Conduit Search Toolbar Hijacks Browser, Conduit Search Removal

Attention

Conduit search toolbar is actually an affiliate of search.conduit.com search redirect virus to help with obtaining high click rate by hijacking default browser address bar to show alluring content or displaying search.conduit.com page to augment its page view. Apart from conduit search toolbar, finder toolbar, delta search toolbar, appbario16 toolbar and so on do run the same errands.

Add-on as conduit search toolbar appears to be, there’s no indication of its add-on in browser settings to be removed; remove infected browsers and reinstall them (including IE, Opera, Safari, Firefox, Chrome) will not remove conduit search toolbar; use Control Panel to remove conduit search toolbar will not stop its vicious conducts on browsers:

• It prolongs the time to open up a web page.
• Its installation is followed by slower PC performance.
• It gives rise to search redirect issues.
• Its triggers random advertisements when the target machine is connected to Internet.

Conduit search toolbar is technically not a virus, yet it is potentially dangerous as you can tell from the above attached list. Some rogue programs have been adopted to help with the implementation of modifications in registry editor so that some modified entries are enabled to help cover up conduit search toolbar’s key part and strengthen the modification in browser settings to finally prevent from easy rectifications. Such arbitrary and random modification is usually the reason for a number of unknown items piling up in system disk to consume CPU and additional infections being caught in sight subsequently. No doubt that conduit search toolbar is needs to be removed for the sake of computer health. Follow the instruction offered in the last section only if technical skills are available; otherwise resort VilmaTech Online Support for help.

It should now come to your awareness that any sticky programs, including the tiny ones like conduit search toolbar seems to be, are capable of making a computer susceptible to additional infections due to arbitrary modifications made to registry entries. Also it should be noted that getting infected with search.conduit.com is not necessarily causing unwitting installation of conduit search toolbar, but getting conduit search toolbar will finally introduce in search.conduit.com search redirect virus.
 

Conduit Search Toolbar Infiltration

It is still a mystery to many PC users about the installation of conduit search toolbar. Now VilmaTech online experts list down its dissemination routines to your reference:

1. Drive-by download: many PC users are used to installing third-party programs with “recommended” install manner, which stands a bigger chance to install bundled programs.
2. Vulnerable configuration: vulnerability can be easily exploited by software adopting rogue techniques as well; it is always necessary to follow good PC practice and enhance the overall security.
3. Random click on advertisement: now many more advertisements have become the promoter for various products without looking into the fact whether it is computer-friendly or not; and some advertisements are directly made by cyber criminals to help spread vicious code.

 

New Instruction to Remove Conduit Search Toolbar from PCs and Mac Platform

Considering the fact that conduit search toolbar is not technically a virus, running anti-virus programs will definitely not help with resolving the problem. Manual method is thus recommended to remove conduit search toolbar completely and efficiently. One inevitable step in manual removal is modifying registry entries in Database, which requires a certain level of computer skills given the fact that the modified parts can be different from versions of OS and the periods of affection. Should there be any mistake or omission, the removal is incomplete. Stick to the following steps to remove conduit search toolbar. On the occurrence of unexpected situation, it is advisable to get professional help from computer experts with rich experience in resolving various computer problems at VilmaTech Online Support.

 

Step One

Start off by showing hidden items generated by Conduit search toolbar.

Windows 8

• Search for and click open Windows Explorer to hit View tab.
• Under the view tab, tick ‘File name extensions’ and ‘Hidden items’ options.
• Conclude the session by pressing “OK” button.

 
Windows 7/XP/Vista

• Spread Start menu to access  ‘Control Panel’.
• Click open ‘Folder Options’ in ‘Control Panel’ window.
• Hit View tab to tick ‘Show hidden files and folders and non-tick Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)’.                                                                                                       
• Conclude the session by pressing on ‘OK’ button.

 
Mac

• Access Finder to click on Utilities folder.
• In Utilities folder, double click on terminal.
• Copy and paste the following line there and press return button.

“defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES”

• Hold ‘alt’ on the keyboard and right click on the Finder icon at once.
• Press Relaunch button again.

When all hidden items are unveiled,  1) browse to C:Windows and delete all executable files identical to systematic ones, such as svchost.exe and winlogon.exe in sub-directories under C: Windows; 2) remove temp folders under System32 under C:Windows. 3) browse to directory %PROGRAM_FILES%\ Search.conduit.com \ and delete the infected files including the following listed items:

%Windir%\temp\random.exe
%Windir%\Temp\random

 

Step Two

Reset browsers, which will help restore browser settings to default automatically.

