What is Free Download Seeker?
Free Download Seeker is the name of a useless and potentially risky application that has been categorized as an adware program by our malware researchers at Anti-Spyware-101.com. You should be careful if your computer has been infected with this malware because the third-party advertisements this program may display on your screen while you are surfing the web may pose a threat to your system security. It is quite possible that you do not even remember installing this application. In that case, it is likely that this is not the only threat your computer may be exposed by. According to our specialists, this adware can also make changes to your browser settings. Although our research mainly shows that this extension affects Google Chrome browsers, it is still possible that Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers are also affected by different versions spreading on the web. You may not take ad-supported programs such as this too seriously because you may only see innocent-looking advertisements that you can close. Please read our full report to understand in more depth why we consider this adware a potential threat and why we recommend that you remove Free Download Seeker as soon as possible.
Where does Free Download Seeker come from?
We have noticed that freedownloadsseeker.com, the promotional website of this program has actually been down for an unknown period of time. This is definitely not a good sign and raises the red flag about this extension. Also, it raises the question how it is possible to find this malware on your computer. Well, reports and experience show that most adware programs are not even downloaded through their official websites. Most commonly they do not even have a website for starters. In fact, Free Download Seeker follows the footsteps of most adware applications and it may be found bundled with other malware threats and potentially unwanted programs. When you install a bundle, you may let a bunch of infections onto your machine. Most users do not know that they initiate the download and install of most common infections themselves.
Malware infections do not usually sneak onto computers magically without the users’ initial click on an infected third-party ad, a corrupt file attached in a spam e-mail, or a corrupt image/video link on a social networking site. Even if the user does not realize, he actually has to click before the nightmare begins in most cases. Of course, it is possible that you end up on a malicious website that simply needs to load and it can run a program code automatically through an infectious banner ad that can drop Free Download Seeker or a bundle of “baddies” onto your computer. But even in this case you need to click on a link beforehand, for instance, on a modified search results page to land on such a website. We suggest that you stay away from suspicious file-sharing websites, including pornographic, torrent, and freeware pages if you want to stay out of trouble. Also, you should refrain from clicking on any third-party ads to be on the safe side. This way you may be able to avoid a lot of unnecessary issues caused by infections. However, if this adware has shown up on your computer, you should scan your system to detect all possible threats after you remove Free Download Seeker.
How does Free Download Seeker work?
Upon install, this extension changes your home page to search.strtpoint.com, which is a potentially unsafe search engine. If you use this search engine, your query may get redirected to a manipulated Yahoo search results page. This may be quite misleading because you may think that this page is totally reliable. However, this search engine or even this adware may be able to inject promoted affiliates’ ads and links among these results. Clicking on such content could pose a threat to your privacy and your computer as you may be taken to websites maintained by cyber criminals. Research shows that this adware may not only show banner and pop-up third-party ads that may be unreliable and dangerous to click on, but it may also use inline text links highlighting words and linking them to potentially harmful content. If you click on anything this adware offers, you may land on malicious websites and get scammed in a number of ways. Criminals are very creative and have sophisticated methods to fool people. If you do not want to figure out how they can harm your computer or your bank account, you should remove Free Download Seeker from your system without any hesitation.
How to delete Free Download Seeker
In order to clean this adware from your PC, you need to reset your browsers and check a few main directories for any sign of leftovers. If you need assistance with these steps, please use our guide below as a reference. It is possible that you have had your share of malware attacks and you would like decent protection now so that you can use your PC without the fear of getting infected again and again. You should definitely stick to some simple rules of safe web surfing in order to prevent infections from entering your computer. However, the best and easiest way to safeguard your system is always to install an up-to-date malware removal tool.
Remove Free Download Seeker from browsers
Mozilla Firefox
- Tap Alt+H and open Troubleshooting Information.
- Press Refresh Firefox and click Refresh Firefox again.
- Click Finish.
Google Chrome
- Tap Alt+F and choose Settings.
- At the bottom, click Show advanced settings.
- At the bottom, click Reset settings.
- Press Reset in the pop-up.
Internet Explorer
- Tap Alt+T and select Internet Options.
- Choose the Advanced tab and click Reset.
- Select Delete personal settings.
- Click Reset and click Close.
Leftover removal
- Tap Win+E to launch File Explorer.
- Check these folders to find and delete anything that is related to Free Download Seeker:
%ProgramData%
%LocalAppData%
%ProgramFiles%
%AppData% - Empty the Recycle Bin.
tested removal of Free Download Seeker*
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