OFFER*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Survey-smiles.com
Survey-smiles.com is a page-redirecting software categorized as a browser hijacker that targets popular browsers like Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Survey-smiles.com is known for enforcing unwanted changes in the starting page and the search engine of the browsers that it gets attached to.
Has the default homepage, new-tab page or the search engine of your favorite browser been recently changed out of nowhere and have there recently been a lot of page redirects occurring in your browser? If yes, then this could be a sure sign that a browser hijacker such as Survey-smiles.com has been installed in your system.
Oftentimes browser hijackers are linked to pay-per-click revenue generating models and sponsored ads positioning schemes and are used to accumulate profits for their developers from the clicks on the displayed promotional content. That’s why, apart from the aforementioned homepage or search engine changes, such software components may also start to broadcast various types of pop-ups, banners, blinking boxes and hard-to-remove ads on your screen in a never-ending stream. Automatic page redirects could also be part of the online advertising activity and could add up to the web surfing disturbance.
In general, the browser hijackers are not representatives of any malware category and do not contain virus-like code. Still, their intrusiveness and the aggressive promotional approach they employ is oftentimes the main reason why the users want to remove such programs and uninstall their components from the system. Normally, it is not so difficult to get rid of the unwanted software and return the hijacked browser back to normal but there are some specifics, which need to be followed. That’s why, for those of you who’ve landed on this page looking for removal instructions, we have published a step-by-step removal guide to help you successfully and quickly eliminate the unwanted software. You can find it below along with a recommended automatic tool for eliminating potentially unwanted programs such as Survey-smiles.com. This particular browser hijacker could be a source of great web disturbance and irritation and if not removed on time it may cause serious browsing interruptions. To deal with it, we suggest you use the methods that are shown further down and clean your system before it gets too annoying to open your browser again.
The Survey-smiles.com Malware
The Survey-smiles.com malware undoubtedly is very annoying but could it pose any danger to the system apart from the irritation it create? Well, fortunately, the Survey-smiles.com malware is not identical to the computer viruses and is far less threatening than malicious pieces of code like spyware, Trojans, ransomware or similar cyber hazards.
In fact, programs like Survey-smiles.com are more or less harmless because they do not contain code for system damage, corruption or destruction. What is more, the moment they get removed from the computer, the unpleasant effects of their ad-generating or page-redirecting activity would also go away without leaving any long-lasting negative consequences.
During the time they operate in the system, however, the uncontrolled streaming of hundreds of random ads and automatic redirects may contribute to the exposure of your machine to security hazards. It is a well-known fact that all kinds of malware can be distributed via malvertising, which means that fake pop-ups or misleading links may eventually find their way to your screen and if you happen to click on them, well, you may land on potential virus sources. Therefore, it is much better to avoid interaction with the content that Survey-smiles.com and similar apps like GoSearches.gg generate and also stay safe by uninstalling them from the computer.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Survey-smiles.com |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Detection Tool | We tested that SpyHunter successfully removes parasite*, and we recommend downloading it. Manual removal may take hours, it can harm your system if you re not careful, and parasite may reinstall itself at the end if you don't delete its core files. |
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Survey-smiles.com!
How to remove Survey-smiles.com
- First, click the Start Menu on your Windows PC.
- Type Programs and Settings in the Start Menu, click the first item, and find Survey-smiles.com in the programs list that would show up.
- Select Survey-smiles.com from the list and click on Uninstall.
- Follow the steps in the removal wizard.
Read more…
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 Survey-smiles.com.
- If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Survey-smiles.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 Survey-smiles.com from Chrome
- Click on the three dots in the right upper corner
- Go to more tools
- Now select extensions
- Remove the Survey-smiles.com extension
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- 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 Survey-smiles.com 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 Survey-smiles.com on FF/Edge/etc.
- Open the browser and select the menu icon.
- From the menu, click on the Add-ons button.
- Look for the Survey-smiles.com extension
- Get rid of Survey-smiles.com by removing it from extensions
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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 “Survey-smiles.com” or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.
How to Delete Survey-smiles.com
- Open task manager
- Look for the Survey-smiles.com process
- Select it and click on End task
- Open the file location to delete Survey-smiles.com
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- 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 “Survey-smiles.com” 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 accuracyThis scanner is free and will always remain free for our website's users.This file is not matched with any known malware in the database. You can either do a full real-time scan of the file or skip it to upload a new file. Doing a full scan with 64 antivirus programs can take up to 3-4 minutes per file.
Drag and Drop File Here To Scan
Analyzing 0 sEach file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracyThis scanner is based on VirusTotal's API. By submitting data to it, you agree to their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and to the sharing of your sample submission with the security community. Please do not submit files with personal information if you do not want them to be shared. - 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 Survey-smiles.com
- Click on the home button
- Search for Startup Apps
- Look for Survey-smiles.com in there
- Uninstall Survey-smiles.com from Startup Apps by turning it off
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- Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Survey-smiles.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 Survey-smiles.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 your PC from Survey-smiles.com?
There is one basic rule about online safety which is valid for all kinds of viruses, malware and potentially unwanted software – if you want to keep your PC away from threats like ransomware, Trojans, other nasty viruses or annoying browser hijackers and similar ad-generating apps like Survey-smiles.com, be cautious when browsing the web and avoid suspicious web locations and sketchy online content. This includes spam messages, emails from unknown senders, different torrent sites, freeware platforms, ad-supported pages, free software bundles and automatic installers which contain additional components in their setup. If you happen to download a setup package and want to install it on your system, you should carefully read the EULA and explore the installation manager for any clauses that ask for your agreement to install additional components or to make changes in your system or browser. In case you notice something undesirable, opt for the Advanced/ Custom setup options and manually disable the unfamiliar or potentially unwanted apps/ suggested changes.
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