How to Remove Searchgosearchtab.com Redirects

Can’t Remove Searchgosearchtab.com hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Searchgosearchtab.com Removal instructions!

Did you set the Searchgosearchtab.com page as your homepage? If you didn’t, then you must be sick and tired of seeing this page and its URL all around the web. Well, the news is not great. This website is associated with a nasty browser hijacker. Following a successful infiltration, the nasty parasite takes full control of your favorite browser. It alters your settings and replaces our homepage. The parasite uses a pay-per-click scheme to generate revenue for its owners. It is programmed to bombard you with adverts. Every time you click on one, its owners get paid. They get even more money for every sponsored website you get redirected to. And so, their parasite redirects your web traffic too. This intruder is very hard to be tolerated. It injects various ads on every web page you load. Websites that used to be ad-free are now so heavy on coupons and discounts that your browser barely displays them correctly. Your Internet connection speed also seems unusually slow and unstable. It’s the hijacker. It does this. The parasite slows down your network speed. This nasty parasite prevents you from using your computer normally. Do not put up with it. Remove it the first chance you get! Bear in mind that it is not safe. All ads displayed by it are potential threats. So, do not hesitate to remove the Searchgosearchtab.com hijacker. It has no place on your computer!

Remove Searchgosearchtab.com

How did I get infected with?

The Searchgosearchtab.com hijacker did not materialize by magic. No, this intruder uses a much simpler method to infect your device. It used you! The parasite tricked you into installing it. That is right! It was you the one that got you in this trouble. Confused? Let’s explain. The crooks tend to attach their parasite as an extra to the payload files of third-party software. If you don’t pay attention to the fine print, you are very likely to install the extra unintentionally. Whenever you are about to install a program, opt for the Advanced option in the Setup Wizard. Under it, you will be presented with a list of all additional programs that are about to be installed alongside the app you downloaded. Deselect the extras. More often than not, they are malicious. Besides, you don’t need them. If you needed such software, you would have downloaded it by yourself. This is your computer. You decide what to be installed on it. Don’t let others make this decision for you. Install only the apps you want! Also, do not skip the Terms and Conditions/End User License Agreement (EULA). If you cannot read the whole document, use an online EULA analyzer to scan it. If you find anything out of the ordinary, abort the installation immediately. Other malware distribution methods you should keep an eye out for are the good old spam emails, torrents, and fake updates. Your caution can prevent these methods from succeeding!

Why is this dangerous?

The Searchgosearchtab.com hijacker is extremely intrusive. It interferes with your every online step. Every link you follow, every website you load, every video you watch, everything is affected by the hijacker. The parasite turns your browsing experience into a nightmare. Yet, if you have nerves of steel, you may manage to tolerate it. Not for long, of course. The hijacker gets more and more aggressive with each passing day. It will display more and more ads. Your browser will get redirected to sponsored websites frequently. And, of course, your videos will get paused for long, long commercial breaks. The problem, however, is not the discomfort. The hijacker actually jeopardizes your privacy. Its ads are not randomly selected. No, to target you with relevant adverts, the Searchgosearchtab.com hijacker spies on you. It monitors your browsing related data. Which websites you visit, what search inquiries you make, what videos you watch. Even the Incognito mode of your browser cannot hide. Your actions are recorded and analyzed. The collected data may not strike as too sensitive, but a capable advertiser needs very little to successfully target you. What if this advertiser has bad intentions? All sorts of crooks use the hijacker and its resources to lure victims into online scams. With the hijacker on board, you are more likely to end up on a bogus website than on a legitimate one! Spare yourself many future headaches. Remove the parasite before it lures you into unwanted actions. The sooner this intruder is gone, the better!

How to Remove Searchgosearchtab.com virus

The Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Searchgosearchtab.com startup location

STEP 3: Delete Searchgosearchtab.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

  • Open Google Chrome

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

disable Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com from ie

  • Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Searchgosearchtab.com

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 Searchgosearchtab.com, 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 Searchgosearchtab.com 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 Searchgosearchtab.com 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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