Search.ssoextension.com virus. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
Search.ssoextension.com works as an advertising tool
Search.ssoextension.com is a browser hijacker that is promoted as a legitimate search engine. It might hijack your homepage after incorrect installation of free software and cause numerous negative features when browsing the Internet.
This potentially unwanted program (PUP)[1] is designed to take over the web browsers and take full control over them. The hijacker might alter Windows Registry, shortcuts and browser’s settings in order to run with system startup and prevent users from eliminating it.
Indeed, replacing this URL with your preferred one is not enough. In order to get back access to your browser, you need to locate and delete hijacker. However, it might be a complicated task because it might have installed numerous additional components in the system.
Thus, you may have to remove Search.ssoextension.com with the help of Reimage. Of course, you can use your preferred anti-malware to clean your computer and protect your PC from negative consequences.
The hijacker alters browser’s settings to display commercial content. It might deliver various types of online ads, initiate redirects and even modify search results.
Search.ssoextension.com works as an advertising tool. Instead of providing organic and relevant links on the results page, it might include useless sponsored links. Nevertheless, this activity is not beneficial to users; developers generate revenue by boosting traffic to particular sites.
What is more, the hijacker might use even more aggressive strategy to force users to visit affiliate's sites. It might initiate redirects to sponsored sites out of sudden. However, currently, hijacker has been spotted redirecting to its additional sites http://startup.ssoextension.com/, http://suggest.ssoextension.com/, and http://homepage.ssoextension.com/.
Since the appearance of this suspicious search tool, you might also notice an increased amount of online ads. Indeed, the hijacker helps to generate pay-per-click revenue for the developers by displaying many different ads.
However, you should not click any suspicious links or ads because they might hide dangers. They might redirect to potentially dangerous websites where you may suffer from various cyber crimes.
Thus, Search.ssoextension.com removal is recommended in order to minimize the risk of serious cyber attack and get back access to your browser.
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
Distribution of the browser hijacker
Developers of the Search.ssoextension.com use a traditional PUP distribution method – bundling. This technique allows adding hijacker in software packages.[2] Thus, when installing freeware or shareware, you have to be careful.
To avoid undesired apps, you have to choose “Advanced” or “Custom” settings. Attentively follow each of the steps and look up for the list of third-party programs. Once you discover it, untick all pre-selected entries.
Here, it’s important not to rush because you might overlook pre-selected agreement to make Search.ssoextension.com your default search engine.
Unfortunately, the majority of users rely on “Standard” or “Quick” installation wizard. It’s a huge mistake because these settings do not openly disclose about third-party software. As a result, all PUPs includes in a bundle are allowed to enter the system.
Thus, if you were wondering when Search.ssoextension.com hijack may have occurred, you should think about recently installed software. It may have brought it to the PC.
Terminate Search.ssoextension.com from the computer
There are two ways how you can remove Search.ssoextension.com entirely – manual and automatic.
The manual removal requires to dedicate a little bit of time and put some effort in order to get rid of all hijacker-related entries. By following instructions below, you will have to uninstall all suspicious programs from your PC and web browsers.
We recommend checking the instructions first. If they are clear, you should not have any difficulties with Search.ssoextension.com removal. Otherwise, you should opt for the second elimination option.
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.ssoextension.com virus, follow these steps:
Get rid of Search.ssoextension.com from Windows systems
Manual removal guidelines are presented below. Please follow the carefully.
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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.ssoextension.com and related programs
Here, look for Search.ssoextension.com or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
- Remove Search.ssoextension.com 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 ChromeSafariRemove Search.ssoextension.com 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.ssoextension.com or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Eliminate Search.ssoextension.com from Internet Explorer (IE)
In order to get rid of Search.ssoextension.com, you have to uninstall suspicious add-ons and reset Internet Explorer.
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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.ssoextension.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.ssoextension.com removal.
Delete Search.ssoextension.com virus from Microsoft Edge
Follow the steps below to remove hijacker-related entries from the computer and fix Microsoft Edge after the hijack.
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.ssoextension.com should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariUninstall Search.ssoextension.com from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Open the list of Firefox extensions and look up for suspicious entries that might be related to Search.ssoextension.com virus. Uninstall them and reset the browser.
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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.ssoextension.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.ssoextension.com removal.
Erase Search.ssoextension.com from Google Chrome
These instructions will help you to get rid of all hijacker-related components 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.ssoextension.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.ssoextension.com removal.
Get rid of Search.ssoextension.com from Safari
- 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.ssoextension.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.ssoextension.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.ssoextension.com removal process.
About the author
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References
- ^ Vangie Beal. PUP - potentially unwanted program. Webopedia. Online Tech Dictionary for IT Professionals.
- ^ Pre-installed software. Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia.
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