Search.searchdp.com Removal Guide

Search.searchdp.com is a new search engine page that features a number of quick-link buttons leading to popular websites, which might make some users think that it is actually a useful addition to their browser. However, we must burst this pink bubble because we have found that this malware infection is indeed a newcomer in the notorious browser hijacker family that has given us Search.searchlivesp.com, Search.searchlypackage.com, and Search.searchfacoupons.com among dozens of others. This browser hijacker may seem like an innocent search page to you but, in reality, it may present you with questionable content through its search results and third-party ads potentially inserted into promoted pages. As this malware infection may sneak onto your system along with other malicious software installers, chances are you are facing multiple malware threats. If you want to regain control of your virtual world and feel safe in it, you need to remove Search.searchdp.com as soon as possible.

In order for you to be able to protect your PC from similar future attacks, you need to be aware of how it is possible for you to infect your computer with browser hijackers. As a matter of fact, it is quite simple because such an infection practically always starts with a click on some corrupt third-party content, including advertisements, fake notifications, fake updaters, and links. The question is how you can be exposed to such content to click on in the first place. Let us answer you this question right now.

Well, it is possible that you are viewing a suspicious website, such as a torrent, freeware, and gaming page, with the intent of downloading a new free application or a cracked version. However, what you may not be aware of is that when you download your targeted file, you are actually downloading a bundled version that may contain a number of malware programs as well. This simply means that even if you delete Search.searchdp.com from your computer, you would still have to face the consequences of other malicious threats.

Ending up on such suspicious websites is also dangerous because they host several third-party ads, which may be even invisible to your eye or disguised as buttons that look like part of the page. Clicking on such content could open new tabs and windows with malicious pages or drop a bundle bomb onto your machine. Such a package could contain adware programs, browser hijackers, Trojans, fake alerts, and potentially unwanted applications as well. You may also be introduced to unreliable ads when your system is infected with adware apps. Apart from flooding your screen with annoying and potentially harmful ads, such an infection may spy on you and hijack authentic ads, too. In order to keep your virtual world clean and secure, we suggest that you detect all possible threats by using a reliable malware scanner after you remove Search.searchdp.com from your browsers.

This browser hijacker looks very similar to its predecessors. At the top of this search page you can find the characteristic fake toolbar with the questionable search tool on the left and the featured quick-link buttons on its right that lead to popular pages, including Local Weather, News, Gmail, Facebook, and Google Maps. As a matter of fact, the Local Weather button takes you to a widget page that displays a number of questionable third-party ads, which could be risky to click on unless you want to risk downloading infections or land on malicious websites. Below the main search box in the middle of the page you can find a panel with thumbnail links again leading to popular sites in addition to a few links to taxation-related pages, including TurboTax (turbotax.intuit.com), H&R Block (hrblock.com), Amazon, and Yahoo. This panel can be hidden by clicking on the Hide link.

While these pages may be more or less reputable and reliable, you should definitely not trust the search engine. This browser hijacker can collect information about you regarding your online activities, such as what types of pages you tend to visit, what ads you like to click on, what products you are interested in, your IP address, and more. Based on this information, tailored advertisements and other content can be sent to your screen. This hijacker can use this to show you relevant ads and links injected among the normal search results. In other words, this browser hijacker can modify search results to promote affiliates. So do not be surprised if you end up redirected on a Yahoo search results page that you cannot trust because it may contain questionable content coming from cyber criminals. One click on the wrong ad or link could cause you further security issues. This is why we advise you to delete Search.searchdp.com as soon as you can.

Our research indicates that this malware infection mainly modifies your home page setting in your affected browsers that include Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer. Therefore, you can eliminate this hijacker by restoring your home page URLs. If you are not familiar with this process, please use our guide below. Although it is possible to manually identify and eliminate a lot of malware infections if you are an advanced computer user, we advise you to use an automated anti-malware program instead. Reliable security software, such as SpyHunter can help you keep your PC clean if you update it regularly. Also, do not forget about updating all your programs and drivers because cyber criminals may gain access to your system via outdated software bugs.

Remove Search.searchdp.com from browsers

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Win+E.
2. Locate the “%AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}” folder.
3. Edit the prefs.js file in Notepad.
4. Change the user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.searchdp.com/") string and overwrite with a home page URL, such as “google.com”

Google Chrome

1. Press Win+E.
2. Open the “%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default” folder.
3. Delete these files: Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.
4. Empty your Recycle Bin.

Internet Explorer

1. Press Win+R and type regedit. Click OK.
2. Modify the value data of “http://search.searchdp.com” in the following registry keys:
   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page (64-bit)
   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page
   HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page
3. Modify the value data in the following value names in “HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}” registry key:
   FaviconURL (value data: “http://search.searchdp.com/favicon.ico”)
   FaviconURLFallback (value data: “http://search.searchdp.com/favicon.ico”)
   TopResultURL (value data: “http://search.searchdp.com”)
   URL (value data: “http://search.searchdp.com”)
4. Close the registry editor.