Yahoo Search Redirect

This page aims to help you remove Yahoo Search Redirect “Virus”. Our removal instructions work for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer, as well as every version of Windows.

A strange application named Yahoo Search Redirect “Virus” has most probably taken control over your browser if you are constantly forced to deal with various intrusive banners, ads, pop-ups and sudden page redirects when you try to browse the web. Your Chrome, Explorer or Firefox browser may not behave normally because some new toolbar, search engine or homepage domain might have replaced the precious ones. This is a sure sign of a Browser hijacker invasion but you should not have fear of it. Browser hijacking is something very common and, fortunately, not as fatal as a Ransomware or a Trojan horse infection. In the paragraphs below, you can learn more about it which is why we suggest you stay with us until the end of this write-up. Having an application like Yahoo Search Redirect on your PC may not be so dangerous but it may surely be irritating. That’s’ why, you should let us show you how to have this software uninstalled. You can find all the instructions and screenshots below neatly organized by our “How to remove” team in the form of Removal Guide.

Is Yahoo Search Redirect “Virus” causing you browsing disturbance? Here is why

Many applications on the Internet have the so-called ad-generating and page-redirecting functionalities. These applications are commonly referred to as Browser hijackers as they usually use the screen of your default browser to generate pop-ups, ads and banners and thus increase the view count of promoted websites and advertised tools. These applications, despite claiming that they provide you with free functionality, in most of the time, may cause you more browsing disturbance rather than give you some actual benefit. Yahoo Search Redirect is yet another addition to this vast software category and, as such, it is often reported as a source of various potentially unwanted browser changes and intrusive page-redirects. According to reports from users who have had Yahoo Search Redirect installed onto their machines, the normal browsing becomes difficult once this unpleasant app gets added to the browser because this Browser hijacker tends to constantly manipulate the search results and flood the user’s screen with ads. It seems that this application favors certain sponsored websites and commercial messages and tries to redirect the users to them instead of showing the actual relevant search results. In fact, in order to generate as many sponsored ads and links on the users’ screen as possible, the hijacker changes the settings of their browser’s homepage or search engine tool. The reason behind this quite aggressive behavior is, luckily, not some sort of a cyber crime but the developers’ strive for increasing the overall Pay-Per-Click income. Applications like Yahoo Search Redirect “Virus” are often used as online advertising tools and their task is to display sponsored advertisements, promotional links, sales offers and sites that need to have their traffic increased on the users’ screen during their web browsing. This activity, however, may often lead to significant browsing disturbances, irritation and interruption of the normal web browsing experience among the people who have the Hijacker operating on their computers.

Yahoo Search Redirect “Virus” Removal

If you have a Windows virus, continue with the guide below.

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

Some of the steps will likely require you to exit the page. Bookmark it for later reference.

Reboot in Safe Mode (use this guide if you don’t know how to do it).

WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC at the same time and go to the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10). Try to determine which processes are dangerous. 

Right click on each of them and select Open File Location. Then scan the files with our free online virus scanner:

Each file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracy

This 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.

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Each file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracy

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After you open their folder, end the processes that are infected, then delete their folders. 

Note: If you are sure something is part of the infection – delete it, even if the scanner doesn’t flag it. No anti-virus program can detect all infections. 

Hold together the Start Key and R. Type appwiz.cpl –> OK.

You are now in the Control Panel. Look for suspicious entries. Uninstall it/them.

Type msconfig in the search field and hit enter. A window will pop-up:

Startup —> Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer or otherwise look suspicious.

Hold the Start Key and R –  copy + paste the following and click OK:

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

A new file will open. If you are hacked, there will be a bunch of other IPs connected to you at the bottom. Look at the image below:

If there are suspicious IPs below “Localhost” – write to us in the comments.

Open the start menu and search for Network Connections (On Windows 10 you just write it after clicking the Windows button), press enter.

1. Right-click on the Network Adapter you are using —> Properties —> Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP), click  Properties.
2. The DNS line should be set to Obtain DNS server automatically. If it is not, set it yourself.
3. Click on Advanced —> the DNS tab. Remove everything here (if there is something) —> OK.

• After you complete this step, the threat will be gone from your browsers. Finish the next step as well or it may reappear on a system reboot.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut —> Properties.

NOTE: We are showing Google Chrome, but you can do this for Firefox and IE (or Edge).

Properties —–> Shortcut. In Target, remove everything after .exe.

  Remove Yahoo Search Redirect from Internet Explorer:

Open IE, click   —–> Manage Add-ons.

Find the threat —> Disable. Go to  —–> Internet Options —> change the URL to whatever you use (if hijacked) —> Apply.

 Remove Yahoo Search Redirect from Firefox:

Open Firefox, click    ——-> Add-ons —-> Extensions.

Remove Yahoo Search Redirect from Chrome:

Close Chrome. Navigate to:

 C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data. There is a Folder called “Default” inside:

Rename it to Backup Default. Restart Chrome.

Type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.

Inside, press CTRL and F together and type the threat’s Name. Right click and delete any entries you find with a similar name. If they don’t show up this way, go manually to these directories and delete/uninstall them:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory. It could be any one of them – ask us if you can’t discern which ones are malicious.
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random

The good news is that, if Yahoo Search Redirect is disturbing you, in the next lines, you can find detailed instructions on how to uninstall it and remove all of its changes from your Chrome, Explorer, Firefox or any other browser that has been affected. Just scroll down to the Removal Guide below and follow the steps or use the professional Yahoo Search Redirect removal tool for a quick and easy uninstallation.

What can Yahoo Search Redirect do to your computer?

The aggressive behavior of the Browser hijackers can leave many people worried about their computer’s safety. For instance, a lot of web users initially mistake applications like Yahoo Search Redirect for malware and even refer to them as viruses because, as you’ve just learned above, they can take over the any browser as soon as they get installed on the PC. Also, many people cannot recall how such a nagging software has been installed on their system without their approval. That’s why, the first thing most people usually think is that the hijacker must be some sort of a stealthy malware infection. Luckily, that is not the case with hijacker apps. The Browser hijackers cannot infect any system the way that a Trojan horse or a Ransomware-based virus can. Usually, they get installed on the computer as additional components bundled with some other software or software update and this mostly happens when the users don’t pay close attention to the installation settings. That’s why, we always advise the visitors to our site to carefully customize the installation process of every new application or program that they install and to make use of the Advanced/Custom settings when they are available. Fortunately, these applications do not contain harmful scripts and are not meant to attack the computer or perform some actions of fraud or theft. That’s why, they can easily be removed without any major negative consequences.

SUMMARY:

If the guide doesn’t help, download the anti-virus program we recommended or try our free online virus scanner. Also, you can always ask us in the comments for help!