Boost.ur-search.com virus. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
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.
Click 'Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features' (if you are 'Windows XP' user, click on 'Add/Remove Programs').
If you are 'Windows 10 / Windows 8' user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once 'Quick Access Menu' shows up, select 'Control Panel' and 'Uninstall a Program'.
Right click on each of suspicious entries and select 'Uninstall'
Right click on browsers' icon and select 'Properties'
Select 'Shortcut' tab and delete 'http://isearch.babylon.com...' or other suspicious URL
Cick 'Go' and select 'Applications'
Click on every malicious entry and select 'Move to Trash'
Click on menu icon and select 'Manage add-ons'
Right click on each of malicious entries and select 'Disable'
Delete malicious URL, enter your desired domain name and click 'Apply' to save changes
Go to 'Advanced' tab and click on 'Reset' button. Now select 'Delete personal settings' and click on 'Reset' button again
Go to Settings and select 'Choose what to clear'
Select 'Clear' button
Open the start menu and select 'Task Manager'
Right-click 'Microsoft Edge' and select 'Go to details'
Select 'More details' if 'Go to details' option fails to show up
Find Microsoft Edge entries and select 'End Task'
Go to Microsoft Edge folder on your computer, right-click every entry and click 'Delete'
Find Windows PowerShell, right-click it and select 'Run as administrator'
Copy and paste a required command and press 'Enter'
Click on menu icon and select 'Add-ons'
Select 'Extensions' and look for malicious entries. Click 'Remove' to get rid of each of them
When in 'General' tab, delete malicious URL from 'Home Page' section or click on 'Restore to Default' button. Click 'OK' to save changes
Click on menu icon and then on '?'. Select 'Troubleshooting Information'
Click on 'Reset Firefox' button for a couple of times
Click on menu icon. Select 'Tools' and 'Extensions'
Look for malicious entries and delete each of them by clicking on the Trash bin icon
After clicking on menu and 'Settings', select 'Set pages'
Click 'X' to remove malicious URLs
When in 'Settings', select 'Manage search engines...'
Click 'X' to remove malicious URLs
When in 'Settings', scroll down to 'Reset browser settings' button and click on it
Click on 'Reset' button to complete your removal
Click on 'Safari' and select 'Preferences'
Go to 'Extensions' and uninstall malicious add-ons
When in 'General', delete malicious URL and enter your desired domain name
Click on 'Safari' and select 'Reset Safari...'
Select all options and click on 'Reset' button
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.
You can remove Boost.ur-search.com automatically with a help of one of these programs: Reimage, Plumbytes Anti-MalwareWebroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus, Malwarebytes Anti Malware. We recommend these applications because they can easily delete potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Manual Boost.ur-search.com virus Removal Guide:
Remove Boost.ur-search.com from Windows systems
Start the Boost.ur-search.com removal by uninstalling all suspicious-looking programs from your PC. Then, fix compromised browser shortcuts.
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Click Start → Control Panel → Programs and Features (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
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If you are Windows 10 / Windows 8 user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once Quick Access Menu shows up, select Control Panel and Uninstall a Program.
- Uninstall Boost.ur-search.com and related programs
Here, look for Boost.ur-search.com or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
- Remove Boost.ur-search.com from Windows shortcuts
Right click on the shortcut of Mozilla Firefox and select Properties. -
Go to Shortcut tab and look at the Target field. Delete malicious URL that is related to your virus.
Repeat steps that are given above with all browsers' shortcuts, including Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Make sure you check all locations of these shortcuts, including Desktop, Start Menu and taskbar.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariRemove Boost.ur-search.com from Mac OS X system
Check Applications folder in your Mac and delete all programs that might be related to Boost.ur-search search site.
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If you are using OS X, click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications.
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Wait until you see Applications folder and look for Boost.ur-search.com or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Remove Boost.ur-search.com from Internet Explorer (IE)
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Remove dangerous add-ons
Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top right corner of the browser and choose Manage Add-ons. -
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for Boost.ur-search.com and other suspicious plugins. Disable these entries by clicking Disable:
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the gear icon (menu) on the top right corner of the browser and select Internet Options. Stay in General tab. -
Here, remove malicious URL and enter preferable domain name. Click Apply to save changes.
