Important things to know about the Planet-surf.com virus
Planet-surf.com virus is a very low-functionality search engine, which is initially promoted as a reliable tool enhancing the user’s browsing quality. This virus is specifically designed for the users from the French-speaking countries. So, Africa, Europe and Canada are the main continents in which this virus’s activity is most significant. In fact, the security experts deem this supposed search engine as a browser hijacker and do not recommend keeping it installed on your computer. If you want to find out more about how this program can affect your system and how you can avoid it getting on your computer, please keep reading the article. However, if you want to go straight to the Planet-surf.com removal, skip to the end of this article to find some removal tips, which, hopefully, you help you to get rid of this potential computer threat.
Planet-surf.com hijack is easy to spot. Once this virus enters the computer, it overtakes the browser settings and alters them by assigning The Planet-surf.com as a homepage and default search engine. Also, this website loads in a new URL tab every time the user opens the browser. Apart from the altered browser settings, this virus may additionally install Planet Surf Toolbar. This so-called “helper object” allows the virus processes to run smoothly and obstructs the user from changing the altered settings back to the original ones. Also, if this toolbar is not uninstalled along with the virus, it can help Planet Surf to bounce back to your browser and continue to redirect you to its suspicious website. The website is considered suspicious for a reason. The users, who found themselves with this search engine on their computers, and tried to search some information through it, report various problems. The results displayed by this engine are usually irrelevant and full of links and ads of this hijacker’s affiliate websites. The virus may track the non-personal information about your browsing habits and use it to create more personalized ads, in this way increasing the chance of them being clicked more often. It has been observed that usually, clicking on the ads generated by Planet-surf.com redirect the users to unreliable and possibly infectious websites, which contain some very questionable content. Therefore, you should stay away from this virus and remove Planet-surf.com from your computer ASAP. We recommend using FortectIntego for the most efficient virus elimination.

How this hijacker can take over my browser?
Browser hijackers are usually spread through a deceptive marketing method called “bundling”. This strategy allows less popular but legitimate, as well as potentially unwanted programs to reach the users computers through software packages. PUP creators favour such packages because the malicious programs can be attached to some popular and frequently downloaded applications, and, in this way increase the download rate and expansion of the virus. Also, the “Quick” or “Recommended” installation settings allow these programs to sneak into the users’ computers undetected. However, if you are a more security-conscious computer user, you might be using the “Advanced” or “Custom” installation modes, which allow monitoring all the optional installs, potentially added to your downloaded freeware or shareware programs. Make sure you always opt for the advanced installation settings when installing newly downloaded programs, and you will decrease the risk of getting your computer hijacked by different malware, Trojans, and other viruses.
How can I remove Planet-surf.com virus from my PC?
Removing Planet-surf.com virus from your system can be rather easy if you have the knowledge and proper tools to do it. For the most efficient virus removal, the security experts recommend using some reputable antivirus utility. The automatic removal method is advised because this virus can install additional content to your computer as was mentioned before. For this reason, manually tracking down all of the virus-related components hidden deep in your computer’s system can be complicated. However, if you are determined to remove Planet-surf.com manually, you can follow our detailed virus removal guide provided bellow.
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.

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2 comments
OliverTATOR
Ive been having this search website on my browser for a week, the ads just kept coming, ever-increasingly. Thanks to your website, I managed to remove it!
JaneMary
Its too bad that these websites look legitimate... You never know if its dangerous or not...