Search.hgomaps.co virus. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
Search.hgomaps.co: maps, news, and ads
Search.hgomaps.co virus implies the name of another search tool designed by Polarity Technologies Ltd. The latter company has gained notorious popularity, as it has continued creating multiple search tools which for some or other reasons are labeled as browser hijackers.
They are not as aggressive as Cleanserp virus or other more typical browser hijackers. The search tools of this company are unlikely to occupy your hijacker. However, it is possible that you might set It accidentally when you install a new program.
Polarity search engines usually focus on these topics:
- Shopping
- Games
- Weather forecast
- News
- Multiple Email accounts
- Sports
- Movie streaming
Likewise, if you are looking for a new search engine with links to either of the above-mentioned destinations, you are likely to encounter Polarity Technologies search tool. Furthermore, since they promote Revcontent ads, likewise, the probability of encounter is higher.
Search.hgomaps.co focuses on attracting users with links to map sites. Alternatively known as Go Maps hijacker, it includes links to Local Weather, News, Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Gas Prices sites.
Speaking of the pros of search.hgomaps.co, it supports security plug-ins. Furthermore, advertising is relatively medium. On the other hand, you may dislike the fact that it collects certain information about your browsing habits and shares it with business partners.
Likewise, the number of ads might increase. Within a while, they may become more personalized. Though such pay-per-click[1] advertising is beneficial for the two parties—the developer of the search tool and service providers — the third party – users – might get bothered by the outcomes of clicking on such notification.
The case of Taboola ads[2] revealed that it is not so difficult to get to a scam site even clicking on a notification on a legitimate site. Lastly, you may be bothered by occasional search.hgomaps.co redirect.
Due to the possibility to get directed to a poorly protected sponsored site, it is recommended to eliminate the PUP. You can perform search.hgomaps.co removal faster with Reimage or Plumbytes Anti-MalwareMalwarebytes Malwarebytes.


Click 'Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features' (if you are 'Windows XP' user, click on 'Add/Remove Programs').

If you are 'Windows 10 / Windows 8' user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once 'Quick Access Menu' shows up, select 'Control Panel' and 'Uninstall a Program'.

Right click on each of suspicious entries and select 'Uninstall'

Right click on browsers' icon and select 'Properties'

Select 'Shortcut' tab and delete 'http://isearch.babylon.com...' or other suspicious URL

Cick 'Go' and select 'Applications'

Click on every malicious entry and select 'Move to Trash'

Click on menu icon and select 'Manage add-ons'

Right click on each of malicious entries and select 'Disable'

Delete malicious URL, enter your desired domain name and click 'Apply' to save changes

Go to 'Advanced' tab and click on 'Reset' button. Now select 'Delete personal settings' and click on 'Reset' button again

Go to Settings and select 'Choose what to clear'

Select 'Clear' button

Open the start menu and select 'Task Manager'

Right-click 'Microsoft Edge' and select 'Go to details'

Select 'More details' if 'Go to details' option fails to show up

Find Microsoft Edge entries and select 'End Task'

Go to Microsoft Edge folder on your computer, right-click every entry and click 'Delete'

Find Windows PowerShell, right-click it and select 'Run as administrator'

Copy and paste a required command and press 'Enter'

Click on menu icon and select 'Add-ons'

Select 'Extensions' and look for malicious entries. Click 'Remove' to get rid of each of them

When in 'General' tab, delete malicious URL from 'Home Page' section or click on 'Restore to Default' button. Click 'OK' to save changes

Click on menu icon and then on '?'. Select 'Troubleshooting Information'

Click on 'Reset Firefox' button for a couple of times

Click on menu icon. Select 'Tools' and 'Extensions'

Look for malicious entries and delete each of them by clicking on the Trash bin icon

After clicking on menu and 'Settings', select 'Set pages'

Click 'X' to remove malicious URLs

When in 'Settings', select 'Manage search engines...'

Click 'X' to remove malicious URLs

When in 'Settings', scroll down to 'Reset browser settings' button and click on it

Click on 'Reset' button to complete your removal

Click on 'Safari' and select 'Preferences'

Go to 'Extensions' and uninstall malicious add-ons

When in 'General', delete malicious URL and enter your desired domain name

Click on 'Safari' and select 'Reset Safari...'

