Boost.ur-search.com redirect virus annoys computer users by serving sponsored search results

Boost.ur-search.com is a dubious search site that tends to deliver many sponsored results. Users often discover it in their browsers after installing a potentially unwanted program – browser hijacker[1]. The developer of this search site is AdaptiveBee S.A.S.U.
The browser hijacker replaces values in “On Startup” and “Default search” settings with hxxp://Boost.ur-search.com/, causing browser redirects to the described search site more than frequently.
The only reason why Boost.ur-search is being pushed to computer users is that it is capable of serving ads based on user’s browsing activities. It uses details describing user’s browsing preferences to serve sponsored search results.
As soon as the victim clicks on these, one gets redirected to third-party websites that this hijacker promotes. As a consequence, the developer of the shady search tool gets paid for attracting traffic to these sites.
The potentially unwanted program (PUP) uses tracking technologies to collect victim’s search queries, IP address, and browsing history. Keep in mind that the developer receives ALL information you enter into search engines.
So if you have entered some private details or searched for information about yourself online, it will receive it. What concerns us is that the company shares collected information with third-parties for “industry analysis, demographic profiling” and similar purposes. However, you can never really know the other purposes that the collected information might be used for.

Easy way to keep potentially unwanted software at bay
Potentially unwanted programs (PUP) are easy to avoid. Of course, if you use an up-to-date anti-spyware program, you get maximum protection, but you can also do something to prevent these shady programs from installing themselves on your PC[2].
All that we suggest doing is being more careful during the installation of free software. There are hundreds of free programs available online today, and all of them promise all kinds of good things to computer users. Sadly, these programs are not developed for someone’s fun – they function as tools that help to attract pay-per-install revenue.
Therefore, many of these programs suggest the user to install “recommended” programs alongside them. Unfortunately, these recommended programs are not that useful; besides, they usually display myriads of ads on a daily basis. We doubt that someone wants to use or have such programs on their computers.
Luckily, you just need to deselect a couple of check boxes when installing free software in order to keep unwanted programs at bay. So make sure you choose Custom or Advanced settings for software installation and simply remove check marks next to agreements to install suspicious browser toolbars/applications or permissions to change your browser settings.
According to research, this hijacker mostly affects Italian computer users, so if you're one of them, check out SenzaVirus.it site[3].
Remove Boost.ur-search from your browsers
A quick way to remove Boost.ur-search.com virus is to check what programs you installed recently and also delete browser extensions associated with them. You can find an in-depth explanation on how to do it right below the article.
Experts from 2-Spyware team prepared a tutorial with screenshots that will guide you through the Boost.ur-search.com removal procedure. If you have any questions or tips how this tutorial could be improved – send your thoughts to your team or leave a comment 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.

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