Silverseeker
Silverseeker is an unpleasant app that operates from within the computer’s main browser and causes uncontrolled page-redirects to sites that may put the system in danger. Browser-hijacking apps like Silverseeker are typically not programmed to damage the computer but they can still indirectly put it in danger.
In today’s article, we will discuss an application called Silverseeker, which is a common source of unwanted page-redirects, different browser ads, pop-ups and banners as well as of some strange browser changes. The nature of this application is not malicious but its behavior is considered as quite irritating because it operates as a browser hijacker. Silverseeker typically affects the way popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Explorer function by placing some changes to their search engine or homepage settings, which changes are supposed to trigger automatic page-redirects to some predefined web locations and sponsored links. Usually, most browser hijacker applications operate on the basis of reward systems like Pay-Per-Click or Pay-Per-View and deliberately try to generate as many advertising material of those kinds as possible during the regular web surfing of the user. They fill the screen with different click prompts, the sole purpose of which is to make the users click on the sponsored ads and websites because this is how the developers of the hijacker can make profits. In this regard, applications like Silverseeker, Searchessearches and BestSearch.ai may also often resort to different aggressive advertising methods that may not be approved by the majority of the web users. For instance, Silverseeker is a browser hijacker/redirect which, once integrated with your browser, may gain access to all sorts of traffic data. This means that the application can easily view and monitor the pages that you visit, what words exactly you enter into the search engine, which sites you visit frequently and also keep track of what your activity is in social networks and different web platforms. All this information is necessary for the hijacker to determine which of its sponsored advertisements will be most interesting to you. Later, the application may begin to focus on those advertisements in order to increase the chances that you will interact with them and thereby generate more profits for its developers. Of course, many people may not be okay with this behavior and this is why in the removal guide below we will provide them with an option to safely uninstall Silverseeker and remove its sponsored ads.
Can Silverseeker expose you to security hazards?
At the beginning of this article, we mentioned that Silverseeker has no malicious nature and is not the same as viruses and malware such as Ransomware, Trojans or Spyware. This is, in fact true, because the browser hijacker representatives, in general, do not have any harmful characteristics. However, they may indirectly put you at risk of infection with some very nasty viruses, even if the hijacker itself wouldn’t try to harm your machine. This may happen mostly as a result of the random redirects to all sorts of web locations which you may get exposed to. The reason is, the malvertising method nowadays is one of the most, if not the most, common method of infecting computers with terrible viruses such as Ransomware and Trojans. Hackers can inject their malicious programs into various ads, pop-ups messages and intriguing links, and when the users click on such advertisements, they may get attacked by the malicious program. In this regard, we always strongly advise our readers to keep away from random ads and remove or fully uninstall any source of unwanted or aggressive commercial content, which can redirect them to unfamiliar web locations or low-quality sites.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Silverseeker |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Detection Tool |
Remove Silverseeker Virus
The following quick instructions below have reportedly helped users remove Silverseeker from their system, therefore, we recommend that you give them a try first:
- Start the hijacked browser and choose More Tools (or Add-ons) from the main menu.
- Afterwards, locate and open the Extensions tab or sub-menu.
- Find any extensions that may be relevant to Silverseeker and its activities in the new Extensions page.
- Use the Remove/Trash Bin button to remove Silverseeker and every other extension that seems suspicious or potentially unwanted.
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.
Remove Silverseeker from Internet Explorer:
Start the Internet Explorer browser and immediately click 
.
After that, select —–> Manage Add-ons as shown on the image below:
In the list of Add-ons, find Silverseeker and select > Disable.
After you do that, go to and choose Internet Options, then check the URL of the homepage. If you notice that it has been replaced with a sponsored one, change it with a URL that you trust and click > Apply.
Remove Silverseeker from Firefox:
Start the Firefox browser, immediately click 
and go to > Add-ons > Extensions.
Remove Windows-protector.com and any extensions that you related to your browsing disturbance from the browser.
Remove Silverseeker from Chrome:
Chrome needs to be closed for these instructions. Open Computer/This PC, select disk C: and go to this location:
C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data.
Search for a folder named Default inside User Data and rename that folder to Backup Default, then start the Google Chrome browser.
You may need to follow our full Silverseeker removal guide if deleting the hijacker-related extensions from the affected browsers doesn’t work and the unwanted application keeps spamming you with aggressive advertisements and automated redirection to strange sites.
