What is Search.yac.mx?
Search.yac.mx is not a virus or malware. However, no matter that it doesn’t steal personal information, which is kept on the system, or doesn’t spread viruses, it may lead your computer to some issues. According to 2spyware security experts, you should try to avoid this search engine because it may show you altered search results that may be filled with questionable links. After clicking them, you may be redirected to unknown websites that mostly rely on such service for trying to increase their page rank or sales. However, there is no guarantee that Search.yac.mx redirects won’t trick you into visiting a suspcious site that is filled with really questionable content. Nevertheless, the main thing that bothers us is the distribution method of this search site. Usually, people are tricked into downloading Search.yac.mx hijacker to their computers without receiving a clear notification about that. That’s because it is actively spread using bundling. For avoiding that, you should pay more attention to the next paragraph of this post.
If Search.yac.mx gets inside its target PC system, this search engine may easily hijack each of your web browsers, including IE, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc. In addition, it may alter the start page and the default search engine on each of these web browsers and then lead you to continuous redirects to its affiliate websites. If you have already noticed Search.yac.mx on your machine and you know that you have never downloaded it there, you should think about the removal of this questionable search engine. If you want to get rid of it without a trouble, you should download a reputable anti-spyware, update it and run a full system scan. In this case, we highly recommend using SpyHunterCombo Cleaner. For more information about Search.yac.mx prevention you should read a paragrapg, which is given below.
HOW CAN Search.yac.mx hijack MY COMPUTER?
Search.yac.mx can be downloaded to the system just like any other search engine. Nevertheless, in most of the cases it is propagated with a help of freeware and shareware. Beware that can easily show up on your computer after installing YAC (can also be found as Yet Another Cleaner) that is mostly presented as a powerful anti-virus. However, you should be very careful with this program because its trustworthiness hasn’t been approved yet. Its developers are clearly using illegal techniques when organizing its work, so you should think twice before downloading it. Besides, you can also download Search.yac.mx in a bundle with other free applications. If you want to avoid such programs, you should always keep an eye on the installation process of the freeware and uncheck all check boxes that agree to change the start page, install additional programs and offer similar things. For that we recommend choosing Custom or Advanced installation. If you missed this check mark and allowed Search.yac.mx to change your homepage or default search engine, you can remove it with a help of this guide:
HOW TO REMOVE Search.yac.mx?
If you discovered Search.yac.mx on your computer and you want to remove it from there, we recommend using these instructions:
Uninstall from Windows
Uninstall from Windows 10/8:
- Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
Remove the unwanted program:
- In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
- If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.
Delete from macOS
Remove the unwanted application:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).
Delete leftover files and folders:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
- Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.
- Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click Remove.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- 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.
Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- 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.
Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.
Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
- This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.
Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Settings.
- Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data...
- Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.
Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.
Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.
Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- 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:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.
Delete from Safari
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
- Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.
Clear history and website data:
- Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
- Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari:
- Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
- Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.
Did this guide help?
12 comments
Pheobe
I am Pheobe from Elex co.I am the owner of the yac.mx.
I read a post about my product yac from here.I think you have some misunderstanding of our product.
Our software Yet Another Cleaner is an anti-virus software, we do this product aiming at protecting users’ PC, it is not an virus as you mentioned in your articles.
I just noticed that in it you mentioned about a software called SpyHunter.So we assume that you aimed at promoting SpyHunter, but not mean to attack our product.
It has made some confusion to us,I hope you can delete the airticles as quick as possiple.
If you some questions,you can contract me.email:lingxue@337.com
2spyware Support
Hello Pheobe and thank you for your comment. However, we cant agree with it.
First of all, this post is about the Search.yac.mx, not about the Yet Another Cleaner. In addition, there is no sentence in it that calls this search engine or your program a virus or malware. We just explain how its spread and how it can be eliminated from computer. Finally, we promote many other programs, not only SpyHunter, but we ALWAYS share with people alternative removal instructions that can be implemented without downloading anything on computer.
However, we have changed our post according to some of your notes. We hope that this will help us avoid objections in the future.
Zane from elex
Hi webmaster (or supporter or whatever).
In fact, your article implied that YAC and related product of us are unfriendly to users, and may mislead the users. YAC and search.yac.mx share the same logo, and the relationship between the two is just like that between iPhone and IOS. YAC has been proved by many professional anti-virus software, like McAfee and Norton.
Now, we prepare to solve the problem (slanderous words on the internet) through law.
If you want to explain how to change someones homepage or search, then take another example please. YAC has provided related functions itself, and what you write here will certainly cause misunderstanding and mislead users cause only something bad or unnecessary should be removed. YAC is not a malware so you do not have to provide a "method" to remove it.
I hope you can understand what I say, and remove this article, or well surely take some measures.
2spyware Support
Hello Zane and thank you for your comment.
2-spyware is an informational site that writes about programs that are detected by various anti-spyware removers. We seek to help people understand why their anti-malware reports about one or other program and explain how they can remove it from the system.
