Search.searchctp.com Removal Guide

If Search.searchctp.com has become your homepage without permission, it must be a sign that a browser hijacker has slithered onto your computer. Users should never be blamed for installing these infections on their computers because browser hijackers are threats which are distributed in software bundles. Unfortunately, we cannot say that users have nothing to do with their entrance. No matter what is the story behind the entrance of the Search.searchctp.com browser hijacker, it still needs to be eliminated from your computer if it has already made modifications on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Since it does not leave any browsers unaffected, its removal will not be very quick, but it is still necessary to take care of it because its presence might result in the emergence of several problems. Also, you could not keep it if you decide to change the URL of your homepage. To put it differently, sooner or later you will need to delete this undesirable search tool from your browsers, so do this today.

Specialists at 411-spyware.com needed only a few seconds to understand that Search.searchctp.com is another website that only pretends to be a legitimate search provider because it is created on the template used by such pages as Search.searchnuts.com, Search.searchwatchytsn.com, and Search.searchtcn.com which have all been developed by Polarity Technologies Ltd and are known to be browser hijackers. Just like these older search tools, Search.searchctp.com shows up on users’ browsers without their knowledge, so it is considered a browser hijacker too. Specifically speaking, it is set as a homepage on all browsers, which means that it is automatically opened for users. Since users see this search tool every day, it is not surprising that they decide to use it as a default search tool for searching the web as well. It returns search results to users, so we cannot say that it does not do anything completely, but we are sure that it is far from search engines considered trustworthy, e.g. Google. One of its biggest drawbacks is that it displays the modified search results next to decent ones. It seems that their main goal is to promote third-party pages because users do not find the information they are looking for on those websites opened for them after clicking on any modified search results.

Users should also carefully consider another disturbing fact before letting Search.searchctp.com stay, specialists say. Researchers have made a finding that this search tool collects information about users. Frankly speaking, other search providers might collect details about users’ activities and habits to enhance their browsing experience too, but we are sure that those reputable search providers, unlike Search.searchctp.com, do not collect personally-identifiable information. It would not sound so dangerous if the Privacy Policy document did not tell us that this recorded information will be shared with third parties. Not only personal details are recorded by Search.searchctp.com. It may also gather the following non-personally identifiable details “when you use the Services”: the type of browser, your operating system type, geographic location, a domain name of the Internet Service Provider, and other details. As can be seen, this search tool will find out much about you if you do not remove it soon from your web browsers.

If you can swear that the appearance of Search.searchctp.com in the place of your homepage is not your job, it means that you have allowed a browser hijacker to enter your computer. Users usually help these threats to enter their computers themselves by downloading and installing programs from untrustworthy third-party pages. To be more specific, browser hijackers are often spread through bundled malicious installers these days, so users must be more careful. Security specialists also have no idea how it is possible to surf the web safely without security software, so they recommend acquiring one as soon as possible.

Below you will find instructions which will help you to delete Search.searchctp.com from Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox browsers separately. These instructions have been created to help users remove the browser hijacker only, which means that they will be useless if you decide to remove other active malicious applications from your computer too. In such a case, users should go to scan their PCs with reputable antimalware scanners – they will only take a few seconds to clean systems fully.

Delete Search.searchctp.com

Internet Explorer

1. Press Win+R.
2. Enter regedit.exe and click OK to open the Registry Editor.
3. Open HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
4. Find the Start Page value and right-click on it.
5. Select Modify.
6. Enter a new URL (e.g. http://www.google.com) in the Value data field.
7. Do the same with the following values located in the registry key HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A} too:

• FaviconURL
• FaviconURLFallback
• TopResultURL
• URL

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the Windows Explorer (press Win+E).
2. Go to %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.
3. Find a folder with random symbols (it has prefs.js).
4. Open the prefs.js file with Notepad.
5. Delete the string: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://Search.searchctp.com"); .
6. Save the changes.

Google Chrome

1. Open the Windows Explorer.
2. Open %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default by entering it in the address bar of your Windows Explorer and pressing Enter.
3. Delete Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data files.