How dangerous is Betterfind.me search engine?
If Betterfind.me virus successfully hijacks[1] your PC, your browser’s homepage and default search settings will be changed. The website it sets provides BetterFind search engine, which is placed at the top of the page and looks like Google’s search engine. In fact, it says “Custom Google,” which can trick inexperienced computer users into thinking that this search engine is actually the real deal and that it is entirely safe to use it. That is entirely wrong – do not trust this search engine, because it is located on an entirely different domain and provides different search results than the real Google search provides. It suggests customized results, which are tailored according to user’s interests. If you are confused because you do not know how such pages can find out any information that reveals what you’re interested in, you probably haven’t heard about tracking technologies[2] that such potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) use. These tracking cookies can gather information such as your search queries, the list of websites visited, clicks, referral data[3], and even more. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find this site’s Privacy Policy, so we weren’t able to see how the site collects user data and what it is going to be used for. We do not recommend you to use such vague search tool because it is unclear whether it collects personally identifiable data or not. If it does, it might be used for illegal purposes!
You should not tolerate programs that hijack your browser without revealing their true purpose beforehand. This search tool attempts to look like a regular search engine; meanwhile, its true purpose is to fill results’ pages with sponsored entries and generate pay-per-click revenue[4] every time the user clicks on them. Exploring these websites can lead to bad consequences. You can never know whether sites advertised via this vague search engine are trustworthy or not, so act carefully when browsing through them. If you notice that these websites ask you to fill out shady surveys or suggest installing certain software on your PC, better close them immediately. We strongly recommend you to remove Betterfind.me redirect virus because it will only cause you problems and put your privacy at danger instead of serving relevant information. For BetterFindMe removal, you can use anti-spyware software like FortectIntego, although you can try to eliminate it manually as well.
Can I protect my computer from potentially unwanted programs?
Yes, you can protect your computer from potentially unwanted programs[5]. Although it is recommended to use an anti-spyware software to ward off unwanted programs, you can truly prevent their installation by paying more attention to software setup details when installing any kind of program downloaded from the Internet. Free programs often suggest installing a couple of additional applications alongside them, and users are rarely informed about their existence. To discover and refuse to install them, you should set Custom or Advanced settings for the installation and manually deselect all optional programs suggested to you. These usually are presented as “recommended” ones. However, this again proves why you cannot trust everything you read on the Internet – these programs are suggested only because the developer of the main one is paid to do so. In reality, these programs are hardly useful or needed. In most cases, they only serve ads, and obviously, that is something that no one wants.
The easiest ways to kill Betterfind.me hijacker
Nobody wants to suffer from an excessive amount of ads or repetitious redirects during their browsing sessions – it wastes our time and prevents us from reaching required information quickly. If you accidentally installed Betterfind hijacker, you can easily eliminate it using an anti-spyware software. Please do not delay Betterfind.me removal because this cyber pest will continue to bother you on a daily basis. To remove Betterfind.me virus manually, you should use the guide given below.
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.

Was this guide helpful?
4 comments