Select all options and click on 'Reset' button
PUP transmission trends
You can find the PUP on its legitimate site. In addition, it is possible that you may get redirected there after you click on a specific link on a sponsored website. There is no information about “search.hgomaps.co hijack.”
In other words, there are no reports yet that the PUP is promoted as an add-on to other free programs. In any case, remain vigilant while installing freeware. Opt for “Advanced” settings and deselect optional tools. Now let us discuss how you can quickly remove search.hgomaps.co.
Delete search.hgomaps.co from the main browsers
It is quite easy to get rid of the hijacker. You can remove search.hgomaps.co virus with the assistance of manual instructions shown below. Alternatively, there is a faster solution. Anti-malware tool helps perform search.hgomaps.co removal faster. You can combine these two methods to ensure that no web scripts remain. This hijacker might appear in other than English sites, for example, Portuguese or Estonian[3].
You can remove virus damage automatically with a help of one of these programs: Reimage, Malwarebytes MalwarebytesCombo Cleaner, Plumbytes Anti-MalwareMalwarebytes Malwarebytes. We recommend these applications because they detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
To remove Search.hgomaps.co virus, follow these steps:
Remove Search.hgomaps.co from Windows systems
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Click Start → Control Panel → Programs and Features (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
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If you are Windows 10 / Windows 8 user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once Quick Access Menu shows up, select Control Panel and Uninstall a Program.
- Uninstall Search.hgomaps.co and related programs
Here, look for Search.hgomaps.co or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
- Remove Search.hgomaps.co from Windows shortcuts
Right click on the shortcut of Mozilla Firefox and select Properties. -
Go to Shortcut tab and look at the Target field. Delete malicious URL that is related to your virus.
Repeat steps that are given above with all browsers' shortcuts, including Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Make sure you check all locations of these shortcuts, including Desktop, Start Menu and taskbar.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeEliminate Search.hgomaps.co from Mac OS X system
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If you are using OS X, click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications.
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Wait until you see Applications folder and look for Search.hgomaps.co or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Delete Search.hgomaps.co from Internet Explorer (IE)
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Remove dangerous add-ons
Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top right corner of the browser and choose Manage Add-ons. -
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for Search.hgomaps.co and other suspicious plugins. Disable these entries by clicking Disable:
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the gear icon (menu) on the top right corner of the browser and select Internet Options. Stay in General tab. -
Here, remove malicious URL and enter preferable domain name. Click Apply to save changes.
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Reset Internet Explorer
Click on the gear icon (menu) again and select Internet options. Go to Advanced tab. - Here, select Reset.
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When in the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset again to complete Search.hgomaps.co removal.
Get rid of Search.hgomaps.co virus from Microsoft Edge
Reset Microsoft Edge settings (Method 1):
- Launch Microsoft Edge app and click More (three dots at the top right corner of the screen).
- Click Settings to open more options.
-
Once Settings window shows up, click Choose what to clear button under Clear browsing data option.
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Here, select all what you want to remove and click Clear.
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Now you should right-click on the Start button (Windows logo). Here, select Task Manager.
- When in Processes tab, search for Microsoft Edge.
-
Right-click on it and choose Go to details option. If can’t see Go to details option, click More details and repeat previous steps.
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When Details tab shows up, find every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right click on each of them and select End Task to end these entries.
Resetting Microsoft Edge browser (Method 2):
If Method 1 failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method.
- Note: you need to backup your data before using this method.
- Find this folder on your computer:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
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Select every entry which is saved on it and right click with your mouse. Then Delete option.
- Click the Start button (Windows logo) and type in window power in Search my stuff line.
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Right-click the Windows PowerShell entry and choose Run as administrator.
- Once Administrator: Windows PowerShell window shows up, paste this command line after PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> and press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml -Verbose}
Once these steps are finished, Search.hgomaps.co should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeErase Search.hgomaps.co from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
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Remove dangerous extensions
Open Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Add-ons → Extensions. -
Here, select Search.hgomaps.co and other questionable plugins. Click Remove to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the menu (top right corner), choose Options → General. - Here, delete malicious URL and enter preferable website or click Restore to default.
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Click OK to save these changes.
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Reset Mozilla Firefox
Click on the Firefox menu on the top left and click on the question mark. Here, choose Troubleshooting Information. -
Now you will see Reset Firefox to its default state message with Reset Firefox button. Click this button for several times and complete Search.hgomaps.co removal.
Uninstall Search.hgomaps.co from Google Chrome
Delete any related extension and remove search.hgomaps.co virus web scripts. Resetting the browser is a faster option./GI]
[GI=safari]
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Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions. -
Here, select Search.hgomaps.co and other malicious plugins and select trash icon to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage and default search engine if it was altered by your virus
Click on menu icon and choose Settings. -
Here, look for the Open a specific page or set of pages under On startup option and click on Set pages.
- Now you should see another window. Here, delete malicious search sites and enter the one that you want to use as your homepage.
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Click on menu icon again and choose Settings → Manage Search engines under the Search section.
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When in Search Engines..., remove malicious search sites. You should leave only Google or your preferred domain name.
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Reset Google Chrome
Click on menu icon on the top right of your Google Chrome and select Settings. -
Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Reset browser settings.
-
Click Reset to confirm this action and complete Search.hgomaps.co removal.
About the author
References
- ^ Zach Heller . How to Achieve a Higher Click-through Rate on PPC Ads. Business2Comunity. Tops trends, News and Expert Insights.
- ^ Robert Abel. Taboola content platform served malvertising on MSN.com. SCMagazine. The cybersecurity source.
- ^ Eliminate computer threats. Virused. Security and spyware news.