Bettersearch.co Hijacker Removal

Can’t Remove Bettersearch.co hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Bettersearch.co Removal instructions!

The Bettersearch.co page conceals the presence of a dangerous cyber threat. It’s the face of a malicious, damaging program. One that belongs to the hijacker family. If you spot Bettersearch.co on your screen, know a hijacker calls your PC home. It managed to slither its way in undetected. Then, proceeded to wreak havoc, and make a mess. Consider the site a clue. It clues you into the existence of the infections, and warns of trouble. Hijackers are hazardous and harmful. Don’t underestimate them! Once you become aware of the infection’s presence on your system, act against it. Bettersearch.co is your big, bright sign. It urges you into action. The longer you delay, the more you’ll regret it. Understand that, allowing the tool to remain longer, does nothing but cause harm. Its prolonged stay earns you only negatives. The hijacker throws you into a whirl of unpleasantness and headaches. There aren’t enough ways to stress the importance of immediate actions against it. As soon as you spot Bettersearch.co, acknowledge the danger you’re in. Locate the hijacker’s hiding place. Then, delete it. Do it NOW!

remove Bettersearch.co

How did I get infected with?

Hijackers are deceitful. So is the one, behind Bettersearch.co. It duped you into permitting its install, while keeping you oblivious. Yes, you had no clue, you were allowing the installation of an infection. Not until, it chose to reveal itself, with the display of the page. But how was that even possible? How did you consent to install a tool, and not realize it? Well, as stated, you got duped. The hijacker sought your approval in the most cover way possible. It turned to the old but gold methods of invasion to assist its sneakiness. Freeware, fake updates, spam emails. The possibilities of deceit are plentiful. But, here’s the thing. Not one method can prove successful without a key ingredient. One thing, only you can supply. Your carelessness. Hijackers rely on it for their covert invasion. Don’t make their infiltration easier! Don’t give into distraction, and gullibility. Don’t throw caution to the wind. Don’t rush. Be extra careful, when you allow anything off the web, into your PC. Take the time to be vigilant, and always do your due diligence. It can save you a plethora of problems. Choose caution over carelessness. Your future self will thank you for it.

Why is this dangerous?

Bettersearch.co gets advertised as a legitimate search engine. It claims to enhance your overall browsing experience. And, it also states that it generates better search results. All that’s fine and dandy, except for the fact, it’s all a lie. Believe none of it! The Bettersearch.co site is unreliable. Don’t trust its bogus promises. Do your best to ignore the untrustworthy site, which may prove quite difficult. The hijacker forces it on you, non-stop. You see it every time you so much as touch your browser. Open a new tab, type in a search, do anything at all online, and it’s there. It intrudes, non-stop. What’s worse, it’s not the only intrusion, the hijacker forces on you. The nasty tool also floods your screen with advertisements. These combined disruptions have repercussions. Since they’re so frequent, they lead to your system crashing all the time. Your computer slows down to a crawl, as well. But these are the minor issues, you have to endure. The hijacker poses much greater threats, with much more severe consequences. The infection, using Bettersearch.co as a front, jeopardizes your privacy. It spies on you from the moment it invades. The program tracks your online activities, and records everything. After it decides it has gathered enough data, it sends it to the people behind it. Think about that. It means, cyber criminals get a hold of your private information. Your personal and financial details fall into their hands. That’s hardly a desirable situation. Don’t extend the hijacker’s stay beyond the point of detection. As soon as you see Bettersearch.co, act! Find and delete the cyber threat! Protect your privacy. Don’t stand by as it gets stolen, and exposed to strangers with agendas.

How to Remove Bettersearch.co virus

The Bettersearch.co infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Bettersearch.co infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down Bettersearch.co related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Bettersearch.co startup location

STEP 3: Delete Bettersearch.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Bettersearch.co related processes in the computer memory

  • Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
  • Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

end-malicious-process

  • Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Bettersearch.co startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

  • Open any folder
  • Click on “Organize” button
  • Choose “Folder and Search Options”
  • Select the “View” tab
  • Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
  • Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
  • Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Bettersearch.co virus from the windows registry

  • Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

win-plus-r

  • A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

regedit

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

  • and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

delete backgroundcontainer

  • Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

hosts-redirect-virus

STEP 3 : Clean Bettersearch.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

  • Open Google Chrome

  • In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
  • Remove the Bettersearch.co by clicking on the little recycle bin
  • Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

disable Bettersearch.co from chrome

  • Open Mozilla Firefox

  • Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
  • Disable the unwanted Extension
  • Go to Help
  • Then Troubleshoot information
  • Click on Reset Firefox

remove Bettersearch.co from firefox

  • Open Internet Explorer

  • On the Upper Right Corner Click on the Gear Icon
  • Click on Internet options
  • go to Toolbars and Extensions and disable the unknown extensions
  • Select the Advanced tab and click on Reset

remove Bettersearch.co from ie

  • Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Bettersearch.co

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Bettersearch.co, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

  • Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
  • go to Network and Internet
  • then Network and Sharing Center
  • then Change Adapter Settings
  • Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

You must clean all your browser shortcuts as well. To do that you need to

  • Right click on the shortcut of your favorite browser and then select properties.

safebrowsing-biz-shortcut-removal

  • in the target field remove Bettersearch.co argument and then apply the changes.
  • Repeat that with the shortcuts of your other browsers.
  • Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Bettersearch.co Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible registry leftovers or temporary files.

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