Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Search.us.com has taken over my firefox how do I remove

  • 20 replies
  • 106 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by ferdi10

more options

please assist in removing search.us.com it has taken over Firefox I like Firefox and don't want this rubbish I don't know how it got here - I am desperate have tried everything- have run a full scan Malware pro I have windows xp

please assist in removing search.us.com it has taken over Firefox I like Firefox and don't want this rubbish I don't know how it got here - I am desperate have tried everything- have run a full scan Malware pro I have windows xp

Chosen solution

This is well known hijacker, thus make sure you uninstall everything installed recently from control panel.. Install Search reset plugin from FF. If this won't help, run anti-malware scan with Adwcleaner or other tool

Read this answer in context 👍 8

All Replies (20)

more options
more options
more options

Chosen Solution

This is well known hijacker, thus make sure you uninstall everything installed recently from control panel.. Install Search reset plugin from FF. If this won't help, run anti-malware scan with Adwcleaner or other tool

more options

Hello, you can find video guide how to remove this hijacker from browsers (including Firefox) here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4hjW6iKaWA I hope it will be helpful

Modified by PCFixHelp

more options

Dear PCFixHelp,

As I commented in this thread here, your video still does not demonstrate the correct way to uninstall Search.us.com. Your recommendation to create a new Firefox profile can remove Search.us.com, but it also leaves the user's other settings (e.g. bookmarks) stranded in the old profile.

The easiest way to uninstall Search.us.com is to use the official and free stand-alone uninstaller, ResetBrowsers.exe. Alternatively, users can use Windows Control Panel to uninstall the Search.us.com browser extensions, and then follow our uninstall instructions.

If all else fails, please email contactus at search.us.com for free uninstallation support by email. There is no need to purchase an app such as "Spyhunter" if you only wish to remove Search.us.com.

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

Modified by Search.us.com

more options

Dear Giedrius_M,

I would appreciate it if your site would provide our more precise—and free—uninstallation instructions. (We have attempted to submit them to your site in the past.) There is no need for users to purchase Spyhunter or Hitman Pro, as we provide free email support to users who are unable to use the simple uninstaller included with the Search.us.com toolbar.

Thank you!

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

more options

Type about:config in browser Search fro Startup You will see the culprit in browser.startup.homepage Right click on this and select modify or reset. This works but somehow it comes back again. Maybe it has to do with a game SWTOR

more options

Hi mancub,

Changing your about:config settings won't stick until you remove Search.us.com from Firefox's user.js file. You can email contactus at search.us.com for free help.

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

more options

So let me see if I have this straight. Search.us bundles itself invasively into programs without out knowledge then, when we honestly attempt to get rid of it, you drop into a legitimate forum and suggest that we download yet another piece of malware to get rid of the first malware. Seriously, have you no shame at all?

more options

Hello milangross,

Search.us.com sponsors free software downloads, and is a completely optional installation. (i.e. It is not required to install our free services to obtain the free software.) If you believe that the software you installed did not provide you with a clear choice to install our free services, please send the web address for the software download to contactus at search.us.com so we can audit the software publisher for compliance with our sponsorship terms.

The free, standalone ResetBrowsers.exe uninstaller is not malware. We created it for cases when removal via Windows Control Panel does not work. Most people will find that using ResetBrowsers.exe is easier than manually editing Firefox's user.js settings in the event Firefox preferences get stuck.

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

more options

Hello Search.us.com ,

I'm so disgusted by your software and by your responses here that I'm choosing to respond.

SEARCH.US.COM has no legitimate excuses for OVERRIDING WHAT I CHOOSE TO BE MY DEFAULT HOMEPAGE FROM THE FIREFOX PREFERENCES SETTINGS.

I REPEAT: SEARCH.US.COM has no legitimate excuses for OVERRIDING WHAT I CHOOSE TO BE MY DEFAULT HOMEPAGE FROM THE FIREFOX PREFERENCES SETTINGS.

Do you think Mozilla approves of this? Do you think ANYONE approves of this?

You want us to DOWNLOAD AND RUN MORE SOFTWARE FROM YOUR SEARCH.US.COM COMPANY TO REMOVE YOUR CRAPWARE?

No, the only real solution we users have is to uninstall firefox, uninstall other crap ware, run malware and virus software and maybe to even format and reinstall the operating system. Great Fun, Thank You SEARCH.US.COM !

Why don't you write some decent software rather than cheap and nasty crap for easy advertising money.

