How to Remove MaskSearch.com Browser Hijacker

MaskSearch.com is classified as a dangerous redirect virus which is designed to boost website traffic and mess up users' browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Eventually, user's private information and financial account details are grabbed for commercial usage. It will first change users' default homepage and start page to its own domain URL by modifying browser settings. At the same time, it will replace your default search engine. This redirect virus will pop up a lot of advertisements on the browsers, which helps generate advertising revenue. To achieve all of its aims, the redirect virus won’t allow computer users to revert the settings manually.

 

More about MaskSearch.com

 

MaskSearch.com redirect virus can sneak into a targeted computer via several ways. Unreliable shareware or freeware is the most common carrier of the redirect virus. Once cyber users download and install the software that contains this unwanted program, their computer will be infected by this browser hijacker. The virus may also infect your computer if you visit suspicious websites or the legitimate websites hacked by the developers of this infection. Spam email attachments and ads- supported email bundles are also the resources of MaskSearch.com. If users click on the attachment to open it, the redirect virus will take the chance to slip into their computers stealthily. Therefore, it is necessary to be careful when clicks links or you may get unexpected infection.

 

If you are one of the unlucky people whose computer is infected with the MaskSearch.com, you need to remove it from your computer as soon as possible. To achieve its goals, the redirect has to add its related add-ons, plugins or extensions onto the browser to trace search habits and browsing history by the help of exploiting system vulnerabilities. It means that user’s confidential information and commercial account details can get exposed to the cyber world without user’s permission. Besides, this redirect virus may also bring other threats, such as Trojan horses, spywares, adware, worms and keyloggers, which can lead to more severe problems. For these reasons, it is critical to remove the redirect virus completely from computer.

 

Dangers of MaskSearch.com

 

1. It changes users' browser settings, which leads to the changes of default homage as well as search engine.

 

2. It usually fills the computer screen with numerous ads pops- up. And it also redirects you to wrong websites or unexpected web pages without your approval.

 

3. With its add-ons, plug-ins, extensions installed on your computer, it may block your access to your favorite sites and collect personal user information including usernames, accounts and codes.

 

4. It may disable your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs and open a backdoor to additional threats without your permission. It can also modify the system settings and lower the security levels, leading to unstable system performance.

 

5. It takes up a lot of memory when running in the background of the system. Your PC works more and more slowly as the CPU is highly occupied by the virus.

 

What's the Best Way to Remove MaskSearch.com

 

Many computer users may resort to antivirus programs to remove the virus. However, this browser hijacker can pretend to be a harmless browser plug-in and avoid being picked up or removed by the security tools. In this case, it is normal that your browser appears with weird symptoms, but antivirus picks up nothing of the suspicious virus. It is very difficult to remove the threat with average antivirus tool. It seems that the creators of such cyber threats know well how to escape the scan and removal from security tools so that the infections can hide deeply on the PC. In this case, users can consider manually removing the redirect virus by following the manual removal guide.

 

Warning: Manual removal of MaskSearch.com is a complicated and risky task, for it needs to modify the system registry by hand and is only suitable for advanced computer users. If you have difficulty in removing the threat by yourself, it is suggested that you ask for computer experts for help or use a professional malware removal tool to deal with it. It can solve the problem easily.

 

Manually Remove MaskSearch.com Step by Step:

Step 1: Terminate all the malicious extensions in the browser

 

Internet Explorer

1. Start the Internet Explorer and click on Tools in the browser menu, choose the Manage Add-ons in the drop-down list.

2. Select the MaskSearch.com in the showing window and disable it.

3. Restart the Internet Explorer.

 

Google Chrome

1. Launch Google Chrome and click on its wrench icon.

2. Choose the Tools in the list then select the Extensions.

3. In the showing window, click on the Extensions, then find out the MaskSearch.com and disable it.

4. Restart Google Chrome.

 

Mozilla Firefox

1. Run the Mozilla Firefox, click on Tools in the Firefox menu and choose the Add-ons, then click on the Extensions.

2. Then select the MaskSearch.com in the list and click on Remove button.

3. Restart Mozilla Firefox.

 

Step 2: Remove the added programs of the redirect virus in the Control Panel

 

1. Click Start to open the menu and click on the Control Panel.

2. Double-click on Uninstall a program under the Programs.

3. Find MaskSearch.com in the programs list and locate it, then click on the Uninstall.

4. Follow the wizard to accomplish the removal.

 

Step 3: Reset the browser

 

Internet Explorer

1. Start the Internet Explorer, click on Tools then choose the Internet Options.

2. Click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button.

3. Click on the General tab, put a new address in the homepage box.

4. Click OK button to save the changes.

5. Restart the Internet Explorer.

 

Google Chrome

1. Launch the Google Chrome and click on the Settings in the list.

2. Click on Show advanced settings.

3. Click on Reset browser settings button.

4. In the Settings windows, click on the Show Home button in the Appearance section.

5. Click on the Change link, type a new address in the box then click on OK.

6. Restart Google Chrome.

 

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the Mozilla Firefox, click on the Firefox menu button. Locate the Help then click on the Troubleshooting Information.

2. In the showing Troubleshooting Information page, click on the Reset Firefox button.

3. Confirm the reset request after that.

4. Click the Firefox button and choose the Options.

5. Click the General tab, type a new address as the homepage in the box, then click OK.

6. Restart the Mozilla Firefox.

 

Attention: The virus is an aggressive browser hijack virus with the ability to interrupt your browsers. Even though you run your antivirus program to perform a full system scan, it may not be able to detect its trace and thoroughly clean the redirect virus out of the infected computer. The manual removal can erase all its processes, DLL files and registry files completely for good. However, you may also consider the manual removal as a daunting task since it contains several complicated steps. Any undesirable mistakes in the process will provoke more severe system problems which may disrupt the system performance. Don’t know how to get rid of constant browser redirect? Please download and install a professional removal tool on your PC and delete the malware with it.