Search.us.com is already known as an aggressive browser hijacker that would replace default homepage, substitute search engine and attach its customized toolbar to make queries typed there. Search.us.com toolbar virus appears to be a normal add-on to a browser (including Firefox, Google Chrome, IE), therefore, it is not flagged by installed anti-virus programs. Taken up little space of the computer, search.us.com toolbar virus is capable of slowing down the overall computer performance in the end by firstly injecting its vicious registry entries into the kernel part of a machine, which is the reason why search.us.com toolbar will not vanish even after there is no its indication in Control Panel.
To stick around on a browser, search.us.com toolbar manages to always take PC users to intend pages by using applications from search.us.com. By doing so, maker behind search.us.com toolbar will get a profit because of a high click rate. One thing to which you should pay attention, such pushy search.us.com toolbar is able to form vulnerability on your machine because it has modified the default setting that aims to protect the browser from being attacked by random virus concealed in the Internet. Once the secure rate is weakened, tracking cookies will find their way to settle in the compromised machine and start tracking down your whereabouts. In consequence, you will see more popup ads during your browsing and detect more in-text words are underlined with hyperlink taking you to commercial sites.
Some victims will not realize the troubles imposed by search.us.com toolbar as it stay put there on the browser silently. But when it stays longer, it will start to force you do search with it and what the toolbar takes you to is usually unrelated site. Search.us.com toolbar is not alone. When everything is placed, you will see search.us.com opening in your default homepage and new tab. In most cases, toolbar and browser hijacker inter- introduce each other. The more you see on your computer, the more junks there are in your computer. As a result, page needs to take longer to load, computer requires longer to respond, and the possibility to completely remove search.us.com toolbar is deducted as modifications need to be implemented on more parts. Thus, uninstall search.us.com toolbar upon its detection even if it doesn’t cause trouble to you at all for the moment.
Step1. Disable startup item to remove search.us.com toolbar in the first place.
a. if you run Windows 7/XP/Vista, please follow the steps here:
Start Menu -> select ‘Run’ -> type ‘msconfig’ -> System Configuration -> hit on Startup tab
b. if you run Windows 8, please follow the steps here:
Start screen -> type ‘Task Manager’ -> hit Startup tab -> find search.us.com toolbar’s startup item and delete it.
Step2. Manually rectify back browser settings.
There were cases that search.us.com toolbar would disable automatically reset functionality by simply hitting on ‘Reset to Default’ button. To be on the safe side, it would be better to change browser settings manually.
a. if you use Firefox, please follow the steps here:
b. if you use Google Chrome, please follow the steps here:
1. click on ‘Customize and control’ Google Chrome icon
2. select ‘Settings’
3. manage ‘Extension’
4. ‘manage search engine’ if you are hijacked by search.us.com.
c. if you use Internet Explorer, please follow the steps here:
1. go to Tools.
2. ‘Manage Add-ons’.
3. find and click on search.us.com toolbar in ‘Toolbars and Extensions’, ‘Search Providers’ respectively
4. click ‘Disable’/ ‘Remove’ to remove search.us.com toolbar.
Step3. Show hidden files to find out hidden ones of search.us.com toolbar.
a. if you run Windows 7/XP/Vista users, please follow the steps here:
Start menu -> open ‘Control Panel’ -> search for ‘Folder Options’ > hit View tab -> tick ‘Show hidden files and folders and non-tick Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)’ -> press ‘OK’.
b. if you run Windows 8, please follow the steps here:
Open any folder -> open Windows Explorer -> hit View tab -> tick ‘File name extensions’ and ‘Hidden items’ options.
Step4. Re-manage database.
Start menu -> launch Run box -> type ‘regedit’ -> hit Enter key -> find registry entries of search.us.com toolbar -> right click to select ‘Delete’.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system “DisableTaskMgr” = 1
Notes:
If you encounter any unexpected problem when uninstalling search.us.com toolbar, you may need to notice that there are further functionality disabled by it. If it is the case, your situation differs from that when we tested search.us.com toolbar on our virtual machine. Go to center for computer virus removal and get one-on-one assistance by contacting VilmaTech online support if you know little about computer programming so as to avoid damage to your precious machine because of any slight mistake.
