Search.searchfdd.com Removal Guide

Search.searchfdd.com is classified as a browser hijacker and with good reason because it is bundled with malicious software installers that inject in into your browser without your knowledge or consent. We highly recommend that you remove this hijacker from your browser as soon as you can because if you do not and use it as a regular search engine, then rest assured that it will subject you to shady customized search results that feature ads. Furthermore, it will collect information about you to personalize the ads according to your interests, so that is something to watch out for. For more information, please read this whole article.

Before we go any further, we want to inform you that Search.searchfdd.com has an identical clone hijacker named Home.searchfdd.com. Notice the change from “Search” to “Home.” This change is in the domain name only, but, as far as functionality and features are concerned, both of these browser hijackers are nearly identical. Another thing to note is that this particular hijacker comes from an established developer that previously released hundreds of similar hijackers. Previous releases include Search.dm-cmf.com, Search.classifiedlist.net, Search.internetspeedpilot.com, and many others. So their developer knows what they are doing, and it is evident that all of them form a tightly-knit web monetization scheme.

Most browser hijackers are distributed using software bundles and Search.searchfdd.com, and its clones are no exception. However, it must be said that they come without a browser extension, thus, the installers in which they come in are designed to inject this hijacker right from the get-go. These software installers are mostly featured on questionable freeware distributing sites and, to our knowledge; the installers are configured to inject Search.searchfdd.com automatically, which means that you do not have a say in whether you want it.

The installers have been configured to inject this hijacker into Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. It replaces their homepage addresses and in the case of Chrome it will also replace its new tab page. The owners expect you to use Search.searchfdd.com as a regular search engine, and, truth be told, you can use it as one. However, it redirects the search queries you enter to a customized Yahoo search engine. Therefore, you effectively use Yahoo.com spiced up with some shady promotional links of unknown origin. Indeed, its undesirable search results are another reason we suggest deleting this hijacker because they can compromise your computer’s security.

Like any other browser hijacker, Search.searchfdd.com was designed to collect certain anonymous information about you automatically. A quick look at its privacy policy revealed that it can collect information such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, version of Windows, geographic location, Internet Service Provider (ISP), URLs visited, search queries, as a few other bits of information. All of this data is then used to customize and personalize the ads and promotional links you see in the search results of Search.searchfdd.com. This is alarming because the links and ads are unreliable yet made attractive.

As you can see, Search.searchfdd.com is nothing, but a browser hijacker whose primary objective is to generate advertising revenue from various advertisements and links presented in its search result. It was also designed to collect information about you to customize them. In short, it offers nothing but unsafe search results, so we invite you to remove it using our guide supplied below this article.

Removal Guide

Google Chrome

1. Press Win+E keys.
2. Enter C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the address line and hit Enter.
3. Find and delete Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data files.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Win+E keys.
2. Go to C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID} in the address box.
3. Open prefs.js with Notepad.
4. Replace http://search.searchfdd.com in user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", " http://search.searchfdd.com");
5. Save and Close.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Press Windows+R keys.
2. Enter regedit in the dialog box and click OK.
3. In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Find Start Page on the right side of the window and right-click it.
5. Select Modify and replace http://search.searchfdd.com with another URL.
6. Click OK.
7. Exit the Registry Editor.