Oh, one last thing, F*** ***.

more options

Hello anon2014,

Search.us.com sponsors free software downloads on the condition that software publishers (who approve of getting paid by Search.us.com) clearly provide users with a choice to try Search.us.com. Please email contactus at search.us.com if you feel that you were not given an obvious option to have your Firefox homepage changed to Search.us.com.

The standalone Search.us.com uninstaller is provided as a convenient alternative to change your Firefox homepage in the event that uninstallation by Windows Control Panel fails. If anyone still requires assistance, we provide free email suppport: contactus at search.us.com. You do not need to reinstall Firefox to change your homepage.

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

more options

Hello Search.us.com,

You clearly are copying and pasting from your FAQ, nice job you have eh?

You mention users have a choice to install the crap software you provide (via some other crap software with a small checked checkbox) BUT you avoid mentioning that when a user resets his/her default homepage YOUR CRAP WARE CHANGES THE SETTINGS BACK TO SEARCH.US.COM!

I REPEAT: SEARCH.US.COM has no legitimate excuses for OVERRIDING WHAT I CHOOSE TO BE MY DEFAULT HOMEPAGE FROM THE FIREFOX PREFERENCES SETTINGS.

more options

Search.us.com removal instructions:

http://deletemalware.blogspot.com/2013/06/remove-startsearchuscom-homepage.html

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/search-us-com-virus/

You should also scan your computer with AdwCleaner and Malwarebytes.

Cheers!

more options

Hello anon2014,

Sorry that it sounds like the uninstaller did not completely work for you. Search.us.com adds itself to Firefox's user.js settings file. If something prevents the uninstaller from clearing its settings from user.js then Firefox will keep using Search.us.com even if all of the Search.us.com app components were successfully removed by the uninstaller.

You can manually edit Firefox's user.js settings file with Windows Notepad to remove the Search.us.com entries, or try the standalone uninstaller that we provide to make it easier for users who unfortunately find themselves stuck in this situation. It does not benefit us to have unsatisfied customers who need to contact us for free email support.

Thank you!

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

more options

Hello Search.us.com,

Thank you sir for your enlightening discussions.

I shall repost and highlight the accepted answer to this forum post:

This is a well known hijacker/malware/crapware: http://www.2-viruses.com/remove-search-us-com-malware

Modified by anon2014

more options

Hello anon2014,

We have attempted to contact 2-viruses.com in the past requesting that they provide free instructions for uninstalling Search.us.com. However, they appear to have a vested interest promoting "Spyhunter" and "Hitman Pro".

Search.us.com is not malware, and can be removed without paying for third-party software or services. Anyone who encounters difficulties uninstalling Search.us.com can email contactus at search.us.com for free assistance.

Thank you!

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

more options

This answer was given to me by support of search.us.com after I threatened them by FBI. Its work))). Quotation:

=

Hello Alex,

Search.us.com is not malware, nor is its standalone uninstaller, ResetBrowers.exe. If the uninstaller registered with Windows Control Panel failed to uninstall Search.us.com's free services, and you prefer not to use the standalone uninstaller, then you can manually remove Search.us.com:

First verify that the toolbar add-on is removed from Firefox (http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disable-or-remove-add-ons). You can then edit Firefox's user.js file located in:

C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\wd69kojw.default\user.js

Like the Windows "YOUR_USERNAME" part, the "wd69kojw" part is unique to your installation of Firefox so it'll look similar, but the characters will be different. Remove the following lines (they are likely the only lines in user.js unless you are using Firefox in an enterprise environment) from the user.js file, and save your changes:

user_pref("browser.newtab.url", ""); user_pref("keyword.URL", "http://search.us.com/serp?guid={a bunch of letters & numbers}&action=default_search&k="); user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://start.search.us.com?guid={more letters & numbers}"); user_pref("browser.startup.page", "1"); user_pref("browser.newtab.url", "file:///C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Local\TNT2\2.0.0.1234\pinnedSearch.htm");

You should then be able to enter about:config into Firefox's address bar to Reset its browser.startup.homepage, and keyword.URL Values.

Let me know if I can be of additional assistance.

Thank you!

-Brian

more options

Thank you for sharing the manual removal instructions, alexzarin, which we have also posted previously in these forums. We do recommend trying the dedicated uninstaller that's more convenient.

If anyone needs assistance following the manual instructions, please do email contactus@search.us.com for free help.

Official Search.us.com representatives will never ask you for payment, or other sensitive personal information.

more options

this "search" poster is very irritating. this worked for me though, hope it works for everyone else:

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/start-search-us-removal/

I believe i downloaded this program as part of a bundle for BSplayer. so again the advise above is pretty good - always go for custom install.

Modified by ferdi10