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  • Active
  • Severity: High
  • Stealing programs
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Feb 2016

How to remove Search.dashingpool.com virus

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

Ugnius Kiguolis · The mastermind

What is Search.dashingpool.com and how did it manage to change my browser’s homepage without my consent?

Search.dashingpool.com is a ‘browser hijacker’ kind of software, which has been assigned to the ‘potentially unwanted programs’ (PUPs) group due to the unpleasant activities it does on the victimized PC. This program is named after a website’s name because it promotes a fake web search engine, which delivers sponsored search outcomes. This website will be set as your homepage, default search provider and a new tab page in case Search.dashingpool.com hijacker gets installed on the computer.

Search.dashingpool.com virus hijack

You should stay away from this search engine as it provides irrelevant search results, often modified ones that carry misleading hyperlinks added to them. That means clicking on Search.dashingpool.com search outcomes can initiate Search.dashingpool.com redirects to predetermined web sources, which might be insecure. The developers of this PUP tend to promote affiliate marketing and increase web traffic to particular web pages in order to gain pay-per-click revenue. However, you should keep in mind that some third-party websites that might be promoted via this PUP can be untrustworthy. For example, they might ask you to provide personal information about you, or they may offer you to install software that might appear to be spyware or even malware. In other words, you should get rid of this unreliable search engine and use a well-known and trusted one instead. You should know that you cannot just replace your homepage via browser’s settings; you must remove Search.dashingpool.com PUP from your system. You can use an anti-spyware software for that, for example, FortectIntego (for Windows). This PUP reportedly attacks Mac computers, too, so for Mac users we recommend using FortectIntego anti-spyware software.

How did Search.dashingpool.com hijack my PC?

Search.dashingpool.com browser hijacker is mostly promoted via installers of other free programs. In most cases, it is presented as a ‘recommended download’ that can be downloaded and installed alongside your selected program. So be careful whenever you download free applications from the Internet – they might appear to be software bundles. We recommend checking whether your selected software has any optional software attached to it or not by selecting Advanced or Custom installation settings. If the setup provides a list of ‘recommended programs,’ deselect the agreements to install these extra apps. Make sure you never install software using Default or Standard installation mode as these options do not give a possibility to monitor which software elements you wish to install and which ones you do not – these settings install all components at once.

If this has already happened to you and Search.dashingpool.com hijacker has already taken control of your Internet browser, we recommend removing it from your PC with no delay. We have already mentioned the automatic removal option, but we also provide a manual removal option, too. Please continue reading the article on page 2 to find instructions how to remove this hideous browser hijacker manually.

Search.dashingpool.com removal methods

The easiest way to get rid of Search.dashingpool.com virus is to install an anti-spyware program and make a full system scan with it. Such program checks all system folders and finds all computer parasites that might be hiding deeply in your PC system. Then it removes these threats. However, if this removal option does not seem to be the best way to remove Search.dashingpool.com virus, you can alternatively remove it manually. Be very careful as you do it and make sure you do not leave any Search.dashingpool.com virus leftovers on your system. Follow the step-by-step removal guide that is provided below, and eliminate this program that has infiltrated your system without your consent:

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.

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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