Several computer restarts may be required during the removal of Silverseeker from your computer. Therefore, please make sure to bookmark this page in your browser before you begin the removal process so that you can immediately return to the instructions after the restarts.
Next, you’ll need to restart your computer in Safe Mode (see this link for detailed instructions) before continuing with the rest of this guide’s steps.
When the computer has successfully restarted in Safe Mode, use the WinKey and R key combination to open a Run command window. In it, enter appwiz.cpl then click OK.
Locate and remove any potentially unwanted or malicious software that may be connected to Silverseeker, or that may have installed the hijacker as part of their setup. If you come across any such apps, just select them and click on the Uninstall option at the top of the window to get rid of them.
WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
Step two is to see whether there are any background processes assisting the browser hijacker in its activities. Simply press CTRL +SHIFT + ESC to do so. This will open up the Task Manager on your screen.
Go to the Processes Tab and sort the processes by how much CPU and memory they are using. Any process with an unusual name, suspicious appearance, or excessive usage of system resources should be opened by selecting Open File Location from the context menu when you right-click on it.
In order to ensure that no malware or hijacker-related code is included in those files, run them through the powerful online virus scanner below:
In the event that any files you scan turn out to be dangerous, you must End the related process and remove the affected files and their directories.
To make sure that it runs right away when the computer begins, a browser hijacker like Windows-protector.com will often add startup items to the infected system. That’s why, the next step is to see what programs are set to start automatically when you turn on your computer. In order to remove any startup items related to the invasive hijacker program, you first need to open System Configuration (Type msconfig in the Start Menu search bar and press enter), then click on the Startup tab:
Disable any startup items that you strongly believe are associated with the browser hijacker and its activities by unchecking their checkmark, and then click OK when you are done. Make sure you don’t disable anything related to your system or your legitimate software.
Windows and R keys should be pressed simultaneously to open a Run box on the screen. In that Run box, carefully copy and paste this line:
notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts
In the Hosts file that opens, look for Localhost and check if there are any strange IP addresses in the text below.
You may drop us a note in the comments below this page if you see any Virus Creator IPs, such as those shown in the following picture, but don’t delete anything on your own. Wait for a reply from our team that will check the IPs for you.
Close the file if you don’t see anything alarming.
When a browser hijacker infects a computer, aside from the settings in System Configuration, it may also alter the DNS settings of the computer. For this reason, in this step, you should open Network Connections (you may simply type Network Connections in the windows search field and open it from the results) and follow the instructions below to remove any such changes:
- Right-click on the network adapter you’re presently using. Select -> Properties from the pop-up menu.
- Find Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP), select it with the cursor and click Properties at the bottom of the new window.
- Obtain DNS server addresses automatically should be selected as shown in image No: 3, then click Advanced.
- Click on the DNS tab in the new window and make sure you delete any rogue DNS in the field, then click OK.
In addition to installing add-ons and extensions, Silverseeker may alter the browser’s settings. Therefore, if you want to effectively get rid of any hijacker-related settings, you need to carefully repeat the instructions from this step in all your browsers, regardless of how often you use them.
For demonstration purposes, we are using Google Chrome, but the same instructions can be applied to Firefox, Internet Explorer, or any other hijacked browser.
Find the shortcut icon of the browser you want to clean and right-click on in.
Choose Properties from the pop-up list of options.
Next, in the Properties window go to Shortcut.
After that, in Target, check if anything has been added after .exe and remove it.
Then, make sure you save your changes by clicking the OK button.
Keep in mind that Silverseeker may add helper files in your Registry. Therefore, if you want to remove the browser hijacker once and for all, you need to access the Registry Editor, (enter Regedit in the Start Menu search bar and click Enter) and carefully search for such files there.
To speed up the process, open a Find window by using the CTRL and F keys together. Next, type the hijacker’s name into the Find box and start a registry search for entries with that name. You must carefully remove everything that shows in the results.
The following directories from the left panel of the Registry Editor should be manually searched if nothing is found in the search results:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random
Attention! If you remove registry items that aren’t linked to the hijacker, you might end up damaging your operating system and preventing it from working properly.
Don’t put yourself at danger by trying to remove Silverseeker yourself; instead, use the professional Silverseeker removal program linked on this page or our free online virus scanner to check any suspicious files on your computer.
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