Surfpageing.com virus (Free Instructions)
surfpageing.com virus Removal Guide
What is surfpageing.com virus?
Although surfpageing.com seems to be just a simple search engine, security experts warn people that it’s sponsored by third parties and is not trustworthy if compared to Google, Bing or Yahoo search providers. It is deemed as a browser hijacker and a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and is a handful of reasons why it is considered to be the lowest level cyber threat. In the next sections we will shortly explain what issues surfpageing.com hijack can cause, how does this search engine spreads and how to remove it from the web browsers permanently.
What aspects pushed security experts to classify surfpageing.com virus as a browser hijacker?
Of course, none of the programs are categorized as virus, malware, PUP or hijacker without having a reason. According to security vendors, there are at least five major aspects that made security experts categorize this pest as a browser hijacker and PUP, these are:
- Misleading infiltration;
- Modification of web browser’s settings without asking for permission;
- Exhibition of unreliable links among its search results;
- Displaying promotional pop-up ads;
- Usage of tracking cookies.
So how does this program works once installed on a web browser?
Surfpageing.com hijacker is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and others. That’s why it is referred to as a cross-browser plug-in. As soon on the plug-in is executed, a default web browser’s homepage, new tab, and search provider is replaced with surfpageing.com. If the plug-in is accepted (consciously or accidentally), browser’s modifications are inevitable. However, that’s not the worst part. The most important thing that each user should consider before starting browsing with this search engine is the pages that he/she wants to view. Although it presents Yahoo-based search results, before showing the results to the user various sponsored links and promotional pop-up ads are injected into them. Therefore, you can never know whether surfpageing.com redirects expose you to reliable or potentially dangerous affiliate pages. This way, it generates income from advertising and certainly don’t care about the security of the user. Besides, once inside a PC’s system, this pest activates cookies and starts gathering personally non-identifiable, but quite sensitive, information about its users. That may be the kind of search terms, mostly visited pages, clicks, PC’s IP address, its location, email address, data uploaded and downloaded from certain pages, and so on. Such information may leak to really questionable parties who may apply it for misleading you. For example, your email may be spammed, you may start receiving doubtful pop-ups related to the things you have recently been looking for, missing software updates and so on. All the content brought by surfpageing.com redirect virus can lead you to inadvertent installation of another potentially unwanted program. Do you still consider keeping this search engine by default? Probably not… Thus, our recommendation would be to check the system with FortectIntego and remove surfpageing.com malware with its help.
Could you please explain me how did surfpageing.com hijack my web browser if I did not install it?
Such and similar questions are by far the most commonly asked by the victims of browser hijackers. The answer is simple – you must have agreed with its installation along with another freeware. Try to recall what was the last free program you have downloaded/installed on the system. We would highly recommend you to remove it because it has been used for spreading third-party apps, so it might be untrustworthy itself. If you want to avoid installation of software bundles in the future, make sure that you select safe installation mode (advanced/custom) and keep an eye on each check box given during installation setup.
What should I do to remove this PUP from my PC?
Of course, those who are reading this pose are interested in the surfpageing.com removal options. In fact, there are two options – automatic and manual removal. If you have already been dealing with the removal of browser hijackers, then we are pretty sure that the manual removal guide will be enough for you to remove surfpageing.com virus once and for all. However, if you want to make sure that your PC is PUP and virus-free, we would still recommend running a scan with a professional malware removal tool.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of surfpageing.com virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)
To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
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 on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (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 Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
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.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
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.
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 unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
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, as well as Cached Web Content and press 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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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 unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of surfpageing.com registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting stealing programs
Stream videos without limitations, no matter where you are
There are multiple parties that could find out almost anything about you by checking your online activity. While this is highly unlikely, advertisers and tech companies are constantly tracking you online. The first step to privacy should be a secure browser that focuses on tracker reduction to a minimum.
Even if you employ a secure browser, you will not be able to access websites that are restricted due to local government laws or other reasons. In other words, you may not be able to stream Disney+ or US-based Netflix in some countries. To bypass these restrictions, you can employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN, which provides dedicated servers for torrenting and streaming, not slowing you down in the process.
Data backups are important – recover your lost files
Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to personal data. Once it is executed on a machine, it launches a sophisticated encryption algorithm that locks all your files, although it does not destroy them. The most common misconception is that anti-malware software can return files to their previous states. This is not true, however, and data remains locked after the malicious payload is deleted.
While regular data backups are the only secure method to recover your files after a ransomware attack, tools such as Data Recovery Pro can also be effective and restore at least some of your lost data.