Search9

What is Search9?

If you see Search9 (search9.askthepotato.com) when you open your browser, and you are sure you have not applied these changes yourself, there is no doubt that your web browser has been hijacked. That is, its settings have been changed without your knowledge. It does not mean that there is nothing you can do about this. You can remove Search9 from your browser and then set a new page quite easily. This search tool looks legitimate, so users do not hurry to remove it from those affected browsers, but, according to researchers at anti-spyware-101.com, they should get rid of it ASAP. It is not malicious, but it cannot be called a reliable search provider too, so it would be best not to use it at all. Even though the appearance of Search9 on your browsers indicates that you have encountered a browser hijacker that has altered your preferred settings illegally, you should remove the undesirable search tool set without any problems. Continue reading to find out what you can do to make it disappear.

What does Search9 do?

Unfortunately, we cannot confirm that it is safe to use Search9 as a default search provider even though it is far from real malicious applications. No, the fact that it illegally appears on users’ browsers is not its only drawback. There is a huge possibility that it displays modified search results too. Theoretically, users might experience security-related problems because of their presence. No, Search9 will not install malware on your computer without your knowledge, but you might be taken to a malicious page if you click on a modified search result displayed to you. Of course, not all search results promote dubious websites. Search9 will present you with decent search results too, but, unfortunately, it will be extremely hard to distinguish those modified ones from decent ones, which is why our recommendation for you would be to stop using Search9 completely. If you keep it set as your homepage and default search provider, it will not only be opened to you when you launch your browser, but it will also gather information about your MAC computer, your interests and habits, and activities you perform, e.g. advertisements you click. Even though these are non-personal details, it is still possible to build a profile about you and then share it with third parties, e.g. advertisers. We cannot promise that information about you will not be used for any malicious purpose, so you will not get permission to keep Search9 from us.

Where does Search9 come from?

You will not find a single user who has installed the browser hijacker infection himself/herself consciously. It is more likely that users find their browsers’ settings changed because they download a browser hijacker masqueraded as trustworthy software from some kind of dubious website. Also, it might be spread as an item in a software bundle consisting of, at least, two different components. According to researchers at anti-spyware-101.com, there are more people who end up with Search9 after installing a software package on their PCs. We can assure you that other suspicious search tools might be spread bundled too, so if you do not want to find unauthorized changes applied to your browsers out of the blue again, stop downloading software from dubious websites and, additionally, always install new programs carefully. What else specialists recommend for users is keeping a security application enabled 24/7. It will be impossible for malware to slither onto your computer if you do as we say.

How to delete Search9

Have you found that Search9 has hijacked your browsers? If so, you should mercilessly remove it from them. Specialists suspect that you will get rid of it by resetting your browsers to default settings, so start its removal by doing this. If it turns out that this does not work, i.e. you see Search9 even after the browser reset, you should scan your computer with an antimalware scanner. We are sure you will find a tool to scan your system with no difficulties, but you should not install it immediately without checking it – it might be malicious. In fact, there are quite many untrustworthy applications pretending to be reliable system scanners, so you should be more careful from now on.

Delete Search9 from Mozilla Firefox/Google Chrome/Safari

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox.
2. Access its menu (click the button in the top-right corner).
3. Click Help.
4. Click Troubleshooting Information.
5. Click Refresh Firefox in the top-right corner.
6. Click Refresh Firefox again to confirm the reset.

Google Chrome

1. Start Google Chrome.
2. Click the menu button located in the top-right corner and select Settings.
3. Click Advanced.
4. Click Reset under Reset.
5. Click Reset to confirm the reset.

Safari

1. Launch Safari.
2. Go to the Safari menu.
3. Choose Clear History… from the drop-down menu.
4. Click Clear History after you choose the desired time frame.
5. Click Preferences… in the Safari menu.
6. Open the Advanced tab.
7. Tick the checkbox alongside Show Develop in menu bar.
8. Click the Develop tab and select Empty Caches.
9. Go to Preferences… again and select Extensions.
10. Remove all suspicious extensions. Download Removal Tool100% FREE spyware scan and
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