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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Adware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Jul 2016

How to remove Happygamesearch.com virus

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Jake Doevan · Computer technology expert

Reasons to protect your PC from Happygamesearch.com:

Happygamesearch.com virus is not what you typically imagine a virus would be. When this virus enters the system, there will be no red, flashy pop-up saying that you have been infected. In fact, this virus prefers to remain undetected for as long as possible. This suspicious program from Imali Media pretends to be a legitimate application, providing the user with a search service integrated with an antivirus scanner for files and even online links. Unfortunately, as you can probably imagine, these functions are just there for a show. In reality, the program is a platform for software monetization and does nothing more than injecting sponsored links and ads into the modified search results. In a way, Happygamesearch takes usual advertising to another level by stealthily infecting users’ computers and forcing them to use the ad-based browser against their will. That is why this virus is labeled a browser hijacker. By the way, when you hit the search button this site redirects your through search.safefinder.com (which is another famous hijacker) until you reach the custom Yahoo search. Such suspicious collaboration is never a good sign. Thus, Happygamesearch.com removal is highly advisable in case it appears on your browser. If you are wondering what software would be suitable for the elimination, we recommend giving FortectIntego a try.

An illustration of the Happygamesearch.com virus

Happygamesearch.com extension will definitely won’t give you anything to be happy about. On the opposite, it can make your browsing quite miserable. First, the virus will try to make very difficult to get rid of it. It may install additional toolbars, add-ons and other software to keep this program running after the users attempt to remove it. The virus may also employ this software to spy on your browsing and using the collected data for specifically-oriented advertising. Of course, the hackers can do whatever they want with this data, so it might also be exposed to some third parties for a considerable fee. We highly doubt that anyone would wish to have their data (even the non-personally identifiable one) to be manipulated by unknown, unreliable parties. If you are among those users, who would sacrifice a few minutes of their time to remove Happygamesearch.com from their computer, scroll to the end of the article where you will find all the necessary information about the elimination if this virus.

How can this virus access your computer?

Normally, Happygamesearch.com does not appear on the computer if the users do not install it themselves. The virus creators have learned to make this installation simple and inconspicuous. They add the option allowing to set this website as a default search engine and a homepage of the infected computer in the setup of other, freely downloadable programs and pre-select its installation. The virus then gets installed automatically if the “Custom” or “Advanced” settings are not chosen for the installation. Yet, the infection can still be grasped before making its way into the system. You have to choose the above-mentioned settings to be able to deselect the undesirable options allowing Happygamesearch.com installation.

Happygamesearch.com removal and its techniques:

When people talk about the Happygamesearch.com removal, the main issue that emerges is the virus location on the computer. In fact, for the users who have no experience with the virus elimination, determining where exactly the virus files are situated can, indeed, be rather difficult. Luckily, there is professional antivirus software created specifically for this purpose. All you have to do is obtain such a utility and let it investigate your computer by choosing the full system scan option. Alternatively, we provide manual instructions at the end of the article, which should help you remove Happygamesearch.com virus from your device in case you do not wish or have no possibility to use the automatic virus elimination software.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

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

Remove the unwanted program:

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

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

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

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. 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.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. 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.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

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

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

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

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

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

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. 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:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

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

Did this guide help?

2 comments

  1. trulley

    Nasty infection, get rid of it as soon as you can

  2. Robotica

    Thanks! the removal instructions worked great!

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