Home.searchfreehoroscope.com virus (Free Instructions) - Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
Home.searchfreehoroscope.com virus Removal Guide
What is Home.searchfreehoroscope.com virus?
Home.searchfreehoroscope.com is the application that installs other browser-based programs without permission
Home.searchfreehoroscope.com is a horoscope-themed search engine developed by ElementSoft SL. The program spreads as a Search Free Horoscope extension[1] in software packages. For this reason, users often install it unintentionally to Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer. The main page of the PUP looks like an ordinary search engine that redirects to the Yahoo search engine. It has an additional feature. It allows reading daily predictions for each zodiac sign. However, it works as a browser hijacker.
| Name | Home.searchfreehoroscope.com |
|---|---|
| Type | Browser hijacker |
| Category | Potentially unwanted program |
| Issues | The PUP triggers unwanted redirects, advertisements, other pop-ups, and banners to appear on the screen |
| Removal | Run anti-malware tool and clear all detected threats on the machine |
| Recovery | System damage can get repaired with a tool like FortectIntego that checks for corrupted and altered data |
However, the research of this tool warns about possible redirect issues. The PUP might deliver misleading ads that lead to potentially dangerous websites. Besides, users can be forcibly redirected to third-party sites when they click on a link or other content.
The extension might also alter the browser’s settings. For this reason, Home.searchfreehoroscope.com removal might be complicated. Sometimes uninstalling the add-on might not be enough. So, users might need to employ security software, such as SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
The hijacker might bring you one step closer to a real cyber attack. However, it might pose a danger to user’s privacy too. According to the Privacy Policy, Search Free Horoscope might collect information about:
- your browser type;
- ISP;
- browsing history;
- search queries;
- etc.
One of the reasons why this information is aggregated is related to marketing. However, developers put the words in a beautiful way:
“Present you with offers for other products, offerings, programs, features, and/or services that we believe you may find interesting.”
Reading further the Privacy Policy, we have also discovered that the developers might share some of the aggregated details with third-party advertising networks.[2] Therefore, if you do not expect to receive suspicious or annoying shopping offers, you should remove home.searchfreehoroscope.com.
Versions of Search Free Horoscope New Tab
Home.srchfreehoroscope.com is another domain that redirects to the Search Free Horoscope engine and looks identical to home.searchfreehoroscope.com. According to the specialists from Bulgaria,[3] The usage of two different domains might be related to the hijacker’s distribution strategy.
Different names of the search engine might be distributed in different software packages. In this way, developers increase their chances to promote their product and increase its installation. However, it doesn’t matter which URL you see in your browser’s URL bar; you have to take all the necessary steps to get rid of it.
Traveling in software packages helps to get installed on the computers unnoticed
As we have already mentioned, the PUP is promoted in various software bundles. This distribution is widely used for spreading similar hijackers, such as blpsearch.com. It helps to get installed on the device secretly when a user rushes to install a new program.
To avoid this from happening, you should always opt for Advanced/Custom installation and carefully read all notifications. Once you encounter the list of “additional downloads,” you have to reject their installation by unmarking them.
Getting rid of the Home.searchfreehoroscope.com
Manual threat removal requires uninstalling its browser extension from Chrome, Firefox, and Explorer and resetting the browser. Additionally, you should look up and get rid of other unknown entries as well. There can be some issues triggered by the leftovers of the PUP.
However, you should remove Home.searchfreehoroscope.com automatically, if it sneaked inside your PC unnoticed because other PUPs may have been installed as well. Therefore, it’s easier to wipe out all suspicious components with professional help.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of Home.searchfreehoroscope.com virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)
To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
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 on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (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 Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
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.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
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.
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 unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
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, as well as Cached Web Content and press 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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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 unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of Home.searchfreehoroscope.com registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting browser hijacker
Choose a proper web browser and improve your safety with a VPN tool
Online spying has got momentum in recent years and people are getting more and more interested in how to protect their privacy online. One of the basic means to add a layer of security – choose the most private and secure web browser. Although web browsers can't grant full privacy protection and security, some of them are much better at sandboxing, HTTPS upgrading, active content blocking, tracking blocking, phishing protection, and similar privacy-oriented features. However, if you want true anonymity, we suggest you employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN – it can encrypt all the traffic that comes and goes out of your computer, preventing tracking completely.
Lost your files? Use data recovery software
While some files located on any computer are replaceable or useless, others can be extremely valuable. Family photos, work documents, school projects – these are types of files that we don't want to lose. Unfortunately, there are many ways how unexpected data loss can occur: power cuts, Blue Screen of Death errors, hardware failures, crypto-malware attack, or even accidental deletion.
To ensure that all the files remain intact, you should prepare regular data backups. You can choose cloud-based or physical copies you could restore from later in case of a disaster. If your backups were lost as well or you never bothered to prepare any, Data Recovery Pro can be your only hope to retrieve your invaluable files.
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- ^ Eric Limer. Reminder: Your Browser Extensions Have Absurd Access To Everything You Do Online. Popular Mechanic. Popular science and technology website.
- ^ Advertising Network Definition. Marketing Terms. Digital marketing reference & research.
- ^ Virusi. Virusi. Bulgarian website about cyber security news, malware and removal tutorials.