Search.pogypon.com virus. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
Pogypon redirect virus annoys Mac users daily
Search.pogypon.com virus operates as a vague search tool that belongs to potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers categories. Pogypon virus hijacks web browsers in Mac computers only to set hxxp://Search.pogypon.com/ as default homepage and the main search provider. Consequently, it gets permission to cause URL redirects and serve ads next to regular search results.
At first sight, such search tools seem completely normal, although their suspicious features emerge later on. The first thing that computer users notice is that search results are full of ads that usually lead to sites not related to one’s search queries. This way, the search engine promotes particular sites instead of serving results that would be relevant to the user.
Another problem – Search.pogypon.com redirect command can lead the user to highly insecure Internet pages[1]. These websites might be full of dangerous ads, download links, or scam surveys.
You can never know whether websites you access via this browsing tool are reliable or not. Therefore, remember to be careful. You should follow the same rule whenever you browse the Internet, but in this case, you are dealing with a browser hijacker that belongs to spyware category. Other problems caused by Search.pogypon.com redirect virus are:
- System slowdowns;
- Unexpected browser crashes or lags;
- Silent tracking of your browsing habits, gathering pieces of data such as search terms, browsing history, IP address and the like.
The collected data might be shared with third-parties, for example, ad networks. Sadly, you do not know the full list of those “third-parties” that might receive information about your browsing habits.
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
Finally, remember that search queries this hijacker collects might contain sensitive details that are going to be transmitted alongside all other information as well. If you’d like to avoid sharing your browsing habits with this Mac spyware, we suggest you remove Pogypon right now.
To eliminate it from your Mac, you might want to use anti-malware software like Malwarebytes or Plumbytes Anti-MalwareNorton Internet Security. However, if these programs do not interest you, you can try to follow Search.pogypon.com removal instructions we provided below.
Learn to keep your Mac spyware-free
For quite some time, people used to think that Macs are resistant to malware[2]. However, lately, the Mac-compatible category of spyware-type applications has grown significantly. Although there aren’t many ransomware-level threats around, adware and browser hijackers are the main problem. They spread with the help of application bundling.
To avoid installing potentially unwanted programs that mostly come in software bundles, you need to know how to decompose software packs, says Novirus.uk[3]. Even if you do not know whether your download contains bundled programs or not, choose Custom or Advanced option for its installation.
Then, see if the installer suggests installing some additional apps or changing your browser’s settings. If you find such suggestions, deselect them.
Eliminate Pogypon from Mac and restore affected browsers
To prevent this annoying search engine from controlling your web browsers, remove Search.pogypon.com virus today. This is the only way to gain access to your browser settings again. Once you uninstall Pogypon, you will regain the right to modify your homepage, new tab and search settings.
However, sometimes Search.pogypon.com removal doesn’t go as fluently as expected. In such situation, we recommend you to finish it with an automatic spyware removal software. You can find some recommended programs below.
You can remove virus damage automatically with a help of one of these programs: Reimage, Malwarebytes. We recommend these applications because they can easily delete potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
To remove Search.pogypon.com virus, follow these steps:
Delete Search.pogypon.com from Mac OS X system
To delete Pogypon virus, find it and Genieo apps on your Mac. Move these to Trash.
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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.pogypon.com or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Eliminate Search.pogypon.com 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.pogypon.com 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.pogypon.com removal.
Erase Search.pogypon.com 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.
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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.
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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. -
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.pogypon.com should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
Mac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariUninstall Search.pogypon.com 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.pogypon.com 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.pogypon.com removal.
Remove Search.pogypon.com from Google Chrome
Delete each extension by Genieo or Pogypon to move Search.pogypon.com virus out from Chrome.
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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.pogypon.com 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.
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Click Reset to confirm this action and complete Search.pogypon.com removal.
Get rid of Search.pogypon.com from Safari
Get rid of the annoying Pogypon hijacker by deleting suspicious Safari extensions – Pogypon, Search Protect, Genieo Search.
- Remove dangerous extensions
Open Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu at the top left of the screen. Once you do this, select Preferences. -
Here, select Extensions and look for Search.pogypon.com or other suspicious entries. Click on the Uninstall button to get rid each of them.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Open your Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu section. Here, select Preferences as it was displayed previously and select General. -
Here, look at the Homepage field. If it was altered by Search.pogypon.com, remove unwanted link and enter the one that you want to use for your searches. Remember to include the "http://" before typing in the address of the page.
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Reset Safari
Open Safari browser and click on Safari in menu section at the top left of the screen. Here, select Reset Safari.... -
Now you will see a detailed dialog window filled with reset options. All of those options are usually checked, but you can specify which of them you want to reset. Click the Reset button to complete Search.pogypon.com removal process.
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References
- ^ How to Identify a Malicious Website. WebTitan Blog. News and Commentary about Web and Internet Security.
- ^ Gene Marks. Apple Macs Are No Longer Immune To Hacks...And Other Small Business Tech News This Week. Forbes. Global Media Company Focusing on Business, Investing, Technology.
- ^ NoVirus. NoVirus. Spyware and Security News.