What is Search.searchetan.com?
Search.searchetan.com is a browser hijacker, so it might make your browser load the search engine every time you start a new search or when you simply launch the browsing application. If such actions irritate you, we advise you not to ignore this threat, especially when there are safer alternatives to choose from, for example, yahoo.com, google.com, etc. The application might be not the best choice for your default search provider because it could show you modified search results since Search.searchetan.com might inject them with sponsored links, pop-ups, and other similar ads. This content should belong to the third party, so the browser hijacker’s take no responsibility for what may happen if while clicking the ads you land on a malicious site. Thus, we encourage users not to risk their computer’s safety and remove the threat with the instructions placed below this article or with legitimate antimalware software.
Where does Search.searchetan.com come from?
The search engine could come bundled with doubtful browser extensions, toolbars, or other unreliable freeware. Therefore, if your goal is to avoid such threats in the future, we would advise you to invest in a legitimate antimalware tool or pick applications you want to acquire more carefully. It is always advisable to read comments or reviews of users who already tried the application and can tell if it is worth to be installed. Also, it is important to determine if the program’s publishers can be trusted. For example, in this case, we know that Search.searchetan.com developers (Polarity Technologies Ltd) have created more browser hijackers (e.g. Search.searcheasysa.com), which is why we consider them untrustworthy.
How does Search.searchetan.com work?
Search.searchetan.com should be compatible with popular browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox. It might affect these applications by switching the preferred search provider, start page or new tab page. To look more useful the browser hijacker should place a toolbar providing an additional search box and some links leading to web pages providing local weather, TV news, and so on. If you like these sites, you could bookmark them instead, and the result would be quite similar. As for the second search box, it is rather useless as you can search the Internet by simply submitting your keyword into the address bar. Not to mention the Mozilla Firefox already has a second search box.
The main reason we do not think using Search.searchetan.com could be a good idea is the questionable advertising content. Our specialists at Anti-spyware-101.com noticed that such ads might be injected into the displayed results and it looks like some of them may originate from doubtful web pages. Since the ads could be clickable, the user might get redirected to these unreliable websites after interacting with them. We cannot be entirely sure, but it is possible that the third-party web pages could contain malware (Trojans, viruses, etc.), promote different browser hijackers and other threats (adware, potentially unwanted programs, and so on.), or violate the user's privacy.
How to remove Search.searchetan.com?
If you feel experienced enough, you could slide below this text and get rid of Search.searchetan.com manually by following the available instructions. These steps will show you how to restore or erase the browser hijackers modified files, so the task may seem difficult for some of you. If that is the case, we recommend using a legitimate antimalware tool instead. With such software, you could detect and remove the threat together with other unreliable application that could be on the system. All you have to do is perform a full system scan, wait for the results and click the deletion button.
Eliminate Search.searchetan.com
Internet Explorer
- Press Windows Key+R.
- Insert Regedit and click Enter.
- Navigate to this particular location: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
- Find a value name called Start Page.
- Right-click it and press Modify.
- Replace http://search.searchetan.com with a reliable link and click OK.
- Go to this location: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}
- Search for the listed files: FaviconURL, FaviconURLFallback, TopResultURL, and URL.
- Right-click them separately, and press Modify.
- Replace their current value data and press OK.
- Leave the Registry Editor.
Mozilla Firefox
- Press Windows Key+E.
- Find this path: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}
- Locate a file called Prefs.js.
- Then open it as a Notepad document.
- Find the same code line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://search.searchetan.com”).
- Replace http://search.searchetan.com with a trustworthy link and press Ctrl+S.
- Close the document.
Google Chrome
- Press Windows Key+E.
- Look for the following path: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
- Find data titled as Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.
- Right-click the given files one by one and select Delete.
- Close the File Explorer.
tested removal of Search.searchetan.com*
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