Ezy-search.com virus. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
Ezy-search.com redirects can force you to visit suspicious websites
Ezy-search.com is a suspicious website that provides Internet search engine. At the first sight, it looks like any other regular search engine. However, browsers that load it automatically simply show that the computer is infected with a browser hijacker[1]. Ezy-search.com redirect virus is developed by Prssto, Inc., a company that is also the author of Games4Tab.com virus.
Ezy-search browser hijacker can be installed into your computer completely without your knowledge. Typically it happens when you install freeware or shareware without adjusting software installation settings properly. As a consequence, the potentially unwanted addition hijacks the computer system and forces the victim experience redirects to hxxp://Ezy-search.com/ domain.
The reason why the developers of this hijacker are so desperate to force you to use their search engine is that it allows them to serve you ads in the form of search results. Usually, people tend to avoid Internet ads; however, sponsored search results can easily trick inattentive people into clicking them.
A consequence of such unexpected click can be a visit to a potentially dangerous website[2]. You may also unexpectedly step into sites that share inappropriate content. The developer of this search tool admits it and also states that “you agree to use the Site at your sole risk and that Prssto shall have no liability to you for content that may be found to be offensive, indecent, or objectionable.”
We suggest that you act carefully when using this search engine. In fact, experts from our team do not recommend using it at all – the search tool looks vague and attempts to lure victims into all kinds of websites just to generate revenue. If you would like to avoid this search engine, you will need to remove Ezy-search.com from the computer.
It won’t be that easy to perform removal because the potentially unwanted program drops various files as it settles into the computer system. To entirely banish it from your PC, consider using anti-malware software. Our team recommends using Reimage.
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
Protect your PC from vague software
To protect your PC from unwanted software such as browser hijackers or adware, you must watch what you install on the system. It is important not only to inspect programs you install but also to check what other programs they suggest installing, NoVirus.uk experts[3] advise.
You would be surprised if you knew how many free programs attempt to make money by offering users to install extra programs alongside them. These bundled programs can be deselected via Custom or Standard software installation settings, so do not miss a chance to configure the installer a little.
If you skip this step and simply let the software install on your PC with Standard or Default settings, you simply take the risk installing unknown free programs that might pose a threat to your privacy. Be attentive and configure the installation settings to avoid running into problems later.
Remove Ezy-search.com redirect virus
It is time to remove Ezy-search.com virus from the system. Although this annoying computer pest cannot be added to malware category and it is just a low-level computer parasite, there are no reasons to keep it in your computer any longer. To uninstall it from your computer, use instructions we provide.
However, in order to entirely purify your computer system from threats, automatic Ezy-search.com removal is required. Scanning the system with a professional malware removal software can help you to locate and delete hidden spyware/malware elements very quickly.
You can remove Ezy-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.
To remove Ezy-search.com virus, follow these steps:
Get rid of Ezy-search.com from Windows systems
Ezy-search.com virus can be removed using these instructions. Firstly, uninstall all suspicious software from the system. Then repair browser shortcuts so that the browsers could no longer open the shady search site for you automatically.
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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 Ezy-search.com and related programs
Here, look for Ezy-search.com or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
- Remove Ezy-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 Ezy-search.com from Mac OS X system
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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 Ezy-search.com or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Erase Ezy-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 Ezy-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 Ezy-search.com removal.
Uninstall Ezy-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, Ezy-search.com should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariDelete Ezy-search.com from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
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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 Ezy-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 Ezy-search.com removal.
Eliminate Ezy-search.com from Google Chrome
Delete Ezy-search.com virus from Chrome by uninstalling extensions that seem suspicious to you.
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Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions. -
Here, select Ezy-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 Ezy-search.com removal.
Get rid of Ezy-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 Ezy-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 Ezy-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 Ezy-search.com removal process.
About the author
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References
- ^ Browser hijacking. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.
- ^ Breaking down a notably sophisticated tech support scam M.O.. Microsoft TechNet. The New Microsoft Malware Protection Blog.
- ^ NoVirus. NoVirus. Malware Removal Guides & Security Related Tips.