+F keys from the keyboard) and type the name of the unwanted program in the empty text field. Delete any results with this name by right-clicking on them and selecting the delete option.

In case that nothing can be detected in this way, then you need to manually go 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

If you cannot figure out which of the directories are malicious, write us in the comments. Also, if the instructions in this guide can’t help you remove Yahoo Search you can download the anti-virus program we recommend or try our free online virus scanner.