What is Search.searchotva.com?
Search.searchotva.com is a browser hijacker that pretends to be an application allowing you to watch TV channels online on your computer and without any fees. Most of the people get confused since they download the application called Online TV Access, but all they get is a new search engine on their browsers. However, you should not use Search.searchotva.com as it is pushed on to you and the very same fact warns you that something is wrong with this program. In fact, it changes your browser options without any permission and displays unreliable links in search results. The only option here is to delete this hijacker and regain control over your browser settings. We will provide accurate removal guide at the end of this article, but if you are still in doubt, read the whole article and see for yourself why we are so confident that this program should be erased.
Where does Search.searchotva.com come from?
It appears that this search engine is quite similar to the earlier created hijackers that you might have encountered before: Search.searchlttrn.com, Search.yourpackagesnow.com, Search.yourmapscenter.com, and others. All these programs can be spread bundled with malicious installers. So it is most likely that you got this particular hijacker while downloading some free software from a suspicious website. Nevertheless, as we have mentioned before, there is also an official website promoting the Online TV Access application, but if you download it you get Search.searchotva.com instead. So there are two main ways to get this hijacker that have something in common, and that is the suspicious websites from where it was downloaded.
How does Search.searchotva.com work?
This hijacker modifies your browser options without your knowledge by replacing your homepage and search engine with Search.searchotva.com. Additionally, it has a toolbar named Online TV Access and it is brought by SaferBrowser that is a hijacker itself. It is very likely that the Search.searchotva.com originator is the same one that created SaferBrowser. The toolbar displays icons of TV channels that you are supposed to watch online for free. Unfortunately, it does not work that way, because if clicked these icons only open a particular TV channel’s site where you can view only limited free content like trailers or short videos with actors. Also, you can clearly see an offering to pay for full content so that you could watch full programs.
So all you get is a suspicious search engine and a few shortcuts to TV channels, which you can add to bookmarks and reach them at the same speed. There are a few things that you should know about this hijacker. For its search results, it uses a Yahoo search engine, but it is better to use the actual Yahoo instead as it is more reliable. What’s more, Search.searchotva.com cannot be trusted, because it displays links that lead you to third parties websites. Such sites are not trustworthy as any cyber-criminal can promote their content there that might be harmful to your computer. For instance, if you click on some link in search results and land on an unreliable website, your computer can get infected with Trojans, worms, etc. Unfortunately, this hijacker takes no responsibility for third parties’ actions and the harm it might cause you. The question is why would you need such potentially dangerous application that does not work like it is supposed to?
How to remove Search.searchotva.com?
If you want to feel safe again while browsing, you should remove Search.searchotva.com from your system. Instead, you could use a trustworthy search engine of your preference. Deleting this hijacker is not that difficult, especially if you follow our instruction below. You will spend more time with Internet Explorer as it saves its settings in Windows Registry and it might be more difficult for inexperienced users. Therefore, if you have any questions or need some help with Search.searchotva.com removal, feel free to leave us a comment or contact us via social media. As for the future, we advise you to invest in a legitimate security tool that will protect your computer from malware and potentially harmful programs.
Delete Search.searchotva.com from your browsers
Internet Explorer
- Press Windows Key+R.
- Type regedit and click OK.
- Navigate to: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.
- Right-click on Uninstall key and select Find.
- Type Online TV Access, select Values and click on Find Next.
- It should display Registry Key that should have similar structure to this one {b2895b6b-20c5-54ea-b904-f6345531d239}.
- Right-click on the key and choose delete.
- Locate the following path: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
- Search for Value Name Start Page on the right side.
- Right-Click on Start Page and select Modify.
- Replace Value Data, for example, with google.com.
- Click OK.
Mozilla Firefox
- Navigate to: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}.
- Locate file Prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
- Find and delete this line: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.searchotva.com/").
- Locate and remove this path: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}\extensions|tv@jetpack.xpi.
Google Chrome
- Locate the following path: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.
- Find and erase these files: Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data.
tested removal of Search.searchotva.com*
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