How to remove MetaCrawler.com virus

What is MetaCrawler.com?

Metacrawler.com is a seriously suspicious search engine that may lead people su such problems as continuous redirections to unknown websites, disturbing pop-up alerts and other notifications that may start appearing out of nowhere. If you have also been suffering from redirects to this or other domains, you can almost be sure that you are infected with MetaCrawler.com browser hijacker. In has an ability to get inside the PC without any permission asked and then start unwanted activities on each of web browsers. Typically, this potentially unwanted program alters the start page, the default search engine and the new tab page on each of web browsers. After doing so, it may start causing redirects to its affiliate websites. How can it do that? The answer is very simple – Metacrawler.com is a commercial search engine that may show you altered search results. The most of them are filled with third party links that are displayed just for redirecting people to predetermined domains. Beware that you can be redirected to really questionable sites that should be avoided because they may try to trick you into installing unwanted programs on your computer. There is no guarantee that such sites are not used for promoting malware, spyware or other infected software. Besides, Metacrawler.com virus has also been reported for having an ability to track users and their browsing on the web. If you want to protect your personally non-identifiable data, you should remove this suspicious search engine. You can do that with the help of Fortect Intego.

metacrawler

How can Metacrawler.com hijack my computer?

MetaCrawler.com is one of these potentially unwanted programs that are capable of infiltrating users’ computers behind their back. This is usually done when they surf the web and decide to download a free program on their computers. Please, be very careful because such programs may belong to questionable developers that may try to use them for their own needs. In this case, they may fill them with suspicious components, such as MetaCrawler.com hijacker, and trick users into installing it without understanding that. If you want to avoid that, you need to start monitoring installation of the freeware. You can do that by selecting Custom or Advanced installation method and then unchecking pre-checked check marks that claim that you want to change your start page/the default search engine. If this program infiltrates the system, it may modify its system settings and them may start causing redirects to Metacrawler.com or other pages. Note that you shouldn’t trust its search results because the most of them may be filled with sponsored links leading you to sponsored websites. That’s why we believe that you should remove Metacrawler.com from your computer without any delay.

How to remove Metacrawler.com virus?

You can stop metacrawler.com redirects and its annoying pop-up ads by removing this browser hijacker from your computer. This can be down with the help of updated anti-spyware (automatic removal method) or with the help of a simple step-by-step guide. If you feel that you can remove this PUP yourself, make sure you carefully follow each of these steps and perform them in right order to avoid system damage.

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.

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.