Happysearch.org Removal Guide

Users expect that Happysearch.org is a search engine that will improve their web searching experience, but they soon realize that this search tool is not what it claims to be. We have to admit that this search provider looks trustworthy, but, without a doubt, it is far from such decent search providers as Google or Yahoo!. Actually, it is very likely that it has only been developed to generate the online profit for its developer. As a consequence, you might be presented with the search results which have nothing in common with your search query. These modified search results might expose to potential threats soon, so think twice before letting Happysearch.org stay set on your web browsers. If you need more knowledge about this browser hijacker so that you could make the final decision, you should continue reading this article. It will be easier to delete this infection after reading it till the very end.

Happysearch.org will not make it easier to find the information on the web. To be frank, it might be even harder to do that because of the presence of the modified search results. These search results are not based on the entered search query, and they redirect to unknown websites. The developer of the Happysearch.org browser hijacker gets revenue for users’ clicks on these ads. The more users visit pages belonging to third parties, the more money the developer of this threat earns. Security specialists at 411-spyware.com say that it might be quite dangerous to click on these modified search results opening third-party pages because anything can be found on them. For example, a range of untrustworthy programs might be promoted there. These third-party pages might also record personally-identifiable information about users and, consequently, cause online privacy issues. As can be seen, Happysearch.org might make it harder to perform web searches. In addition, problems might arise by using it as a default search provider.

Luckily, unlike similar browser hijackers, Happysearch.org promises not to collect personal information; however, as it is stated in the Privacy Policy document, it still uses cookies, which means that it collects information about people who use it to perform web searches. As the Privacy Policy document tells users, Happysearch.org “may automatically receive and record certain non-personally identifiable information .” This non-personally identifiable information it collects consists of the following details:

• IP address
• Browser type
• Internet Service provider (ISP)
• Cookie information
• Websites users visit

These above-listed details are recorded not without reason, of course. Users are informed that this information is recorded for analyzing trends, administering the website, tracking users’ movements, and conducting research. Third parties should not receive this information, at least, it is said so in the Privacy Policy. This does not sound dangerous, but, in the opinion of specialists, users should not let dubious pages pretending to be legitimate search tools gather data about them.

Happysearch.org cannot be called a trustworthy search provider also because users usually find it set on their browsers without their permission. Specialists say that users do not lie that they do not know why they see a new search tool in the place of their preferred homepages because Happysearch.org is spread bundled in malicious installers. It does not travel alone, in most cases, so it is very likely that other unreliable applications have entered your computer too without your knowledge. Scan your system with a diagnostic scanner to find out the truth. If it finds untrustworthy software on your computer, delete it too ASAP.

Below this paragraph you will find instructions that will help you to delete Happysearch.org from Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox manually. Alternatively, you can remove it by resetting browsers to their default settings. Less experienced users will, most probably, find both these removal methods complicated. Therefore, they should go to download SpyHunter and then launch it instead of trying to erase this browser hijacker manually. This antimalware scanner will take care of all the threats active on the system in the blink of an eye.

How to delete Happysearch.org

Internet Explorer

1. Press Win+R.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Open HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main and find a Value having a name Start Page.
4. Right-click on it and select Modify.
5. Find the Value data field and enter http://www.google.com or another preferred page there.
6. Click OK.
7. Close the Registry Editor.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the Windows Explorer.
2. Type %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles at the top.
3. Press Enter.
4. Check all folders you find there until you locate the prefs.js file.
5. Open it with Notepad and delete the following line from it: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://Happysearch.org"); .
6. Save the changes.

Google Chrome

1. Launch the Windows Explorer.
2. Type %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the URL bar at the top.
3. Find and delete three files of Google Chrome: Preferences, Web Data, and Secure Preferences.