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  • Active
  • Severity: High
  • Stealing programs
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Apr 2017

How to remove Query.searchetan.com virus

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Lucia Danes · Virus researcher

Query.searchetan.com promotes video streaming services to earn money

Query.searchetan.com virus refers to a malicious website which occupies browsers and promotes various video streaming services. This browser hijacker [1] belongs to the branch of viruses that promote a browser extension called Easy Television Access Now. On 2-spyware, we have already reviewed search.easytelevisionaccess.com and search.searchetan.com websites which also promote Easy Television Access Now. All of these sites feature identical design and links to the same well-known video streaming sites as Netflix and Hulu. While these sites are legitimate and reliable, other links that Searchetan promotes are not so trustworthy. Take for instance the SaferBrowser-owned http://news.mynewswire.co. If you don’t already know, Safer Browser stands behind numerous browser hijackers and suspicious extensions [2], therefore visiting a news site managed by this developer may get one of these potentially unwanted programs on your computer as well. Does a service that promotes such content deserves your trust? We do not think so. We highly suggest that you carefully read this article through and complete Query.searchetan.com removal steps presented below. Also, you can speed up the procedure and clean up your PC with the help of automatic software such as FortectIntego or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes.

Query.searchetan.com virus

We should point out once again that you should be careful not to be deceived by Query.searchetan.com hijacker. This is not a regular extension that you typically download from Google Chrome Store or other reliable software distributors. It is a search engine imitating program which is designed for one purpose — advertising and all that the software creators aim for is generating as much ad revenue [3] as possible. So, you should not even be surprised if the virus suddenly decides to redirect [4] you to some unfamiliar domain or help other questionable software hijack your computer. Luckily, the quicker you remove Query.searchetan.com, the fewer inconveniences you are going to experience. To prevent similar malware from entering your computer, we recommend continuing reading the paragraph about virus prevention below.

Example of Query.searchetan.com virus

Principles of hijacker prevention

To prevent Query.searchetan.com hijacker from showing up on your computer, you will have to seriously re-evaluate your own browsing habits and your computer’s level of protection [5]. First, think of whether you are always browsing on secure websites or you tend to sidetrack to some more questionable domains. If you do, you should remember that visiting random, unverified domains is the quickest road to an undesirable cyber infection. You are lucky if you get away safe. Most of the time, though, users either get infected by malware through drive-by downloads or they unknowingly install some questionable software on their computers themselves. Even if the program looks legitimate, it can be secretly bundled with shady applications, thus you cannot evaluate the program’s legitimacy just by looking at it. You should scan the downloaded software package with some professional antivirus suite and take time to go through the advanced installation process. Taking these precautions should prevent you from finding Query.searchetan.com or similar malware on your PC.

There are two ways to remove Query.searchetan.com

Essentially, you can remove Query.searchetan.com virus either manually or automatically. These two elimination strategies are equally popular among the users, though the security experts recommend sticking to the latter. The reason for this is simple. Automatic tools, i.e. anti-malware, anti-spyware and antivirus software is specifically designed to fight this kind of malware, and they are more precise in finding malicious components on the infected computers. Nevertheless, if you trust your skills, you can try out the manual Query.searchetan.com removal, too. Just scroll down for a step-by-step tutorial.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

  1. In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
  2. If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.Uninstall the unwanted program from Windows

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

  1. Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
  2. Pick Manage Add-ons.
  3. You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.Remove add-ons from Internet Explorer

Change your homepage if it was altered:

  1. Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
  2. Select Internet Options.
  3. In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
  4. Click Apply and then select OK.Reset IE homepage

Delete temporary files:

  1. Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
  2. Under Browsing history, click Delete...
  3. Select relevant fields and press Delete.Clear temporary files from Internet Explorer

Reset Internet Explorer:

  1. Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
  2. Select Reset.
  3. In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.Reset Internet Explorer

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

  1. Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
  2. From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
  3. Click Remove.Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. 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.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. 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.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. On the left side, pick Reset settings.
  3. Select Restore settings to their default values.
  4. Confirm with Reset.
  5. This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.Reset Chromium Edge

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
  2. Select Add-ons.
  3. In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

  1. Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
  2. In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. 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:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
  2. Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.Remove extensions from Safari

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  3. From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.Reset Safari

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