Problems that WhizMarket Search virus creates
WhizMarket Search virus is a questionable free program that adds WM Search extension to major web browsers and changes their default start page settings to start causing redirects to hxxp://thewhizmarket.co/search/. The search engine claims to be generating Custom Google Search results, which means that it serves Google Results filled with additional entries that mostly link to affiliate websites. The aim of this questionable hijacker is to force users to enter particular websites to increase their traffic rates. Sadly, this redirect virus hardly cares about users’ privacy and security so that it might place dangerous third-party links alongside organic search results. Clicking on a corrupted link triggers a redirect to the predetermined page. While experienced and tech-savvy computer users might successfully identify deceptive websites and quit them immediately, others can continue using this search engine or, even worse, start exploring vague external sites that it advertises. If you do not want to come across potentially dangerous or even phishing[1] websites, act very carefully when using this search tool. Ideally, remove WhizMarket Search and start using a different search engine. Our team recommends scanning the system with anti-malware software like FortectIntego to clean the remaining spyware elements.

Another concern regarding this questionable search tool is that it doesn’t provide any information relating to data privacy. It is a well-known truth that browser hijackers and adware programs tend to spy on user’s activities to deliver catchy-looking advertisements; however, we cannot know how this suspicious tool collects and stores data gathered during victim’s browsing sessions. It might be trying to collect your personally identifiable information along with your search queries, IP addresses, clicks, and geolocation. Such activity certainly doesn’t encourage us to trust such shady tool, and so we recommend you to implement WhizMarket removal as soon as possible. Only after deleting this questionable tool as well as WM Search extensions[2] you will manage to access your browser’s settings to change the default start and new tab page settings.

Avoiding potentially unwanted programs can be easy
It is easy to avoid potentially unwanted programs, but many computer users simply do not know what it takes to keep such virtual parasites away. In fact, you can ward off many potentially unwanted programs without even using an anti-spyware or anti-malware program, although having such program is a must (in our opinion). Browser hijackers and adware tend to sneak into computers alongside popular free programs that present these additions as “recommended” and “beneficial” tools that users might find “useful.” We can only comment that the majority of such bundled additions are completely useless and simply slow down the computers, display pop-up ads or initiate web redirects. To drop such unwanted additions, choose Custom or Advanced settings during installation of any kind of software. Then all that you need to do is to deselect suggested programs one after another.
Remove WhizMarket Search
There’s no doubt that browser redirections and browser crashes are problems everybody wants to avoid, so do not hesitate any longer and remove WhizMarket Search virus using instructions provided below the article. If you’d like to save some time and patience, opt for automatic WhizMarket removal option (see the list of suggested anti-spyware programs below). If for some reason you cannot delete the hijacker, send a question to our team – we will be happy to help you!
Uninstall from Windows
Uninstall from Windows 10/8:
- Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:
- In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
- If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS
Remove the unwanted application:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
- Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.

- Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.
Reset Internet Explorer
Remove dangerous add-ons:
- Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
- Pick Manage Add-ons.
- You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:
- Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
- Select Internet Options.
- In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
- Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:
- Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
- Under Browsing history, click Delete...
- Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:
- Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
- Select Reset.
- In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
- This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Settings.
- Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data...
- Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.

- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.
Reset Google Chrome:
If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
- Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:
- Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
- Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:
- Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
- Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

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