Search.searchfzlm.com Removal Guide

Search.searchfzlm.com is not a reliable search engine because the application is considered to be a browser hijacker. According to our researchers, it may hijack Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome by changing the browser’s homepage, default search engine, or new tab page. Moreover, it would seem there is a chance the search tool could place additional advertising content among the results. Apparently, such ads may advertise third-party web pages that could be potentially malicious. For this reason, we advise you pay closer attention while searching the Internet with Search.searchfzlm.com. If you see any suspicious advertising content, it would be safer to stay away from it. On the other hand, it might be simpler to get rid of the browser hijacker and use a more reliable application instead of it. If you prefer not to take any chances, we advise you to eliminate this threat at once. Since the process might be a bit challenging, we prepared step by step instructions located below the text.

At the time Search.searchfzlm.com was tested by our specialists, we noticed a few things about it. First of all, the application does not seem to have a unique search engine as it uses Yahoo to collect the results matching your given keyword. Therefore, it is possible that these results could be modified and might contain additional advertising content from the third-party. The ads might be injected while you are redirected from Search.searchfzlm.com to search.yahoo.com. The reason we suspect this, is the software’s Privacy Policy and End User License Agreement documents. Both of them contain statements mentioning third-party content or advertisements that could be encountered while using the search tool.

For instance, the Privacy Policy document says the search engine may gather anonymous user data (e.g. visited web pages, search keywords, clicked ads, and so on) and share it with the application’s third-party partners to bring the user “relevant ads.” In other words, the browser hijacker might show you targeted advertisements. The worst part is that such ads could come from unknown sources as the Search.searchfzlm.com creators do not reveal their third-party partners and claim they take no responsibility for such content. This is why we believe, perhaps not all but some of the ads could originate from potentially malicious web pages like websites distributing Trojans, ransomware, and other malware, or sites created to scam the user, steal his sensitive data, etc.

Lastly, you should now that Search.searchfzlm.com “may automatically download and install updates from Polarity,” according to its End User License Agreement document. Polarity or Polarity Technologies Ltd is the search tool’s publisher. Unfortunately, we cannot say it is a reliable one since we know the company is behind many other similar browser hijackers. Thus, if by using the application you allow it to install “new software modules, configuration changes, or completely new versions” there is a chance such tools could also be untrustworthy and potentially harmful.

Given the described risks we do not think it would be wise to continue keeping this browser hijacker on your browser. If you think the same, we encourage you to remove it as soon as possible. The instructions placed a bit below should help users delete the threat manually, but if it is still too complicated for you, it would be advisable to employ a reliable security tool instead. With a trustworthy antimalware tool, you could do a full system scan and eliminate even other possible threats at the same time. Plus, if you keep the software up to date it could help you maintain the system protected.

Erase Search.searchfzlm.com from browsers

Internet Explorer

1. Press Win+R.
2. Type Regedit and click Enter.
3. Find a value name titled Start page in the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Right-click this specific value name and choose Modify.
5. Replace the browser hijacker’s link (http://search.searchfzlm.com) and press OK.
6. Get to this directory: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}
7. Search for the following files: FaviconURL, FaviconURLFallback, TopResultURL, and URL.
8. Right-click them separately, and press Modify.
9. Replace their current value data (http://search.searchfzlm.com) and press OK.
10. Exit Registry Editor.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Click Win+E.
2. Locate file titled prefs.js in the given path: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{unique user ID}
3. Launch this file as a Notepad document.
4. Search for a line with the threat’s link: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://search.searchfzlm.com”).
5. Replace http://search.searchfzlm.com and press Ctrl+S.
6. Exit Notepad.

Google Chrome

1. Tap Win+E.
2. Navigate to provided location: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
3. Find these given files:
   Preferences
   Secure Preferences
   Web Data
4. Right-click the listed files separately and select Delete.
5. Leave File Explorer.