Internet Explorer

• Spread Internet Explorer’s Tools menu to click open Internet Options.
• Hit the Advanced tab then to press Restore Defaults button.
• Click OK button to reset IE.                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 
Mozilla Firefox

• Click on the Firefox button to spread its list.
• Put your mouse on Help option to enable its drop-down list.
• Choose Troubleshooting information and access its window.
• Press ‘Reset Firefox’ button on the left uppers corner of the web page:
• A box pops up for confirmation, please click ‘Reset Firefox’ to finish the session.

 
Google Chrome

• Spread ‘Customize and Control Google Chrome’ menu and choose ‘Options’.
• On ‘Options’ window, hit ‘Under the Hood’ tab to press ‘Reset to Defaults’ button.
• Google Chrome will then be reset.                                                                                       

 
Opera

• Show hidden files and folders as depicted above.
• Access “C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Roaming\Opera\Opera\” and remove Operapref.ini file there.
• Opera will then be reset.                                           

 
Safari

• Unfold Safari menu to choose ‘Reset Safari’.
• When ‘Reset Safari’ pops up, tick all given options.
• Press ‘Reset’ to confirm the change.                 

 

Step Three

Remove a couple of keys and values off Database.
 
Windows 8

• Hover mouse over borders to any direction.
• Search charm will then be enabled.
• Type ‘regedit’/‘regedit.exe’ and hit Enter key to access the Database.

 
Windows 7/XP/Vista

• Hold Win key and R key on the keyboard to enable a text box.
• Type ‘regedit’ (without quotation) and hit Enter key to access Registry Editor.

When Registry Editor window pops up, navigate to the following entries and remove items generated by conduit search toolbar. Tip: the below given entries are the universal item generated by the toolbar, there can be other items generated due to different version of OS:

HKLM|HKCU]\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit
HKLM|HKCU]\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\random

 

Step Four

Manage start up items to speed up starting up and disable malicious start up items by using in-built utility.

Windows 7/XP/Vista

• Hold Win key and R key at once to bring up Run box.
• Put in ‘MSCONFIG’ to hit Startup tab.
• Search and select conduit search toolbar.
• Press ‘Disable all’ to remove conduit search toolbar from startup section.

 
Windows 8

• Type ‘Task’ on Start screen and tap Startup tab.
• Search and select conduit search toolbar.
• Press ‘Disable’ to remove conduit search toolbar from startup section.

 
Mac

• Unfold Apple menu to choose ‘System Preference’.
• On ‘System Preference’ window, access ‘Users & Groups’.
• Choose the user account that has conduit search toolbar to locate it on the right pane.
• Tick related items to conduit search toolbar.
• Press minus button to remove conduit search toolbar from startup section.

 

Step Five

Removing conduit search toolbar in the end is the correct order to remove it thoroughly and completely since there’s no vicious items injected in system configuration to support its survival in Control Panel.

Windows 8

• Move mouse to bottom-right corner of Start Screen.
• Click on “Unpin” button to enable its option list.
• Choose ‘Control Panel’ in the pop-up sidebar to access “Programs and Features”.
• Find conduit search toolbar and remove it there.

 
Windows 7/Vista/XP

• Unfold Start menu to select Control Panel.
• Access “Add/Remove Programs” to find and remove conduit search toolbar there.

 
Mac

• Unfold Apple menu and choose “System Preferences”.
• Find and remove conduit search toolbar from Dock and Display respectively.

 

To sum up:
Though conduit search toolbar is not technically a virus, it is potentially hazardous to a computer due to the modifications made in Database where orders are given away to manipulate how a machine performs properly to users’ satisfactions. By piggybacking on other programs or exploiting vulnerability, conduit search toolbar manages to get installed on a target machine without permission to help getting high click rate that can be exchanged for money. To gain more click rate, conduit search toolbar needs to know what the preference of target users. In other word, conduit search toolbar is capable of recording whereabouts and analyzing the data to offer search results target users may be interested in. Which sounds nice, however, it leads to search redirect issues and the products redirected are usually freeware/shareware bundled with additional programs that can be vicious. To remove conduit search toolbar completely, something needs to be done in Database manually. In the case where technical skills are inaccessible, contact VilmaTech online experts who will help remove conduit search toolbar and incidental problems will all-out effort.

Published & last updated on January 14, 2014 by Erik V. Miller