SIViewer Removal Guide

If you have installed an application called SIViewer, then you should know that it falls into the category of potentially unwanted programs because it is not entirely legitimate. You might want to remove this application once you realize how useless it is. Furthermore, you should know that it serves as a vehicle for distributing a browser hijacker called Search.siviewer.com. We have analyzed this hijacker, and you can learn more about it on our website, just enter its name in the search box at the top-right of the site. In this article, we are going to focus on this image editor and its role in disseminating this hijacker. This application is not considered malicious because it does not pose a threat on its own, but due to the fact that it distributes a browser hijacker makes it undesirable.

Let us begin our analysis with where this application comes from. While conducting our research, we have found that it was published by a company called EVANGEL TECHNOLOGY(HK) LIMITED. As far as we know, this company is based in Hong Kong and as far as we know it owns the browser hijacker called Search.siviewer.com as well. Thus, this company must also be regarded as a malware developer. Apart from releasing SIViewer this developer has also published a program called Uncheckit that is distributed on a freeware hosting website called Software.informer.com.

As for SIViewer, we have found that it is being distributed using two distribution channels. The first channel is its dedicated website that hosts its standalone installer. This site is called Siviewer{.}com and it claims that this application is very innovative as it supports image formats that include GIF, PNG, TIF, TIFF, WMF, JPEG, BMP and so on. It is presented as an image customization program, particularly in customizing moving images such as GIFs. The second channel used to distribute this application is software bundling. We have received unconfirmed information that it might come bundled with third-party software and put up for download on various questionable websites. It might end up being bundled with legitimate software. In this case you should be given the opportunity to remove it from the installation setup by opting for advanced or custom installation settings and unchecking the appropriate checkbox.

This image editor is quite popular in counties such as Indonesia, which makes up around 18% of the entire user base, followed by India, Algeria, and Poland with around 8% of the user base. So the demographic information does not tell us much about this program’s target audience. Of course, SIViewer is accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. Therefore, we want to know what it is all about so that you would not install it.

Now let us discuss how this image editor works. When you launch its installer, it will offer you to change Google Chrome’s homepage with search.siviewer.com. However, this “offer” is mandatory because you cannot install the program without accepting to inject this browser hijacker. This is the main reason why this program is considered as potentially unwanted. If you agree to this offer, then your browser’s homepage will get hijacked, but do not fear because the hijack can be overturned. You should not keep Search.siviewer.com because it can compromise your computer’s security by subjecting you to potentially dangerous content presented in its search results. You should watch out for ads presented at the top of the search results page because they might redirect you to questionable websites.

As far as SIViewer’s functionality is concerned, there is not much to say about it. This bare-bones application only has the most basic tools to edit the images, so it is not all that useful, and it is by no means a professional program. We think that it was created for the purpose of carrying its accompanying browser hijacker and compelling you to accept its installation in order to use this image editor.

So this application is no good, and the same can be said about its accompanying hijacker. Even though this application is not malicious, we do not advise you to keep it any longer because it does not do anything useful. Take note that you can remove search.siviewer.com by running SIViewer’s uninstaller from the Control Panel. You can also enter a new homepage address in Chrome’s settings if you want to keep the image editor, but there is no reason to do so since getting rid of both of them is what you should be looking into.

How to uninstall this application

Windows 10

1. Right-click on the Start menu.
2. Click Control Panel and go to Uninstall a program.
3. Identify the image editor and double-click on it.
4. Uninstall.

Windows 8 & 8.1

1. Press the Windows+X keys.
2. Open Control Panel and click Uninstall a program.
3. Identify the program and right-click on it.
4. Click Uninstall.

Windows 7 & Vista

1. Click Start.
2. Select Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a program.
4. Find the program and highlight it.
5. Click Uninstall.

Windows XP

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Click Control Panel.
3. Select Add or Remove Programs.
4. Find the software and highlight it.
5. Click Uninstall.