In order to give us ability to remove our description, we suggest you to remove your program from the databases of those spyware removers that detect it as potentially unwanted program or similar. Now your software is identified and we have to include it to our site. We hope you understand what we are saying.. :)
Héctor
Caramba. Instalé un Yet Another Cleaner (YAC). Anduvo algunos días. Luego me cambió el logo de W Internet Explorer 8 por un escudo, igual al que aparece en YAC. Y me tomó motores de búsqueda. Conclusión: No pude abrir más W Internet Explorer 8. Y cuando inicio la PC me sale, después de la contraseña, un aviso que dice: Updater.exe - Error de aplicación |X| (X) La instrucción en "0x0043be20" hace referencia a la memoria en "0x00000000". La memoria no se puede "read". Haga clic en Aceptar para finalizar este programa. Haga clic en Cancelar para depurar el programa. |ACEPTAR| |CANCELAR| Conclusión. Hice lo imposible para desinstalar el intruso, figurándome extensiones .mx y .br en las direcciones de los creadores de los programas. Y a raíz de haber tenido además de W I E 8, a Mozilla Firefox, que me permitió abrir página de internet, creo que maté al .mx y al .br!... Espero que Pheobe y Soporte 2spyware se pongan de acuerdo y logren que quienes no conocemos de genética cibernética, no caigamos en riesgo de arruinar nuestros equipos. Por eso AGUARDO una respuesta de ambos! Muchos cordiales saludos.
Online operator of YAC
Hi, webmaster. Several months have passed and YAC, including search.yac.mx, are updated for many times. Now, they are more user-friendly than before. You can visit www.yac.mx to download the brand new YAC and experience it by yourself. In addition, we welcomes all comments and complaints on our products. After confirming what I am saying, plz remove this article. Now, we are putting our hands to make the competitors remove the slanderous articles. Of course, I know you are not one of them :)
Now, we are about to enhance the promotion of YAC and related products, and we regard your site as a good channel to do so. Link exchange as well as profitable return will be provided. I think it is better to be friends than to stand against with each other. If you are interested, contact me as soon as possible. My email: onlineoperatorofelex@gmail.com.
Sabrina
Suddenly whithout my permission the YAC program or whatever auto installed in my iPad. I dont know and I don t care what kind of thing it is. What makes me furious is that is installed in my device whithout my permission. So if it is a wonderful antivirus, I don care even if its free I dont want it in my iPad or my computer. I want to remove it. I want to be free to chose I want to install and what I dont!!!
Sean Doyle
After I read this post, I do some research myself. I found that YAC is a secure software. In fact, I keep it in my computer for months and it is very useful. I know theres an option to set the engine to search.yac.mx. Being tired of Google, I used this for several times. No redirect at all. I hope you can retest this search as well as YAC, because it is really a good program.
Sean Doyle
I think the YAC for iPad must be developed by yourself. I search YAC in Google and can only find the version for Windows. Your skill of slandering is so poor that I cant look directly at it. Learn more before you actually do it, plz!
LodeHere
Hi,
At first I also thought YAC was a rogue program after reading the above and other articles. So I got in contact with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, asking them why their program did not detect it as malware on my notebook. Or at least as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program). They responded that unless there was a good reason for that thy wont do that, and they didnt have any reason.
If you have another home page than Google in your IE, YAC will by default change it to Google when you let it do its thing by hitting "Examine now" on the interface. It scans your computer and cleans it up, but also sets IE to Google if you have another homepage there like I said. But via "Protection" you can type in the URL of the homepage you want, and lock it. In my case "www.startpage.com".
On the interface in "Protection" you can choose from these search engines: Google, Bing, Yahoo, YAC and Unlocked. So the choice is entirely yours, and you can change it anytime.
Also, when tried to uninstalll YAC with RevoUninstaller, it didnt work. But it made a change in the default YAC uninstaller, so that after that it cant be uninstalled using Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a program > "Yet Another Cleaner".
So I contacted RevoUninstaller, and they told me that it was because of YACs anti-virus program. But they gave me instructions on how to do it with their Pro version.
Im still in contact with YAC about that issue, and they might come up with a solution, so that YAC can be uninstalled with RevoUninstaller Free also.
Ive been exchanging emails with YAC, and they are very friendly and helpful.
But uninstalling YAC with its default uninstaller works fine. Again: Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a program > "Yet Another Cleaner".
Im glad to have it on my laptop now, and donated $10. Im quite enthusiastic about it as you can see.
Since I think many other people can benefit from this free program, Ill surf a bit to see where else it is claimed YAC is a rogue program, and copy/paste what I wrote here on those other fora and blogs also.
Melen001
In fact, yac just integrates some common functions of Microsoft windows in itself. yac is a software with some use but it is very ridiculous to regard it as virus.
johan5
i,ve got the yandex shit on my comp removed it at least 5 times and now its back again so you think thats no mal or spyware?
why ceep it comming back i dont like it