Serasearchtop.com Virus

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Serasearchtop.com

Serasearchtop.com is a browser-hijacking PUP that shows pay-per-click ads, banners, and pop-ups in the default web browser. Serasearchtop.com may also install a new search engine or homepage, which changes the way the browser normally operates.

Serasearchtop.com
The Serasearchtop.com virus will display pop up ads and notifications

If you are not aware what a PUP is, you should know that this refers to a Potentially Unwanted Software that may easily be confused for malware but actually is not. Serasearchtop.com, in particular, hijacks the users’ browsers and displays an endless stream of pop-ups, banners, redirect links, and pop-under advertisements during the browsing sessions. Furthermore, web-based applications such as Serasearchtop.com may be used with any web browser so even browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge, which are considered safe may be hijacked.

Other than changing the default search engine and homepage to a sponsored one, most browser hijackers tend to spam the screen with various redirect links and ads that lead to random websites. The good news is that the browser modifications imposed by Serasearchtop.com or Lookaside.fbsbx.com are not in any way harmful to the system. Still, as a result of these modifications, the user’s computer may potentially be exposed to a broad variety of other online threats. That’s why the general course of action for people who have a program like Serasearchtop.com on their system is to uninstall it.

Serasearchtop

If the Serasearchtop hijacker on your computer is not removed as soon as possible, at some point you may notice that your browser may become slow, unresponsive, or unstable. You may also repeatedly experience interruptions of your browsing sessions with a variety of odd adverts from Serasearchtop.

It’s also possible that such software may alter the browser’s settings in such a way that it starts to redirect you to unrecognized and, perhaps, dangerous websites.

The random pop-ups and advertising that appear on your screen may also land you on a phony site that may be used as a “phishing” page intended to steal personal information, or distribute malware like viruses, Trojans and Ransomware.

If you follow the instructions in the Serasearchtop.com removal guide below, however, you will learn how to remove Serasearchtop.com and uninstall all of its components from your computer entirely. Once the hijacker is removed, the ads and the annoying random redirects should stop.

SUMMARY:

NameSerasearchtop.com
Type 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.

Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Serasearchtop.com!

How to remove Serasearchtop.com Virus

  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 Serasearchtop.com in the programs list that would show up.
  3. Select Serasearchtop.com from the list and click on Uninstall.
  4. Follow the steps in the removal wizard.

If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.

If you have an Android virus, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.

If you have an iPhone virus, please use our iPhone Virus Removal guide.

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 Serasearchtop.com.
  • If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Serasearchtop.com.
  • 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 Serasearchtop.com 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 Serasearchtop.com 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 the malware 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 Serasearchtop.com 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 Serasearchtop.com extension
  4. Get rid of Serasearchtop.com 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 the malicious program or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.

How to Delete Serasearchtop.com

  1. Open task manager
  2. Look for the Serasearchtop.com process
  3. Select it and click on End task
  4. Open the file location to delete Serasearchtop.com
  • 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 malicious 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 Serasearchtop.com

    1. Click on the home button
    2. Search for Startup Apps
    3. Look for Serasearchtop.com in there
    4. Uninstall Serasearchtop.com from Startup Apps by turning it off
    • Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Serasearchtop.com-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 Serasearchtop.com 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

    How to protect from browser hijackers like Serasearchtop.com

    The “custom settings” option in an installation package or the aggressive pop-ups that various websites present on your screen when you access them are common means of distribution for browser hijackers.
    This means that you may be infected with a hijacker by downloading and installing a piece of software from a software bundle. It’s fairly common for software like Serasearchtop.com to be included in the installers of other, more desirable software products as an “extra component”.
    Unchecking these extra components from being installed is usually enough to prevent them from being installed. To do that, just go to the Advanced/Custom installation options that most users don’t bother with and uncheck any checkboxes related to the potentially unwanted program.
    Also, when browsing online, pay attention to pop-ups that seem to be captchas because sometimes they may actually be permission buttons that enable a browser hijacker to take control of your browser and apply its modifications.
    As a general rule, it’s always a good idea to avoid browsing random websites and carefully install any new software using the most thorough settings. This will keep your computer and personal information safe from viruses and malware like Trojans, Ransomware, and Spyware. Also, keep in mind that many sophisticated threats can only be detected and removed by a professional anti-virus application, so thinks about investing in such software in the long run.

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    About the author

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    Lidia Howler

    Lidia is a web content creator with years of experience in the cyber-security sector. She helps readers with articles on malware removal and online security. Her strive for simplicity and well-researched information provides users with easy-to-follow It-related tips and step-by-step tutorials.

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