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Reset Internet Explorer
Click on the gear icon (menu) again and select Internet options. Go to Advanced tab. - Here, select Reset.
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When in the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset again to complete Boost.ur-search.com removal.
Remove Boost.ur-search.com virus from Microsoft Edge
Reset Microsoft Edge settings (Method 1):
- Launch Microsoft Edge app and click More (three dots at the top right corner of the screen).
- Click Settings to open more options.
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Once Settings window shows up, click Choose what to clear button under Clear browsing data option.
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Here, select all what you want to remove and click Clear.
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Now you should right-click on the Start button (Windows logo). Here, select Task Manager.
- When in Processes tab, search for Microsoft Edge.
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Right-click on it and choose Go to details option. If can’t see Go to details option, click More details and repeat previous steps.
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When Details tab shows up, find every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right click on each of them and select End Task to end these entries.
Resetting Microsoft Edge browser (Method 2):
If Method 1 failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method.
- Note: you need to backup your data before using this method.
- Find this folder on your computer:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe. -
Select every entry which is saved on it and right click with your mouse. Then Delete option.
- Click the Start button (Windows logo) and type in window power in Search my stuff line.
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Right-click the Windows PowerShell entry and choose Run as administrator.
- Once Administrator: Windows PowerShell window shows up, paste this command line after PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> and press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml -Verbose}
Once these steps are finished, Boost.ur-search.com should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariRemove Boost.ur-search.com from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Open Firefox and go to Add-ons panel to remove Boost.ur-search remains.
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Remove dangerous extensions
Open Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Add-ons → Extensions. -
Here, select Boost.ur-search.com and other questionable plugins. Click Remove to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the menu (top right corner), choose Options → General. - Here, delete malicious URL and enter preferable website or click Restore to default.
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Click OK to save these changes.
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Reset Mozilla Firefox
Click on the Firefox menu on the top left and click on the question mark. Here, choose Troubleshooting Information. -
Now you will see Reset Firefox to its default state message with Reset Firefox button. Click this button for several times and complete Boost.ur-search.com removal.
Remove Boost.ur-search.com from Google Chrome
To remove Boost.ur-search.com virus from Chrome, get rid of all Chrome extensions that seem suspicious or simply do not provide any beneficial features. To access the Extensions panel quickly, enter chrome://extensions in browser's URL bar.
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Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions. -
Here, select Boost.ur-search.com and other malicious plugins and select trash icon to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage and default search engine if it was altered by your virus
Click on menu icon and choose Settings. -
Here, look for the Open a specific page or set of pages under On startup option and click on Set pages.
- Now you should see another window. Here, delete malicious search sites and enter the one that you want to use as your homepage.
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Click on menu icon again and choose Settings → Manage Search engines under the Search section.
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When in Search Engines..., remove malicious search sites. You should leave only Google or your preferred domain name.
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Reset Google Chrome
Click on menu icon on the top right of your Google Chrome and select Settings. -
Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Reset browser settings.
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Click Reset to confirm this action and complete Boost.ur-search.com removal.
Remove Boost.ur-search.com from Safari
- Remove dangerous extensions
Open Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu at the top left of the screen. Once you do this, select Preferences. -
Here, select Extensions and look for Boost.ur-search.com or other suspicious entries. Click on the Uninstall button to get rid each of them.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Open your Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu section. Here, select Preferences as it was displayed previously and select General. -
Here, look at the Homepage field. If it was altered by Boost.ur-search.com, remove unwanted link and enter the one that you want to use for your searches. Remember to include the "http://" before typing in the address of the page.
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Reset Safari
Open Safari browser and click on Safari in menu section at the top left of the screen. Here, select Reset Safari.... -
Now you will see a detailed dialog window filled with reset options. All of those options are usually checked, but you can specify which of them you want to reset. Click the Reset button to complete Boost.ur-search.com removal process.
About the author
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References
- ^ Robert Siciliano. What is Browser Hijacking?. McAfee Blogs. Identity Theft Protection Tips.
- ^ Top 10 Ways PUPs Sneak Onto Your Computer. And How To Avoid Them.. Emsisoft Blog. Security-related News, Research, Opinions.
- ^ SenzaVirus website. SenzaVirus. Virus Removal Tutorials, IT Security News and Tips.